April 08 in a snapshot
New channels:
- Eurosport 2 channel has launched on German platform Premiere.
- Classic cartoon channel Boomerang (part of Turner Broadcasting) has been added to line-up of Middle East platform ADD
- Austrian ORF has launched the first German high definition channel from a public broadcaster.
- Rush HD (from Voom) has been added to UK and Irish line-up on BSkyB
- Kids channel Jetix (Disney) signed deal with French CanalSat.
- Scandinavian Viasat has launched its 24 hour Hollywood movie channel TV1000 Premium on Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian markets (with additional Russian subtitles).
- NBC Universal launched Sci Fi channel and the Universal Channel in Romania.
- News channel BBC World has officially changed its name to BBC World News.
New faces:
- HBO Central Europe has appointed Ondrej Zach as vice-president, programming and acquisitions.
- Norwegian conditional access firm Conax has appointed Berit Svendsen as CEO.
- Kids entertainment broadcaster Jetix Europe has appointed Daniel Wineman as director of original series.
- Emmanuel Florent (formerly CEO of TPS) has joined Canal Plus in a development role alongside group president.
New birds:
- On April 29 Amos-3 satellite has began its journey towards orbital position of 4 degrees after launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan onboard a Zenit-3SLB rocket.
- SES Astra has moved Sirius 2 satellite from its former position at 5 degrees East to 31.5 degrees East and renamed Astra 5A. Its 26 transponders will now target central and Eastern Europe.
- Thor 5 (Telenor) has become operational at 1 degree West.
- SES Americom has declared AMC-14 satellite destined for 77 degrees West a complete loss, after failed launch on 14 March and evaluated there were no viable options to reposition the satellite from low transfer orbit.
New hardware:
- Pace Micro Technology has completed takeover of set top box manufacturing arm of Philips (Philips STB and CS Business).
- New Hungarian pay-TV operator HelloHD ( operating from Eurobird 9 satellite at 9 degrees East) selected Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) to supply HD DVR satellite receivers to its customers.
- German pay TV broadcaster Premiere has chosen NDS (encryption used for Sky platform among others) and VideoGuard conditional access system to replace currently compromised simulcrypt Irdeto and Nagravision systems across its satellite channels in the near future.
- EchoStar and encryption provider NagraStar began legal action against NDS Group in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking 1 billion USD in damages. The two companies claim NDS is allegedly behind publishing and distributing methods on how to compromise Dish Network conditional access card technology...
Rumours:
- Italian commercial provider Mediaset and public broadcaster RAI were reported discussing plans to launch free digital satellite package, similar to BBC’s Freesat.
Author: MRK [Source: OWN]
Posted on Thursday 1 May 2008
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