Intelsat has announced that Intelsat 33e, the second of the Intelsat EpicNG high throughput satellites (HTS), successfully completed all in-orbit testing and entered service on January 29th. Manufactured by Boeing and launched in August 2016, Intelsat 33e is equipped with an advanced digital payload. With this flexible HTS payload design, Intelsat 33e, operating from 60° […]

Manoto TV, the Persian-language channel, has completed its switch in SD and HD versions to the Eutelsat 7B satellite operated by Eutelsat Communications. The channel is now available exclusively from Eutelsat’s HotBird satellites and Eutesat 7B that together form a single neighbourhood for Persian-speaking viewers in Europe, the Middle East and Iran. Broadcasting documentaries, films, […]

Multi-channel broadcaster Discovery is ramping up its public relations campaign in support of its retransmission dispute with Sky, which has seen Discovery threaten to axe its 12 channels from Sky and NOW TV after January 31st, by reporting widespread public and celebrity support. According to Discovery, the Internet has been set alight by a social […]

It’s like the 70s all over again, suddenly the world is all about brinkmanship. President Trump seems keen to confront all except President Putin, his only serious rival for biggest ego on the planet. But they’ll fall out and the planets will collide; hopefully in a hissy twitter spat rather than a shooting war. Talking […]

It doesn’t take much for investors to hear from Sky that it is launching a non-satellite service next year to have them selling their satellite shares. SES’s share price tumbled 5.7 per cent, and Eutelsat (which beams Sky Italia channels to subscribers) fell back 2.3 per cent on the news. However, had investors listened to […]

Findings from the Teligen division of market intelligence consultancy Strategy Analytics’ latest report – Pay-TV prices in OECD countries, November 2016 – highlight significant differences in pay-TV prices even between providers in the same country. The study also shows great variation in the structures and underlying technologies of the pay-TV offers, even when benchmarking the […]

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has welcomed the vote by the European Parliament’s Industry Committee on the long-term future of the UHF frequencies. The vote validates an EU interinstitutional agreement on access to UHF spectrum below 700 MHz for terrestrial TV broadcasting until at least 2030. Public service media make their channels available on all […]

Sky AdSmart has added its first public service broadcaster to its ad-targeting portfolio.  Channel 5 becomes the latest Viacom-owned network to join Sky AdSmart, following Comedy Central and MTV. Sky Adsmart tailors what is aired during commercials breaks according to a household’s profile and location. “Sky AdSmart changes the way that people look at TV […]

Sky’s results could be a worry to Rupert and James Murdoch. Despite the operating profit tumbling 9 per cent for the half-year to December 31st (blamed mostly on the cost of acquiring Premier League football),  the market took the view that its 6 per cent organic growth was – in the main – good news. […]

The latest figures from consumer behaviour specialist Kantar Worldpanel ComTech on the UK home services market – covering broadband, fixed landline and paid television – hint at a long-awaited recovery for TalkTalk. Despite losing 14 per cent of its customers during 2016 after its cyber security shortcomings, TalkTalk’s share of new acquisitions rose by 1.5 […]