Satellite Television (DBS, DTH, DSat, DVB-S, DVB-S2) News

Orion Express expands media delivery to Russia with Intelsat
Mar 21, 2017 – Intelsat (NYSE: I) has announced that Orion Express has signed a multi-year extension with Intelsat for satellite services supporting DTH and media distribution services in Russia via the Intelsat 15 satellite.
News categories: Intelsat, Orion Express, Jean-Philippe Gillet, Kirill Makhnovskiy, Content Distribution, Russia, Satellite

MTG sells Baltic broadcasting businesses
Mar 17, 2017 – MTG has signed an agreement to sell its free-TV, pay-TV, digital and radio businesses in the Baltic region to Providence Equity Partners, an asset management firm that is the owner of Bite, the Lithuanian and Latvian mobile operator.
News categories: MTG, Providence Equity Partners, Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, Robert Sudo, Digital TV, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, MandA, Satellite

Top U.S. pay TV providers lost ~795,000 subscribers in 2016
Mar 16, 2017 – Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that the largest pay-TV providers in the US lost about 795,000 net video subscribers in 2016, compared to a pro forma loss of about 445,000 subscribers in 2015.
News categories: Leichtman Research, Bruce Leichtman, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Streaming, Subscribers, USA

Cord-cutting in Canada reaches record level in 2016
Mar 15, 2017 – Canada’s publicly traded television service providers as a whole continued to lose a record number of TV subscribers in 2016 but the trends shifted as the cable companies lost considerably fewer subscribers and the IPTV providers saw subscriber growth slow significantly.
News categories: Boon Dog Professional Services, Mario Mota, Cable TV, Canada, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers

Arianespace to launch KOREASAT-7
Mar 14, 2017 – For its fourth launch of the year Arianespace will orbit two satellites: SGDC for VISIONA Tecnologia Espacial S.A. on behalf of the Brazilian operator Telebras, and KOREASAT-7 for the South Korean operator KT Sat.
News categories: Arianespace, KT Sat, Telebras, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Korea, Satellite

Africa Pay TV revenue to reach $6 billion in 2021
Mar 13, 2017 – According to the latest data from Dataxis for the year ending 2016, Africa Pay TV subscribers stood at approximately 18.7 million representing an increase of approximately 2 million subscribers compared to the previous year.
News categories: Dataxis, Pascal Orhan, Africa, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, Terrestrial

Kagan releases 4th quarter U.S. multichannel subscriber report
Mar 10, 2017 – Cord cutting accelerated in the fourth quarter 2016 according to Kagan. Kagan estimates the combined cable, DBS and telco sectors lost 460,000 video customers during the period, bringing the overall 2016 decline to a record 1.8 million.
News categories: Kagan, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, USA

TVkey launches at HD+ in Germany
Mar 6, 2017 – NAGRA (SIX:KUD.S) and Samsung have announced the world’s first commercial deployment of TVkey at German satellite operator HD+. TVkey provides TV-platforms and pay-TV operators with a low-cost route to market for their services.
News categories: NAGRA, Samsung, HD PLUS, Pierre Roy, Hyogun Lee, Georges Agnes, Content Protection, Digital TV, Germany, Satellite, Set Top Box

Videocon d2h to add Netflix to its HD Smart Connect STB
Mar 6, 2017 – Videocon d2h has signed a standalone deal with Netflix. With this partnership, Videocon d2h connected box customers will be able to access seamlessly the extensive library of Netflix TV and movie titles.
News categories: Videocon d2h, Netflix, Saurabh Dhoot, Anil Khera, Reed Hastings, Apps, Digital TV, India, Satellite, Set Top Box, Streaming