SES Astra has won the contract to carry Bulgaria’s Satellite BG pay TV platform, heading off stiff competition from a number of rival satellite operators. Satellite BG will transmit from Astra’s increasingly busy 23.5 degrees East position, and take three transponders effective today in readiness for the platform’s 70-channel debut on February 1. Central and […]
T-HT, Croatia’s leading telecom operator has selected the 16 degrees East satellite neighbourhood operated by Eutelsat to extend the reach of its MAXtv pay-TV platform to all homes across Croatia. The two companies have concluded a 10-year contract for three satellite transponders, enabling MAXtv, which launched as an IP platform in September 2006, to consolidate […]
Apple’s Steve Jobs has revealed that he will be taking a medical leave of absence, but has said he will remain CEO of the company and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company. Current Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook takes on responsibility for Apple’s day-to-day operations. Jobs also took a leave in the […]
Premium VOD and piracy rank the two biggest challenges facing movie theatre owners in 2011, according to John Fithian, CEO of National Association of Theatre Owners. Speaking in a conference call hosted by MKM Partners, Fithian said studio efforts to bolster declining home entertainment disc sales through premium VOD presents a greater risk to the […]
China will step up its fight to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) by targeting online piracy, state media has said, amid calls for Beijing to do more on widespread copyright infringement. “It is vital to protect online IPR,” Wang Ziqiang, spokesman for the National Copyright Administration, was quoted as saying by the China Daily. “If […]
Internet users — not Internet companies — should be held legally accountable for uploading pirated content on web sites, Russian Communications and Press Minister Igor Shchyogolev has said. But Shchyogolev added that it is in the responsibility of the Internet companies to delete illegal content “upon the signal from the lawful property rights owner.” The […]
South Africa will complete the process of migrating from analogue to digital television by December 2013, Communications Minister Radhakrishna Padayachie has stated. The analogue switch off date was originally set for November 2011 but has since been changed to December 2013 by government. The minister also confirmed South Africa would adopt the DVB-T2 standard for […]
The Samsung TV App Store has reached says there have now been two million applications downloaded from the store, that’s another million since the beginning of December. At CES 2011, Samsung showed off its latest Smart TV range including a redesigned apps hub. The introduction of a ‘search everything’ bar means that the applications are […]
ViaSat has rescheduled the launch of its high-capacity satellite ViaSat-1 with International Launch Services (ILS) to summer 2011. The delay provides additional time for repair and testing after the satellite was damaged while being moved during the testing process. All costs related to the repair and re-testing of the satellite are being assumed by the […]
Cable Television Laboratories and Cable Europe Labs have committed to a closer and more extensive working relationship under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing a one-year trial programme by which the two cable research and development organisations might develop longer-term joint cooperation. “This accord builds upon the five years of collaboration on specification development and […]