Thread: Satellite News July 2010

Orange can keep its channels exclusive

By Robert Briel
Published: July 16, 2010 10.14 Europe/London

French IPTV provider Orange, part of France Telecom, can keep its Orange Sport and Orange Cinema Series channels exclusively on its IPTV platform, following a verdict by the Court of Cassation (La Cour de cassation).

Orange had already received blessing at the Court of Appeal of Paris on May 14, 2009, with a ruling that even copncluded that “such exclusivity was a positive factor for the competition”.

Two competing IPTV platforms, Free and SFR, had appealed against this decision in cassation, arguing they should have been able to access channels of their competitor Orange.

With the latest verdict, Orange can now keep its exclusivity of their premium sports and movies channels.

Eutelsat/Qatar joint venture progresses

By Chris Dziadul
Published: July 15, 2010 10.56 Europe/London

Eutelsat and ictQATAR, representing the State of Qatar, have selected Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to build a satellite they will jointly own and operate in the 25.5 degrees East orbital slot.

The move, which follows an international consultation, is the next step following an agreement signed by the two parties in May.

The satellite that SS/L will deliver should enter into service in early 2013 and have a design life of over 15 years, being based on the company’s decades-proven 1300 satellite bus modular platform. It will provide a significant improvement in coverage across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, following on Eurobird 2, which currently operates at 25.5 degrees East.

The TV market in the Middle East and North Africa, which already has 13 million DTH homes, will particularly benefit from the new satellite.

ESAT resumes service after 24-day disruption

ESAT resumes service after 24-day disruption

by Andy Sennitt.

The Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT), an independent news and information broadcasting service, has resumed services, the management announced in a press release on Wednesday. Reaching the Ethiopian audience via Arabsat, ESAT services were disrupted for 24 days after it was launched in May this year.

“We are pleased by the extraordinary outpouring of public support for ESAT and the determination shown by our viewers and supporters to ensure that they will keep the flames of ESAT burining to illuminate the darkness that has descended on Ethiopia today. We are most encouraged and deeply appreciative of the high level of public support for ESAT,” the management said in a press statement.

Various ESAT-supporting programs have been planned for 31 July in Amsterdam, where the annual Ethiopian Sports and Cultural Festival in Europe will be held.

* Satellite: Arabsat
* Frequency: 11976
* Polarization: Vertical
* Symbol rate: 27.5
* FEC: 3/4.

NASA Television launches HD Channel

By Robert Briel
Published: July 16, 2010 10.23 Europe/London

On Monday, July 19, NASA Television will launch a full-time High Definition (HD) channel that media, cable and satellite service providers can access for news content and coverage of agency missions and programmes, the agency announced.

The channel will deliver HD video “that only NASA can provide”, such as live launch coverage of space shuttles and other spacecraft. The “ISS Update,” a daily programme covering the activities of the on-orbit International Space Station crews, will air on the new HD channel. Video of the Earth shot by crews on the station and from NASA satellites also will be available.

NASA’s video file news feed, media conferences, lectures, satellite interviews and special events also will be delivered in HD. The NASA TV HD channel will be offered in MPEG-2 format.

Viacom18 accuses MSM Discovery of contract breaches, moves Tdsat

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) will on July 21 hear Viacom18's petition alleging material contractual breaches, misrepresentation and under-reporting of subscriber base by MSM Discovery.

Viacom18 has also sought damages of Rs 1.27 billion from MSM Discovery.

In the petition, Viacom18 also wanted some interim reliefs from the tribunal. The company, when asked, did not specify the reliefs sought from the tribunal.

Viacom18 is a joint venture equally owned by Network18 and media conglomerate Viacom.

The dispute has arisen following the decision of Viacom18 to terminate its distribution contract with MSM Discovery and shift its four channels – Colors, MTV, Nick and Vh1 - to a new joint venture between Sun Network and Network18 called Sun18. The contract with MSM Discovery was for a three-year period starting from 1 April 2009.

The petition is being heard by a division bench of the tribunal comprising chairperson SB Sinha and member GD Gaiha.

In a parallel move, MSM Discovery had moved the Bombay High Court against Viacom18's decision to shift its television channels to Sun18, but the court did not grant interim relief. The high court will hear MSM Discovery's petition on 17 August. Viacom18 has agreed to give a copy of its agreement with Network18 to MSM within seven days (from 16 July).

Inox, Cinemax shares zoom on deal rumours

Multiplex chain operators Cinemax and Inox Leisure found new life on the bourses as they jumped over 10 per cent today on the back of rumours that they were attracting equity deals.

As the market speculated of a private equity deal, shares of Cinemax rose 11.73 per cent to close Monday at Rs 62.85 on the BSE. A total of 0.79 million shares were traded on BSE worth Rs 49.41 million.

"The market reacted to a speculation that Cinemax would raise capital through a PIPE (private investment in public equity) deal," a media analyst at a leading broking firm said.

Cinemax, however, denied such rumours. "There is no private equity deal happening now," said Cinemax CEO Sunil Punjabi.

Meanwhile, Inox Leisure stock jumped 14.65 per cent to close the day at Rs 74.75. A total of 2.81 million shares were traded on BSE worth Rs 207.04 million.

"The market buzz is that Reliance ADAG is buying out Inox. The scrip gathered steam," said a fund manager.

Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun, however, said he had no knowledge of a buyout deal.

Dish TV ropes in Venkateish as CEO

Dish TV India has roped in ESPN Star Sports India head RC Venkateish as its chief executive officer.

Venkateish's contract with the sports broadcasting network recently got over, offering him an option to join a rival media company. He will be handling the direct-to-home (DTH) business of the Essel Group which also has two sports channels, Ten Sports and Zee Sports.

Venkateish was serving as the ESPN Star Sports managing director for India and South Asia and was responsible for business operations in these regions.

Says Dish TV India MD Jawahar Goel, “Venkateish has had an excellent track record while heading leading brands, his experience gives him a well seasoned perspective which perfectly complements Dish TV’s needs as a rapidly growing company with the highest market share. I am confident in his abilities to enable Dish TV to take the next big leap.”


Bringing with him a wealth of over 27 years’ experience, of which 12 years have been in senior international positions, Venkateish has worked with global brands like Smithkline Beecham, Nestle India, Gillette and Kellogg India.

Venkateish holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from IIT – Madras and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Dish TV in deal with Ten Sports for HD feed

Encouraged by the response to its high definition offering for the soccer World Cup, Dish TV has done a deal with Ten Sports.

The DTH operator will be showing the on-going India versus Sri Lanka series in HD.

Ten Sports, part of the Zee Group, has inked a multi-year deal with Dish TV.

"European football will be in HD and many other properties including Indian cricket. Right now this facility is exclusively with Dish TV. But we will be looking at other DTH operators," says Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande.

Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor says that the company received positive traction with its HD feed of the soccer World Cup.

"The big difference to conventional feed is the sound and picture clarity. We are also offering feed in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada," says Kappor.