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

Portugal adds 179,300 pay TV subscribers in 2014
Mar 5, 2015 – According to Portugal’s Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), there were 3.35 million subscribers to subscription TV in the country at the end of 2014, 55,800 (+1.7 percent) more than in the previous quarter, and an extra 179,300 (+5.7 percent) compared with the end of 2013.
News categories: ANACOM, Cable TV, Digital TV, Fibre, IPTV, Market Research, Portugal, Satellite, Subscribers

U.S. pay-TV providers lost 125,000 subscribers in 2014
Mar 3, 2015 – Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that the thirteen largest pay-TV providers in the US -- representing about 95% of the market -- lost about 125,000 net video subscribers in 2014. Annual net pay-TV losses in 2014 were comparable to 2013, when the same top pay-TV providers lost about 95,000 subscribers.
News categories: Leichtman Research, Bruce Leichtman, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, USA

Greece's Nova chooses Harmonic headend for DTH
Mar 3, 2015 – Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) has announced that Forthnet, the company that owns Nova, the largest pay-TV satellite platform in Greece, has chosen a high-end compression headend with video analytics from Harmonic to support its direct-to-home (DTH) SD/HD service.
News categories: Harmonic, Nova, Forthnet, Ian Graham, Constantinos Moraitis, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Greece, Satellite

MEASAT and partners demo hybrid DVB-S2X/DVB-T2 4K 60p transmission system
Mar 2, 2015 – Village Island and Aviindos, in partnership with MEASAT, are planning a live demonstration of a satellite (DVB-S2X) and terrestrial (DVB-T2) hybrid 4K 60p transmission system at the upcoming ABU DBS Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur.
News categories: MEASAT, Village Island, Aviindos, Jarod Lopez, Jonathan Triboulet, Naveendran Murthy, Content Distribution, Digital TV, DVB-S2, DVB-T2, Malaysia

Nippon TV and Newtec carry out world's first DVB-S2X 256APSK transmission
Mar 2, 2015 – The world’s first DVB-S2X 256APSK satellite transmission has been successfully completed by Japan-based Nippon TV with Newtec technology. The trial saw Nippon TV transmit 5MHz bandwidth with a 256APSK carrier from an SNG truck to the Superbird-B2 satellite.
News categories: Newtec, Nippon TV, Dirk Breynaert, Tetsuo Makino, Content Distribution, Digital TV, DVB-S2, Japan, Satellite

Ericsson enables Tata Sky 4K video service
Mar 2, 2015 – Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has announced that it has enabled Tata Sky to launch the first commercial 4K video service in the subcontinent. Ericsson will provide compression technology for 4K distribution using the 1080P50 format.
News categories: Ericsson, Tata Sky, Chris Houghton, Harit Nagpal, Content Distribution, India, MWC24, Satellite

India consults on DTH set-top box interoperability
Feb 27, 2015 – The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a draft Tariff Order (TO) for consultation with stakeholders. This draft TO prescribes a framework for commercial interoperability of Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) offered by the Direct-to-Home (DTH) operators to their subscribers.
News categories: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Digital TV, India, Regulation, Satellite, Set Top Box

Pay DTT up 52% year-on-year in Croatia
Feb 26, 2015 – The Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency (HAKOM) has reported communications market data to the end of the fourth quarter of 2014. Pay DTT (EvoTV) was the fastest growing TV segment with subscriptions rising by over 52% year-on-year.
News categories: HAKOM, Cable TV, Croatia, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, Terrestrial

Exset DMS integrated with DTV Research STBs
Feb 26, 2015 – Exset has announced that its DMS 2.0 value-add service solution is now fully integrated with DTV Research’s set-top technology, making DMS 2.0 available to already-deployed boxes. DTV Research has millions of set-tops already rolled out in emerging markets.
News categories: Exset, CABSAT, Digital TV, Middleware, Satellite, Set Top Box, Worldwide