Satellite TV Market News

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Skylink enhances channel offer

May 12, 2014 12.07 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul

The leading Czech and Slovak DTH platform Skylink has added a number of channels to its offer.

Its line-up now includes the 24-hour HD sports channel EDGEsport, which is available to all customers opting for the prepaid packages Skylink Kombi, HD Plus, Multi HD, Flexi 7 or Komplet.

Also available is Animal Planet, on Skylink Kombi, Multi HD, Flexi 7 or Komplet, along with NG Wild HD (Multi package) and Discovery HD Showcase (Kombi).

Kombi is currently the most popular Skylink package, offering viewers 58 channels, 15 of which are in HD.

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RCS&RDS to issue shares

May 12, 2014 11.56 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul

Romania’s RCS&RDS is to increase its capital value by issuing 102,000 shares with a nominal value of RON1 (€0.26).

Quoting the Official Gazette, ZF reports that RCS Management took the decision on February 18, though it has only now been reported.

It adds that RCS Management is the vehicle through which the entrepreneur Zoltan Teszari controls RCS&RDS, the leading cable and DTH operator in Romania.

The capital increase will effectively double the number of shares in RCS&RDS to 204,000, with the new shares being released partially or total for case (for lei, euros or dollars), or by incorporation of reserves, excluding legal reserves, or compensation some liquid claims.

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ESPN Deportes plans round-the-clock World Cup programming
Details
Michelle Clancy
| 02 June 2014
ESPN Deportes will provide 24/7 multi-platform Spanish-language news and information coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup from Brazil, 12 June through 13 July.



Complementing the network's more than 600+ live hours of Spanish-language coverage of the quadrennial sports event, ESPN Deportes will provide Portuguese-language telecasts of at least 54 live World Cup matches, starting with the opener as the host nation Brazil plays Croatia on 12 June at 4pm. ET. ESPN Deportes+, ESPN Deportes' broadband channel available via ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN3, will carry ten matches live on those days when there is more than one match simultaneously.

The network's line-up of more than 30 legendary former players and expert soccer journalists, that includes special guest Mexican soccer star Hugo Sanchez, will lead ESPN Deportes' month-long news and information programming originating from Rio de Janeiro, and supported by studios in Bristol, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Miami.

Day-long live programming every day will include at least three daily World Cup-centric editions of SportsCenter; onsite production of Fuera de Juego, Jorge Ramos y Su Banda, Cronometro and Fútbol Picante.

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Deutsche Telekom closes GTS acquisition

June 2, 2014 08.01 Europe/London By Jörn Krieger


DeutscheTelekomLogoBuildingGerman telco Deutsche Telekom has closed its acquisition of GTS Central Europe on May 30, 2014, marking the first step in bringing the two organisations together.

Danny Bottoms, GTS CEO prior to the takeover, will continue leading company in the future. The full operational integration is expected to be completed in October 2014 while legal unity is planned for January 1, 2015.

“With the acquisition complete, we look forward to integrating GTS’ business-to-business expertise with our industry-leading technologies and vast European network to become the provider of choice for business customers,” said Claudia Nemat, board member Europe and technology at Deutsche Telekom.

“The GTS acquisition supports the implementation of our strategy to strengthen and further develop our B2B local and pan-European business including international wholesale customers,” added Nemat. “Most importantly, we want to preserve GTS’ know-how and combine its business approach with the core strengths of Deutsche Telekom.”

The European Commission approved the acquisition in April 2014 without conditions.

GTS is one of the main infrastructure-based telecommunications service providers in Central and Eastern Europe including a large portfolio of services focused on business customers. The company which achieved a turnover of €337 million in 2013 operates fibre-optic networks in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

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LG sells one million webOS-enabled Smart+ TVs

June 2, 2014 08.40 Europe/London By Robert Briel


LG webOSLG Electronics has announced that more than one million units of its webOS-enabled Smart+ TVs have been sold since the launch of the lineup in March.

LG expects sales to reach ten million units by the first half of 2015.

“Reaching the one million mark in just three months is a significant achievement in the TV industry,” said In-kyu Lee, SVP and head of the TV division at the LG Electronics Home Entertainment Company.

“Rather than continuing to add more and more functions into our smart TVs that few people will ever use, we’ve decided to focus on simplicity with our 2014 Smart+ TVs with webOS. Consumers seem to share our view that this is the right direction for the evolution of smart TVs going forward.”

LG is quickly rolling out its Smart+ TV models globally and expects to be in over 150 markets by the end of the month. The company will also expand the presence of LG Smart+ TV Experience Zones in a number of major consumer electronics retail locations to give, in the words of the manufacturer, “more consumers the opportunity to experience the convenience and unmatched simplicity offered by LG’s Smart+ TVs.”

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Astra 5B goes into service

June 2, 2014 08.56 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul


Astra 5B has officially gone live in the 31.5 degrees East orbital position over CEE, Russia and the CIS.

The spacecraft, which was successfully launched by an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guyana on March 24, provides DTH as well as direct-to-cable services and contribution feeds to DTT networks in its target markets.

Astra 5B was built by Airbus Defence and Space Systems in Toulouse, based on the Eurostar E3000 platform, and is quipped with 40 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent) and 6 Ka-band transponders.

It also carries the second SES hosted L-band payload for the European Commission’s European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).

EGNOS helps to verify, improve and report on the reliability and accuracy of positioning signals in Europe.
Astra 5B replaces Astra 1G at 31.5 degrees East
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Commenting on the satellite, Martin Halliwell, CTO at SES, said: “In line with our well-defined strategy, Astra 5B greatly increases SES’s satellite capacities over CEE, Russia and the CIS. With the Operational Service Date (OSD) of Astra 5B, SES has as of today 1,536 active satellite transponders on its global satellite fleet, comprising 55 active spacecraft at 37 orbital slots around the world. We would like to thank our European partners at Airbus Defence and Space Systems and Arianespace for the successful Astra 5B mission.”

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Russian digital TV: an update

June 2, 2014 09.47 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul


russia-flagDigital TV take-up is expected to speed up rapidly in Russia over the next few years, with 98% of households receiving services by 2020, according to Digital TV Research.

However, nearly a third of homes will be primary DTT by 2020, up from only 7.5% at the end of 2013.

Digital TV Research expects that ASO in Russia will take place in 2018, with analogue cable switch off happening even later.

Indeed, analogue cable penetration will fall from 37% in 2010 to 2% by 2020. In terms of pay-TV, penetration will rise from two-thirds of homes at the end of 2013 to 70% in 2015, before falling to 62.7% by 2020.

Digital pay-TV penetration will rise from 36% in 2013 to 60.7% by 2020.

Meanwhile, pay-TV revenues will increase by $1.4 billion between 2010 and 2020 to reach $2.2 billion. DTH ARPUs are expected to increase, with cable and IPTV falling slowly.

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Management buy-out for Dutch ISP Scarlet

June 2, 2014 10.55 Europe/London By Robert Briel


Stipte(Scarlet)The Dutch management has bought Scarlet Telecom, a Dutch triple play ISP, from Belgacom.

With its new owners, the company will now be known in the Netherlands as Stipte (Dutch for punctual) and will focus on being a full-service quality provider rather than profile itself as a price fighter.

Managing director and owner Matthijs Kamp said about the new premium service: “The quality and speed of the internet and home networks often leaves much to be desired, especially when the installation is performed improperly by the consumer. To avoid that we have introduced the VIP service, where a certified technician will install at the consumer’s home. He only departs when everything is working perfectly, modem, telephone and TV set.”

Stipte’s basic TV offer consists of 122 TV channels, of which 28 are in HD and 58 are available on tablet. The IPTV service is available across the Netherlands.

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Smart TV Alliance Common Developer Portal goes live

June 2, 2014 12.08 Europe/London By Robert Briel


Philips smart TV screenSmart TV application developers can now use a single, integrated process to publish their applications to compliant Smart TV Alliance members’ smart TVs.

Smart TV Alliance was launched in 2012 to unite the fragmented smart TV market.n less than two years, the Smart TV Alliance has streamlined the application development, QA and publishing process, offering developers an easier and more effective way to develop applications, and providing publishers with broader reach.

“The Alliance’s common SDK and specification, joint QA process and single contract reduce the time and cost of application publication, resolving development inefficiencies and alleviating the fragmented TV market,” said Seijiro Yasuki, president of Smart TV Alliance and chief technology executive of Toshiba Lifestyle Products & Services Corporation.

“With today’s launch of the Common Developer Portal, the Alliance delivers a true ‘build once, run everywhere’ ecosystem

Currently, the LG, TP Vision (for Philips smart TVs), Toshiba and Panasonic smart TVs will receive the apps when published. The Smart TV Alliance welcomes new members to join the Common Developer Portal and tap into this new source of smart TV applications.