Dubai-based broadcasting giant MBC is switching some of its Gulf-focussed channels from Nilesat to Arabsat. It also means that the all-important Saudi League football games, carried on MBC Pro Sport, will be available to Arabsat viewers effective on August 8th. The August 8th game, the Saudi Super Cup, is between the Al Ahli and Al-Hilal […]
Xytech, creator of the facility management platform MediaPulse, has announced the launch of a Broadcast Services Division to address the changing needs of global video transmission services. Industry expert Daniel Lynch, with Xytech since 2011, will lead the division. Xytech Broadcast Services will build upon the company’s success in bringing holistic transmission and asset management […]
Japanese public broadcaster NHK has started 4K and 8K ultra HD test broadcasting on its satellite channels, with the aim of fine-tuning the technology and popularising its use before the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Currently viewers cannot watch 8K broadcasting with conventional television sets or tuners. NHK has sited 8K public viewing at […]
Customers of landline, broadband and pay-TV services would be able to switch from one network to another with greater ease and confidence, under proposals from UK comms regulator Ofcom. According to the watchdog, people can face particular problems when switching between providers whose services are delivered using different networks. Some are even put off switching […]
UK subscription-free satellite TV service Freesat is to carry the BBC broadcast of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games live, across eight channels in HD and SD. Available via the BBC Red Button and accessible via the Freesat EPG, viewers will be able to watch the world’s greatest athletes achieve sporting success live from Rio de […]
The number of US pay-TV subscribers is down 2.3 per cent from last year according to estimates for August from Nielsen. The biggest losses are in cable networks. Most impacted are networks owned by Discovery, Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit, Time Warner and Viacom. Fox networks fared the best, while AMC and Scripps Networks cable channels […]
Montenegrin operator Crnogorski Telekom (part of Deutsche Telekom) and national DTT multiplex operator Radiodifuzni Centar have launched a new DTT platform, with 18 TV channels (5 free-to-air and 13 encrypted). The FTA offer includes national broadcasters – public channels RTCG 1 and RTCG 2, as well as commercial channels TV Vijesti, TV Prva (owned by […]
The UK’s biggest multichannel broadcaster, UKTV, is outpacing the British broadcast market, as the first half (H1) of 2016 delivered record-breaking share of commercial impacts (SOCI); with audience share and on demand views also showing significant growth. Reaching an all-time high, UKTV’s consolidated SOCI, averaged at 9.74 per cent for H1 2016. The broadcaster grew […]
Pay-TV subscriptions in the Middle East and Africa region will increase by 67 per cent between 2015 and 2021 – from 32.37 million to 54.09 million. The top nine pay-TV operators [Multichoice (DStv and GOtv), StarTimes/StarSat, Canal Plus, OSN, beIN, DigiTurk, D-Smart, Yes and HOT], accounted for 70 per cent of these subscribers by end-2015, […]
Qatar’s beIN Sports held the exclusive TV broadcast rights for the Middle East to last month’s UEFA European Football Championships. beIN Sports is accusing Iran’s state-backed broadcaster IRIB of deliberately pirating the signals and ignoring the established protocols over use of rights. UEFA has separately said that broadcasters which violated its rules would face fines. […]