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

WOWOW licenses AI powered transcoder from Ittiam
Mar 8, 2021 – Ittiam Systems has licensed its cloud based content adaptive media transcoder solution to WOWOW, a satellite TV station in Japan. The Transcoder provides video encoding with an AAC Audio encoder.
News categories: Ittiam, WOWOW, Ichiro Minagawa, Yuichi Sogo, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Japan, Satellite

U.S. pay TV providers lost over 5 million subscribers in 2020
Mar 4, 2021 – Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. lost about 5,120,000 net video subscribers in 2020, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 4,795,000 in 2019.
News categories: Leichtman Research, Bruce Leichtman, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Satellite, Streaming, Subscribers, USA

TVbeat to provide audience insights for OSN
Mar 2, 2021 – OSN is to use TVbeat's TV SaaS Framework services, in a step that will strengthen OSN’s position as a data-driven network and enable it to better address shifting viewership behaviour and trends in the MENA region.
News categories: TVbeat, OSN, Abbas D. Tahzib, Devrim Melek, Big Data, Digital TV, Middle-East, Satellite, Set Top Box

U.S. DTH service Orby TV closes down
Mar 1, 2021 – U.S. satellite TV service provider, Orby TV, has announced that it has closed down and ended its service. The company has a arranged a special replacement offer with DISH for its customers.
News categories: Orby TV, Digital TV, Satellite, USA

Asia-Pacific pay TV revenue to fall over next five years
Feb 26, 2021 – Pay-TV revenue in Asia-Pacific will drop from $61.6bn in 2020 to $60.8bn in 2025 due to a slowdown in pay-TV household penetration, a continued decline in Cable TV subscriptions and falls in ARPU, according to GlobalData.
News categories: GlobalData, Kantipudi Pradeepthi, Asia, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite

WDR expands HD capacity with SES at 19.2°E
Feb 26, 2021 – Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) has secured an additional transponder for HD programming on ASTRA at 19.2°E. From 3 March 2021, viewers in North Rhine-Westphalia will be able to receive WDR’s entire programming in HD.
News categories: SES S.A, WDR, Christoph Mühleib, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Germany, Satellite

New AT&T, TPG entity to take over AT&T’s U.S. video business
Feb 25, 2021 – AT&T (NYSE: T) and TPG Capital have announced that they are to establish a new company named DIRECTV that will own and operate AT&T’s U.S. video business unit consisting of the DIRECTV, AT&T TV and U-verse video services.
News categories: AT&T, TPG Capital, Bill Morrow, John Stankey, David Trujillo, John Flynn, Digital TV, IPTV, MandA, Satellite, USA

Sky UK extends satellite capacity contract with SES
Feb 25, 2021 – Sky UK has extended its contract with SES for satellite capacity in an agreement that will add over €90 million in secured backlog. The renewal is in addition to capacity already under contract that extends through 2027.
News categories: SES S.A, Sky, Steve Collar, Patrick Behar, Content Distribution, Ireland, Satellite, UK

Bharti Airtel enters Ad Tech industry with Airtel Ads
Feb 24, 2021 – Bharti Airtel has entered the advertising business with the launch of Airtel Ads, allowing brands to curate consent based and privacy safe campaigns to one of the biggest pool of quality customers in India.
News categories: Airtel, Adarsh Nair, Gajendra Jangid, Pradyot Ghate, Om Jha, Advertising, India, Mobile, Satellite