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

EUTELSAT 117 West B all-electric satellite now in commercial service
Jan 16, 2017 – Eutelsat (Paris: ETL) has announced that its EUTELSAT 117 West B satellite has entered into full commercial service and is now ready to support customers across Latin America.
News categories: Eutelsat, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Latin America, Satellite

Sub-Saharan Africa pay TV thrives despite falling prices
Jan 16, 2017 – Digital TV Research estimates that three groups will continue to account for 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s pay TV subscribers. At end-2016, Multichoice had 11.61 million subscribers, well ahead of StarTimes with 4.18 million and Vivendi with 2.32 million.
News categories: Digital TV Research, Simon Murray, Africa, Digital TV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, Terrestrial

Médiamétrie releases Médiamat 2016 survey of TV in France
Jan 2, 2017 – Médiamétrie has released 2016 results from its Yearly Médiamat survey of the French television market. According to the survey, there are 57.974 million individuals with access to TV in the country.
News categories: Médiamétrie, Cable TV, Digital TV, France, IPTV, Satellite, Subscribers

India adds 1.4 million active DTH subscribers in 3Q 2016
Dec 30, 2016 – The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released performance indicators for the quarter ending September 2016. The total number of registered and active subscribers being served by India's DTH operators was 94.61 million and 61.90 million respectively as on 30th September, 2016.
News categories: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Cable TV, Digital TV, India, Satellite, Subscribers

ABS and Nepal Digital Cable to launch DTH on ABS-2
Dec 23, 2016 – ABS and Nepal Digital Cable (NDC) have signed a multi-transponder agreement to deliver DTH broadcast service to Nepal. The platform will broadcast over 170 TV channels of local and international content.
News categories: Asia Broadcast Satellite, Nepal Digital Cable, Tom Choi, Laxmi Prasad Paudyal, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Nepal, Satellite

Portugal adds 44,000 pay TV subscribers in 3Q 2016
Dec 19, 2016 – According to ANACOM there were 3.639 million subscribers to subscription TV in Portugal at the end of the third quarter of 2016, 44,000 more than in the previous quarter, and an extra 159,000 compared to the same point in 2015.
News categories: ANACOM, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Portugal, Satellite, Subscribers

SES and CANAL+ in long-term capacity agreement
Dec 16, 2016 – SES (Paris; Luxembourg: SESG) and CANAL+ Group have confirmed the signature of a long-term, multi-year, multi-transponder framework agreement for SES satellite capacity in both France and Africa.
News categories: SES S.A, CANAL+ Group, Ferdinand Kayser, Sylvain Géron, Africa, Content Distribution, Digital TV, France, Satellite

FreeviewPlus doubles Australian penetration in less than 12 months
Dec 13, 2016 – Freeview Australia’s hybrid TV service FreeviewPlus has notched up strong growth in 2016, with the most recent figures showing household penetration has risen to 20% – double the figure released earlier this year.
News categories: Freeview Australia, Liz Ross, Australia, Digital TV, HbbTV, Market Research, Satellite, Set Top Box, Terrestrial

AzuriTV offers solar powered PAYG satellite TV package in Kenya
Dec 5, 2016 – Azuri Technologies and Zuku have launched the first integrated PAYG satellite TV offering for rural off-grid consumers in sub Saharan Africa. AzuriTV combines solar home power, TV, satellite dish and Zuku Smart+ entertainment in one complete package.
News categories: Azuri Technologies, Zuku, Simon Bransfield-Garth, Jay Chudasama, Digital TV, Kenya, Satellite, Set Top Box