Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of satellite services, has announced that the launch of the Intelsat 18 spacecraft, aboard a Sea Launch AG-provided Land Launch Zenit-3SLB vehicle, has been delayed 24 hours.  Orbital Sciences Corporation, the manufacturer of the satellite, is currently evaluating an out-of-specification parameter on Intelsat 18. Launch provider Sea Launch has established […]

Modern Times Group (MTG), the international entertainment broadcasting group, has launched its documentary pay-TV channels Viasat History and Viasat Nature in Uganda and Tanzania, following the signing of a distribution agreement with digital terrestrial television operator StarTimes. StarTimes will also include the channels in its pay-TV offering in Nigeria. Viasat History and Viasat Nature are […]

Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) penetration in Italy has risen to 84.7 per cent at the end of July 2011, according to market research published by E-Res. The number of Italian households with at least one DTT receiver in the principal residence rose to about 21 million, an increase of 900,000 units compared to the figures […]

The UK’s Channel 4 has taken an extra complete transponder from satellite operator SES. The capacity is in the form of a long-term contract, and is additional to the three already used by Channel 4 from SES’s orbital position of 28.2 degrees East.   The new capacity on ASTRA 1N will be used to transmit […]

Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat is investing in a new satellite for its increasingly important 9 degrees East slot. The high-capacity craft will add bandwidth for expansion beyond the current 320 channel neighbourhood already transmitting from Eurobird 9. Eurobird 9B is being ordered from Astrium and will have 66 transponders on board, with re-useable frequency beams, […]

Online video advertising specialist smartclip has signed a pan-European partnership with the multi-platform music channel iConcerts, to integrate all video ads into its inventory. The partnership will see smartclip work with iConcerts as its preferred advertising partner, to sell video ads on multi-platform apps. The pair suggest that users can access over 1,000 live concerts […]

The UK Digital TV Group (DTG) has approved HbbTV-based connected TV specifications in the latest version of the D-Book, D-Book 7. D-Book 7 – published for consultation earlier in the year – defines the critical interoperable coexistence of broadcast and broadband services and devices and has been formally approved by DTG Council and DTG Technical […]

Luxembourg’s M7 Group has acquired Czech and Slovak satellite pay TV platform Skylink. M7 Group, which acquired Dutch service Canal Digitaal, Flemish service TV Vlaanderen and Wallonia operator Télé Sat, is said to have paid around CZK2 billion (€80 million) for Skylink, owned by local investment group J&T. The acquisition gives M7 Group a total […]

NAGRA, the Kudelski Group company, has acquired Sigma Systems’ Subscriber Information Service platform (SIS) business. As part of the business partnership, Sigma Systems will continue its product development and deployment support associated with the launch of the SIS business for NAGRA.   “NAGRA is committed to enabling advanced advertising capabilities, addressability in particular, for service […]

The BBC is firmly behind 3DTV, although Jo Sermon, BBC Worldwide’s director of content strategy, speaking October 3 at the MIPCOM programming market, said the BBC is also playing the long game in that 3D is suitable for play-out on tablets, smart-phones, laptops, 3D-based Internet as well as Blu-ray devices. Sermon told MIPCOM delegates that […]