Broadcast (Cable TV, DTH Satellite, Terrestrial) News

New DVB-T2/HEVC pilot begins in the Czech Republic
Jun 2, 2015 – České Radiokomunikace (ČRa) has announced the start of a new trial of DVB-T2 digital terrestrial television transmission using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) compression. Three channels are being broadcast in the advanced format.
News categories: České Radiokomunikace, Content Distribution, Czech Republic, DVB-T2, Terrestrial

AsiaSat announces UHD broadcast initiative in Asia
Jun 2, 2015 – AsiaSat has announced a plan to deploy Asia’s first dedicated Ultra HD (UHD) broadcast platform. Initially using a C-band transponder on AsiaSat 4 at 122°E, the UHD platform, based on DVB-S2 and HEVC, will be able to deliver 2-5 full time UHD channels.
News categories: AsiaSat, William Wade, Asia, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Satellite

StarTimes takes more satellite capacity for Africa on SES-5
Jun 2, 2015 – SES (Paris;LuxX:SESG) has announced that StarTimes has extended its partnership with SES on the SES-5 satellite. StarTimes has contracted additional capacity to provide an enhanced TV viewing experience for its subscribers in Africa.
News categories: SES S.A, StarTimes, Ferdinand Kayser, Pang Xinxing, Africa, Content Distribution, Satellite

STMicroelectronics powers Skyworth satellite HD zapper STB
Jun 2, 2015 – STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) has announced that its Cardiff satellite SoC (STiH237) is powering the new Skyworth Digital HD set-top box. Cardiff is ST’s entry-level satellite set-top-box (STB) platform.
News categories: STMicroelectronics, Skyworth, Eric Benoit, Darrell Haber, Asia, Digital TV, Satellite, Semiconductor, Set Top Box

GSat Philippines DTH chooses Cubiware middleware
Jun 2, 2015 – Cubiware (NASDAQ: TIVO) has announced that its CubiTV hybrid middleware has been selected by Global Satellite (GSat) for delivery of digital video broadcast via satellite in the Philippines. CubiTV will be deployed on set-top boxes manufactured by Intek Digital.
News categories: Cubiware, GSat, Intek Digital, Maciej Grzonkowski, Philip J. Chien, Digital TV, Middleware, Philippines, Satellite

Verimatrix chosen for Digicel Play HD digital entertainment service
Jun 2, 2015 – Verimatrix has announced that Digicel New Media Ventures has deployed the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) for DVB to protect its Digicel Play high definition digital entertainment service offering.
News categories: Verimatrix, Digicel, Steve Oetegenn, Alan Constant, BroadcastAsia, Caribbean, Central America, Content Distribution, Content Protection, Digital TV, Oceania, Satellite, Set Top Box, Terrestrial

ITU symposium to mark switchover from analogue to digital TV
Jun 1, 2015 – The deadline for the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, set for 17 June 2015, is applicable for all countries belonging to ITU Region-1 and Iran. ITU will mark this milestone with a symposium at its headquarters in Geneva.
News categories: International Telecommunication Union, Houlin Zhao, Africa, Asia, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Europe, Middle-East, Terrestrial

Philippines' Starmobile launches smartphone with DTV
Jun 1, 2015 – Starmobile has introduced the new Starmobile UP Max, a 5-inch quad core Lollipop phone with a 5000mAh battery and a built-in DTV tuner. The phone has a battery life of up to 24 hours talk time, 10 hours DTV time, and 41.25 days of standby.
News categories: Starmobile, Digital TV, Philippines, Smartphone, Terrestrial

Rovi G-Guide HTML enables VOD discovery for J:COM
May 29, 2015 – Rovi (NASDAQ: ROVI) has announced that Japan’s largest cable television operator, Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM), has selected Rovi’s G-Guide HTML to power entertainment discovery across live TV programming and video-on-demand (VOD) content.
News categories: Rovi Corp, J:COM, Chong-ho Choi, Masaaki Agaya, Cable TV, Digital TV, Japan, Middleware, Set Top Box