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

Broadcom launches first HD satellite set-top box SoC for China
Mar 25, 2015 – Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) has announced a new high definition (HD) set-top box (STB) system-on-chip (SoC) for China's free-to-air (FTA) satellite market. Broadcom's BCM7228 chip integrates Audio Video Coding Standard (AVS+) decompression.
News categories: Broadcom, Dan Marotta, CCBN, China, Digital TV, ICs, Satellite, Semiconductor, Set Top Box

Global pay TV subscriber base to pass 1.1 Billion in 2020
Mar 25, 2015 – ​According to ABI Research, the worldwide pay TV market grew at a steady rate of 4% in 2014 to reach 923.5 million subscribers. Worldwide the pay TV market is expected to surpass 1.1 billion subscribers in 2020 with a CAGR 2.7%.
News categories: ABI Research, Jake Saunders, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, Terrestrial, Worldwide

Astro selects Thomson for DTH, IPTV and OTT expansion
Mar 24, 2015 – Malaysia's Astro has chosen a suite of Thomson Video Networks encoding and video processing solutions for the compression platform that will enable it to deliver additional channels for its future business expansion.
News categories: Thomson Video Networks, Astro, Tony Berthaud, Poh Kee Seng, Content Distribution, Digital TV, IPTV, Malaysia, Satellite, Streaming

FreeTV Alliance releases common Remote Control Specification
Mar 23, 2015 – The FreeTV Alliance has announced the availability of the first of its suite of technical specifications. The Remote Control Specification provides a way for an operator's mobile application to control the viewing experience on the TV screen.
News categories: FreeTV Alliance, Freesat, Tivù, Alberto Sigismondi, Matthew Huntington, Digital TV, France, Germany, Italy, Middleware, Satellite, UK

StarTimes deploys Conax-certified ALi-based set-top boxes
Mar 23, 2015 – ALi Corporation has announced that StarTimes has deployed Conax-certified set-top boxes based on ALi's chipsets to further expand their African markets. StarTimes has accumulated nearly 5 million subscribers across the continent.
News categories: Conax, ALi Corp, StarTimes, Morten Solbakken, Tony Chang, XinXing Pang, Africa, Conditional Access, Digital TV, Satellite, Semiconductor, Set Top Box

North America's traditional pay TV revenues to fall by 11.7%
Mar 23, 2015 – Pay TV revenues in North America peaked in 2013 at $102.86 billion, according to a report from Digital TV Research. The report forecasts that revenues will fall by 11.7% or $12.04 billion between 2014 and 2020 to $90.71 billion in 2020.
News categories: Digital TV Research, Simon Murray, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, North America, Satellite, Subscribers

More details of Foxtel's iQ3 set-top box
Mar 23, 2015 – Foxtel has announced that its iQ3 set-top box is now available. iQ3 includes the ability to 'Start Over' from any point in a program's broadcast at the touch of a button, view search and recommendations, and access on demand programming.
News categories: Foxtel, Richard Freudenstein, Australia, Cable TV, Digital TV, DVR, Satellite, Set Top Box

Foxtel iQ3 set-top box to be released on March 23rd
Mar 19, 2015 – Foxtel has announced that its iQ3 set-top box will hit the entertainment scene starting Monday, 23 March. The new set top box will be available for order for new and current subscribers.
News categories: Foxtel, Australia, Cable TV, Digital TV, DVR, Satellite, Set Top Box

Elemental chosen for Tata Sky 4K video service
Mar 19, 2015 – Elemental Technologies has announced that Tata Sky is using Elemental software to process Ultra HD live linear content in high-efficiency video coding (HEVC/H.265) for delivery to Tata Sky 4K-ready set-top boxes.
News categories: Elemental Technologies, Tata Sky, Dan Marshall, Harit Nagpal, Content Distribution, India, Satellite