WeltN24, a subsidiary of Axel Springer, will be launching its new free-to-air, HD news channel, BILD, in August via SES’s prime Astra neighbourhood 19.2 degrees East in a new multi-year capacity agreement. The new agreement will also see SES continue to broadcast Welt and N24 Doku, two channels that are also owned by WeltN24. Additionally, […]
Malaysia’s Measat-3, still uncontrollably drifting westward in the geostationary arc, remains under continuous telemetry despite its anomaly. Boeing is investigating what might be the root cause of the problem which occurred on June 21st. Meanwhile, almost all of its broadcast channels and customers have been reassigned capacity on other Measat or third-party satellites. Space monitoring […]
US connectivity company DISH has signed what it describes as a transformative, long-term strategic Network Services Agreement (NSA) with AT&T, making AT&T the primary network services partner for DISH MVNO customers. Through this agreement, DISH will provide current and future customers of its retail wireless brands, including Boost Mobile, Ting Mobile and Republic Wireless, access […]
Luxembourg-based M7 Group, owned by Canal+, has concluded a satellite capacity and distribution agreement with Bucharest-based Television Services Europe for the carriage of Romanian sports channel Sport Extra. While M7 Platform Services provides end-to-end satellite distribution services via Thor 6 at 1 degree West, Sport Extra is carried via Focus Sat, M7’s Direct-to-Home TV platform […]
Media and entertainment technologist Technicolor Connected Home and DTH pay-TV operator SKY Brasil have confirmed the deployment of SKY Connect, a next generation set-top box (STB) that integrates Google Assistant far-field voice technology that allows subscribers in Brazil to navigate entertainment content on their TVs. The move is the latest development in the 15-year relationship […]
Spacecom, the satellite services provider and owner-operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, has signed a two-year extension deal with D.B.S. Satellite Services, operator of Yes DTH in Israel. The deal, worth $14 million, will continue the DTH’s operations from the AMOS-7 and AMOS-3 satellites at Spacecom’s 4°W orbital hotspot. With this agreement, Yes’ order backlog […]
In a joint statement, beIN SPORTS, Canal+ International, Gabon Télévision, LaLiga, the Motion Picture Association, Startimes, Thema, TNT Africa and UEFA have condemned the illegal broadcasting by Gabon satellite operator SatCon. They stress that only those broadcasters who obtain broadcasting authorisation from the rights holders may carry the signals and content of these channels. “We […]
Intelsat’s Media Market Watch states that traditional pay-TV viewing in the Asia-Pacific region is “leading the way” in revenue generation for operators. Intelsat’s study (via AVIA and S&P Global) states that it is the largest pay-TV region in the world with 17 key markets and some 655 million subscribers. It states that Multichannel cable households […]
A webcast organised by the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council heard some negative comments on the likely impact of Low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. Most of the criticism came from operators of geostationary satellites. For example, Hispasat’s CTO Antonio Abad Martin spoke extensively about the business model in place for geostationary (GEO) operators, and said they […]
The Satellite Industry Association’s (SIA) 2021 State of the Satellite Industry Report (SSIR) says – in essence – that the industry is in robust health. It notes that, despite the pandemic, a record number of satellites went into orbit in 2020 (triple the 2019 count) and that the sector is enjoying “double digit” growth in […]