Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, says his rocket company will not be attempting to re-land after it has launched Echostar-23 into its high geostationary transfer orbit on January 30th. The reason is that the satellite is especially heavy (at about 5.5 metric tonnes) and SpaceX will need just about all of the Falcon 9 rocket’s […]
Toulouse, France-based Airbus Defence & Space is completing work on Eutelsat’s 172B satellite, which it says is Europe’s first-ever high-power all-electric satellite to be built in Europe. It will shortly be shipped to Kourou in French Guiana for launch in April. Eutelsat 172B breaks new ground for Europe as the first high-power satellite in the […]
Starz Play Arabia has signed a multi-year agreement with Warner Bros International Television Distribution that will enable the streaming service to offer more premium content from the Hollywood studio. Starz Play will now have access to hit superhero TV shows such as The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl, as well as the mysterious crime drama Blindspot. […]
Hulu and Magnolia Pictures have announced a new output licensing agreement that will grant Hulu the pay one window streaming rights to films released by the major film distributor. Through the deal, the films will become available to stream exclusively on Hulu following their theatrical run. Future releases will begin streaming on Hulu in the […]
MENA VoD service Icflix and Yellow Spot Productions are collaborating on Super Geek Heroes – a new educational, 3D animation series for youngsters. Super Geek Heroes aims to educate, entertain and enhance the development of children aged from 2 – 5 years. Each episode focuses on curricular areas such as health, literacy, numeracy and social-emotional development. Narrated by children […]
BT TV customers will have to pay an additional £3.50 (€4) a month for BT Sport from August 1st. The BT Sport channel has been free for all BT TV and broadband subscribers since launching in August 2013. Those who have BT Broadband and watch BT Sport via their Sky satellite service will see a […]
UK communications regulator Ofcom has published several procedural consultations as part of its preparations for regulating the BBC. Ofcom is also taking the opportunity to seek stakeholder views on proposed changes to its current procedures for handling content standards and broadcast licensing investigations and sanctions. Procedures for enforcement of BBC Competition requirements This consultation covers […]
India’s Broadcasting Foundation has asked the country’s finance ministry to only levy a 5 per cent goods and services (TVA) tax on TV and cable subscriptions. This would be about half of the rate to be applied. India is due to start collecting the TVA on April 1st 2017, the first national tax and would […]
BBC Worldwide has agreed a deal with Amazon that will give Amazon Prime members in India access to more than 600 hours of factual and pre-school content from the BBC. Amazon Prime launched in India in July 2016, and launched its Prime Video streaming service in December 2016. “In the last year or so, we […]
Simplestream, a provider of video services for the media and entertainment industry, has revealed that its Hybrid TV solution was chosen by Sony Pictures Television to power its new catch-up service on YouView. Launched on January 10th, the service hosts shows from Sony’s popular kids channels Tiny Pop, POP and KIX. “Kids are spending more […]