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

2.4 million active smartcards for Italy's TivùSat
Jun 4, 2015 – Italian satellite TV platform TivùSat has announced that almost six years after its launch at the end of July 2009, it now has more than 2.4 million active smart cards, representing about 8% of Italian families.
News categories: Tivù, Italy, Satellite, Subscribers

SES and CANAL+ test Champions League in Ultra HD on ASTRA
Jun 4, 2015 – SES (Paris; Luxembourg: SESG) has announced that CANAL+ Group will test-broadcast the Final of the Champions League match FC Barcelona - Juventus produced by UEFA in Ultra High Definition on ASTRA on Saturday, June 6th.
News categories: SES S.A, CANAL+ Group, Ferdinand Kayser, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Europe, Satellite

Vodafone continues to gain pay TV share in Portugal
Jun 3, 2015 – According to Portugal’s Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), there were 3.404 million subscribers to subscription TV in the country at the end of the first quarter of 2015, 54,000 (+1.6 percent) more than in the previous quarter, and an extra 194,000 (+6.1 percent) compared to the same point in 2014.
News categories: ANACOM, Digital TV, Fibre, IPTV, Market Research, Portugal, Satellite, Subscribers, TV Services

TrueVisions chooses ContentWise for multiscreen personalization
Jun 3, 2015 – ContentWise has announced that it has been selected by TrueVisions to power personalization for its multiscreen offering in Thailand. Working with system integrator, Golden Duck, ContentWise will deliver personal user experiences for the TrueVisions VOD service.
News categories: ContentWise, TrueVisions, Golden Duck, Paolo Bozzola, Nantanee Wongumnitkul, BroadcastAsia, Cable TV, Digital TV, Satellite, Thailand

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