Globo Selects Nagravision For TVDR Rural TV in Brazil

CHESEAUX, Switzerland — Nagravision, a Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.VX) company and the world’s leading independent provider of value-added content protection solutions, today announced that Brazilian television network, Rede Globo (also known as TV Globo and Globo) selected Nagravision for its ambitious TVDR (Digital Television for Rural Areas) project. The project includes the industry’s first geo-control technology and will replace millions of analogue receivers for high definition (HD) ready set-top boxes. Programming from different Globo affiliated television stations carried on the same satellite will allow the company to provide viewers with more localized content for each defined region and to support advertising from local sponsors. In the beginning, TVDR will be launched featuring only one national digital signal in standard definition (SD), but regional signals will replace the national, region by region, and SD signals will be replaced by HD technology.

“Using Nagravision’s expertise, we have turned the technical challenge of viewers randomly picking up national programming targeted to our affiliates, into an opportunity where those same viewers can reliably access high quality digital regional programming, bringing them additional social value. It’s a win-win for our viewers and our advertisers,” said Liliana Nakonechnyj, Transmission Technology Director at Rede Globo.

Working closely with Globo for more than two years, Nagravision provided the system design and integration for this project. The ground-breaking solution includes a NAGRA Media ACCESS conditional access system and pre-integrated set-top boxes configured with geographical localizer chips to receive the local content broadcasted from the satellite. Globo’s digital transmission will be carried by DVB-S2 signals.

Nagravision developed the geo-control technology which allows selected transmission dependent on the geographical location of the consumer and will prevent the reception outside of Brazil, a key feature to deal with exhibition rights of premium events like the soccer world championship. Nagravision will deploy its latest security technology. However, within the targeted areas, TV Globo´s programming delivered via satellite will be free for owners of the set-top boxes equipped with the new technology. The system is already available in the state of Rio de Janeiro and a retail solution for home viewers will be available throughout Brazil this year.

“The Nagravision technology selected by Globo solves immediate technical issues while simultaneously providing them with a variety of options for future services,” said Tom Wirth, Senior Vice President for Nagravision Americas. “There is a great deal of competition for home viewers in Brazil. Globo is proving once again that it has the foresight to prepare for the future of digital television, today.”

The project will complement Globo’s digital coverage of Brazil, together with the ongoing conversion of terrestrial distribution to digital in the cities. Thomson and Prime are set-top box providers that were successfully integrated with this Nagravision technology.