Tag: satellite

SES, SpeedCast and AsiaSat come together to help Typhoon Haiyan survivors

MUMBAI: SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), SpeedCast, a leading satellite telecommunications service provider in Asia-Pacific, and AsiaSat, a commercial operator of communication spacecraft, have donated satellite and service capacity to enable NetHope, a consortium of 41 non-governmental organisations around the globe, to re-establish communication links to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan that killed at least 6,069 people in that country alone earlier in November 2013.

Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines was an exceptionally powerful tropical cyclone that devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is said to be the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record.

By utilising the satellite capacity donated by SES and the uplink services and ground infrastructure provided by SpeedCast and AsiaSat, NetHope will be able to provide Typhoon Haiyan survivors access to information directly. The services and infrastructure will also support a number of other relief agencies and NGOs working in-country.

“Damage to critical telecommunications infrastructure has made disaster relief and rapid assessment of the situation difficult. Given that it may be weeks or months before terrestrial infrastructure is up and running, satellite connectivity is vital in providing immediate communication needs. SES is pleased to donate satellite capacity to support the people of the Philippines during their recovery from this terrible disaster,” said senior vice president, Commercial Americas at SES Elias Zaccack.

SES is the world’s leading satellite operator with a fleet of 55 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.

“SpeedCast, SES and AsiaSat are providing vital aid directly to the areas that need it most with the help of NetHope. Since the Typhoon hit and we activated our response services, NetHope is now able to assist the relief efforts with communication services that can reach the most remote parts of the country,” said CEO of SpeedCast Pierre-Jean Beylier.

“AsiaSat is pleased to take part in this initiative by offering uplink services from our Tai Po Earth Station. This effort in cooperation with our partners, will establish communication links needed to assist Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in the Philippines,” remarked AsiaSat president and chief executive officer William Wade.

The GVF’s Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Response Programs helped to facilitate this combined industry response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. For more information, please refer to the press release attached. If you would like to speak to an SES spokesperson, please let me know.

December 18, 2013
CNN named cable & satellite channel of the year

MUMBAI: CNN International has once again been recognized for its outstanding global journalism winning the coveted ‘Cable & Satellite Channel of the Year’, ‘Best News Story’ and ‘Best Social Awareness Program’ categories at the 2013 Asian Television Awards held last night in Singapore.

CNN’s Hong Kong-based international correspondent Anna Coren won the prestigious ‘Best News Story 10 minutes or less’ for her powerful exclusive report ‘Afghanistan Taliban Firefight’ where she came under enemy fire for more than 90 minutes in Nejrab alongside U.S. Special forces. This is the third Asian Television Award for Coren – she won ‘Best News Presenter or Anchor’ in both 2011 and 2012. You can see her ‘Afghanistan Taliban Firefight’ report here: http://cnn.it/188w7iI

CNN’s senior international correspondent Sara Sidner collected her second Asian Television Award, this time for the remarkable CNN Freedom Project documentary ‘Operation Hope’ in the ‘Best Social Awareness Program’ category. The award follows Sidner’s original recognition in 2011 as she chronicled the extraordinary against-the-odds journey of a seven-year-old Bangladeshi boy who was viciously attacked, castrated and left for dead because he refused to be forced into begging. In ‘Operation Hope’ she followed up his story to relate how people around the world had seen her report and subsequently helped fly the boy to the US for life-changing surgery, meaning that ultimately his terrifying ordeal ended happily: http://cnn.it/Usz8lK
The award for ‘Operation Hope’ represents the latest recognition for the CNN Freedom Project, an initiative that has been honored extensively for its tireless efforts to shine a light on the horrors of modern-day slavery.

Executive Vice President and Managing Director for CNN International Tony Maddox commented: “I am thrilled that CNN ends 2013 as it started it, namely with recognition and awards from prestigious peers for the outstanding quality of our journalism. These awards stand as a testament to the excellence and dedication of our people in Asia and around the world, with both Anna and Sara’s remarkable reports demonstrating their tenacity and fearlessness in bringing vital stories to our global audience. It is also especially pleasing to see the CNN Freedom Project once again honored as the initiative has repeatedly delivered crucial, hard-hitting but compassionate reporting to increase awareness of this appalling trade.”

The Asian Television Awards took place in Singapore on Thursday December 5, 2013. Senior International Correspondent Sara Sidner attended the gala ceremony and c

December 11, 2013
SES-8 launched successfully; DTH players to benefit

MUMBAI: When it lifted off with almost perfection from the Cape Canaveral station in Florida in the US, communications satellite SES-8 was a personal victory for the creator of the Tesla vehicle Elon Musk. It was Musk’s company SpaceX’s first successful commercial launch using a Falcon 9 launch vehicle and it helped him break into the duopolistic satellite launch market which is dominated by European firm Arianespace and Russia’s International Launch Services (which mainly uses Proton rockets). SpaceX has priced its launches in the $55-60 million range.

While it was a personal landmark for Musk, it was also a victory for the Luxembourg-based SES Satellite management that gleefully watched the $100 million plus 3.1 tonne satellite being hurtled 50,000 miles above the earth into geostationary orbit. Built on a GEO-Star bus by Orbital Sciences, SES-8 is to be co-located with the NSS-6 satellite at 95 degrees east.

The satellite has 33 Ku-band transponders and is targeting both south Asian and south East Asian clients. “The new satellites will enable improved coverage in fast-growing economies in south Asia and Indo-China,” says a press release from the company.

In south Asia, it is aimed at providing much needed transmission capacity to India’s DTH and VSat service providers and government. Sources indicated that considering its location at 95 degrees east, one of the potential customers could be India’s first DTH services provider, the Essel group’s Dish TV that is currently beaming off NSS-6 and is also owned by SES. But all the deals will be done through Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Antrix arm.

SES also plans to launch SES-9 in 2015 at 108.2 degree East with extensive Ku-band capacity to give company to the existing SES-7 satellite in order to provide better DTH broadcasting services in South Asia along with north East Asia and Indonesia.

Although, it was set for launch in early 2013, technical issues pushed the SES-8 to the end of the year.

December 4, 2013
News channels eye elections

MUMBAI: Back in the eighties, veteran journalists Dr Prannoy Roy and Vinod Dua took the nation by storm when they co-anchored the first-ever election analyses programs on the then sole television channel, Doordarshan.

Nearly three decades and the cable and satellite TV explosion later, journalists and news television channels of all hues continue to romance the elections with the same (if not greater) fervour.

With ongoing elections in four states in North India and one in the North East, and general elections due in the first half of 2014, there couldn’t have been a better time for news channels to engage in a bit of one-upmanship with respect to news and programs around the polls. Indiantelevison.com takes a look…

India News is airing a campaign called Kissa Kursi Ka showcasing ground events across Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi. Citizens are part of the live debates on this program.

Urdu news channel, Aalami Samay, features a show called Mukhyamantri ke paanch saal which looks at the five years of Members of Parliament and what they’ve done towards roadways, power supply, safety and security among other causes. Another show titled Aapke numainde..unke wade assesses whether these MPs have succeeded in keeping the promises they made before getting elected to office.

ABP News is well known for its show, Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri while India TV is looking at building a strong team under the supervision of QW Naqvi, who has newly joined the channel as editorial director, to make their coverage of this election a talking point for the general elections coming up next year. “These assembly elections are a build-up to the general elections in 2014; the focus is on capturing viewership now and to be their first choice for news coverage, analyses and insights on elections right till the general elections,” says India TV MD and CEO Ritu Dhawan.

Elections are a bonanza of sorts for news channels, which expect viewership to head north during that time. For instance, India News and Aalami Samay expect their viewership to go up by 15- 20 per cent while ABP is confident of garnering an almost 50-100 per cent increase, largely due to the main shots slated for prime time viewing although election programming is scheduled for the whole day right through the elections.

India News and News X plan live election coverage from 43 locations, including 16 live OB vans and 16 live units. “Elections are like festivals for every news channel,” says India News and News X CEO R K Arora.

Not only are elections significant in grabbing eyeballs, they are also important for news channels to make their mark. “Elections should not only be seen as an eyeball prospect, but also as an area where media can contribute in the process of nation building,” says Dhawan.

While News Nation CEO Shailesh Kumar says: “This poll will also reflect the mood of the nation and take of the people at a crucial juncture when two big leaders (Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi) are being projected as the future of this country. A very decisive poll, which has the capacity to shape the geo-political contours of the nation.”

Advertisers too are part of this gold (read election) rush. For India TV, advertisers come in the categories including Automobile, Cement, Hosiery, Food processing and FMCG.

Says Dhawan: “The rule ‘Eyeball:Price’ is definitely applicable.”, India News and News X have got on boards brands such as Mircrosoft, Renault, Mahindra, Tata Motors, Idea cellular, Honda Motorcycles, Godrej and Whirlpool on their lists.

With channels eyeing elections as a good ‘squeeze’ in terms of viewers and advertisers, most of them have also planned exit polls at the end of the elections.

Coming to the anchors, be it a Deepak Chaurasia or Rajat Sharma or any of your favourite hosts, they are all busy trying to get the best news bytes from specialists, politicians and the public to grab the most number of eyeballs.

November 25, 2013
Tewari launches Bharat Nirman portal, AIR News on SMS Service

NEW DELHI: A total of 69,491 video spots were released to cable and satellite television channels for the first and second phases of the Bharat Nirman Campaign, including 3,660 spots to Doordarshan.

Radio aired a total of 107,532 spots including 12,600 by All India Radio across 92 stations and 94,932 spots across 216 private FM stations. This was apart from 6,048 spots aired on 36 community radio stations.

These figures were revealed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari at the launch of the online portal for the Bharat Nirman Campaign which provides an interactive digital platform for the creative campaign on various schemes and programmes of the campaign.

The Minister also launched All India Radio`s free News SMS service. The service provides AIR news headlines free of cost to its subscribers on mobile telephones. There are two or three headlines in each SMS, which also carried a public service information message.

The event was attended among others by I&B Secretary Bimal Julka, DAVP Director General G Mohanty, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, Director General (Media and Communications) Neelam Kapoor, and All India Radio Director General L D Mandloi.

AIR News Services Division Director General Archana Datta said there will be three updates everyday. She clarified this would not replace the news on phone which people would continue to get.

People willing to subscribe to the service can SMS “AIRNEWS <space> their name” to 08082080820. They can also give a missed call to 08082080820 to subscribe to the service. So far 200,000 people have subscribed to the service.

Anurag Srivastava, Joint Secretary in charge of New Media said the digital platform is both in English and Hindi with creatives in 11 regional languages. The portal enables the user to get information about the Bharat Nirman and the Flagship schemes at a single place. There were six tabs on the home page on certain schemes like Aadhar card, Food Security, Real Estate, Street Vendors, Direct Benefit Transfer, and land acquisition.

It also has live integration with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The portal has apps for mobiles and tablets to provide easy reading. The website is available at www.bharat-nirman.in.

The first phase of Bharat Nirman was launched in May and the second phase in August. The 360 degree communication approach used all formats of media such a TV, radio, print, outdoor publicity and special outreach programmes.

A total of 9.7 lakh spots were screened in the two phases over 8,231 empanelled digital screens in theatres.

A total of 27,870 advertorials were carried across about 1,450 newspapers including 9,000 strip ads.

Outdoor displays for the Bharat Nirman in the two phases were put up at 7,715 sites.

The multi media campaign was supported by a strong media outreach programme through eight Public Information Campaigns (PICs) in rural areas conducted by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) with support from the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), the Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP) and the Song and Drama Division. So far, four PICs have been supported by the ‘Jamunia’ Sound and Light Show.

The Song and Drama Division is also developing a new production taking forward the theme of ‘Priya Power’ which is scheduled to be launched in mid-September at the Red Fort grounds, New Delhi.

In addition, Prasar Bharati conceptualised different programmes such as serials, interviews of eminent personalities and success stories/achievements of flagship schemes. Doordarshan has been airing a serial named Poorva Suhani Aaye Re every Wednesday and Thursday at 10.00 pm and All India Radio has come up with a serial named “Priya”.

The Minister said a scientific approach has been undertaken to monitor and evaluate the Bharat Nirman Media Campaign.

Later asked about the Indian Shining campaign of the previous government, he said the Bharat Nirman campaign was not linked to elections as it had commenced as early as 2007. India Shining on the other hand was a shoddy attempt on the eve of the polls, he said.

He said that while new media was a highly empowering tool, it had to be ensured that it was developed with certain responsibility.

He said the Press Council of India had been asked to go into measures that can be taken to ensure the safety of mediapersons.

September 11, 2013
GSAT-7 Satellite placed in Geosynchronous Orbit

NEW DELHI: India’s advanced multi-band communication satellite GSAT-7, launched from Kourou, French Guyana in the early hours of 30 August and now has been successfully placed in the Geosynchronous Orbit with an altitude of about 36,000 km above Earth’s surface yesterday (3 September) morning, after successfully completing the last of the three orbit-raising maneuvers commanded from ISRO`s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan.

Later in the day, the communication antennae of GSAT-7, including the UHF Helix antenna, were deployed successfully. Following this, GSAT-7 was put in its final orbital configuration, stabilised on its three-axis by the momentum wheels.

The GSAT-7 Satellite would reach its assigned orbital slot of 74 degree East longitude in the Geostationary Orbit within the next 10 days.

On 14 September, the communication transponders in UHF, S, C and Ku bands are planned to be switched on.

Based on current availability of hardware and components, the GSLV Vehicle assembly and checkout is expected to be completed at the Vehicle Assembly Building by the first week of December 2013 and the launch could take place by December 2013.

September 4, 2013
Horse & Country TV partners with Amagi for signal delivery in India

NEW DELHI: Horse & Country TV, the specialist equestrian sports and lifestyle network, has tied up with Amagi Media Labs to deliver its signal to cable, satellite and IPTV operators as part of its international expansion plans.

Amagi offers a next generation cloud-based broadcast distribution and play out infrastructure for television networks. The Bangalore-based company runs India’s largest local advertising network playing more than one million local ad seconds every month on more than ten TV networks ranging from sports and news to entertainment and lifestyle. The company also has international deployments of its broadcast infrastructure in Singapore and Africa.

Horse & Country will leverage Amagi’s cloudport infrastructure platform to deliver localised channel feeds to current and future markets where the channel is distributed.

The cloudport platform is designed as a full-featured alternative to traditional channel play-out options (like satellite, fibre). TV networks can deliver feeds with rich channel branding, diverse language versions and subtitles using cloudport.

The platform can incorporate local advertising and local programme insertion and will shortly also allow for the insertion of live programming. Unlike earlier iterations of remote play-out technologies, the platform allows for full monitoring of programme play-out and health of the play-out servers at the headends. The play-out servers are fully redundant which ensures seamless and fail-safe operation.

H&C TV conducted an extensive review of technology options for international delivery and play-out of localised content including satellite, fibre and IP delivery, working with John Wallace of Wallace Broadcast, before selecting Amagi cloudport as the best solution for its specific needs for international expansion.

H&C TV CEO and chairman Heather Killen said, “Future-proofing our channel for multi-platform international distribution has been a key strategic goal for H&C as we expand our presence in new markets. We are confident that we have found in Amagi a partner that will support our development in an extremely flexible and targeted way.”

Amagi co-founder strategy investments and R&D Baskar Subramanian said, “We believe that cloud-based models are the future of broadcast. Cloudport holistically addresses all the needs of broadcasters for channel play-out and is set to become the standard for multi-platform channel delivery, replacing expensive satellite and fibre-based content delivery. We are delighted to announce Horse & Country TV as Amagi’s first Europe-based, international channel and look forward to a long and successful partnership as they continue their international roll-out.”

Horse & Country TV broadcasts in the UK and Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Malta. The Channel carries exclusive sports event coverage, news, documentary and personality-led programming to the passionate audience for horse sports and country living.

July 27, 2013
STB market continues to thrive, expected to peak in 2015

MUMBAI: Even though the pay-TV industry has been shifting toward delivering services to computers, smartphones and tablets, the traditional set-top box (STB) continues to thrive, with market shipments forecast to hit record highs this year, according to IHS.

Global shipments of STBs used for cable, satellite, terrestrial and IPTV digital TV services are predicted to reach 269 million units this year, which is eight per cent higher than last year. This is expected to grow another six per cent, to 286 million, in 2014, and a further one per cent, to 290 million, in 2015. However, 2015 is expected to be the peak of the market for the foreseeable future. After that, IHS predicts that STB shipments will decrease by five per cent in 2016 and by another two per cent in 2017.

“STBs are facing a mounting challenge to their role at the dominant pay-TV video consumption device because of operators‘ growing emphasis on supporting multiscreen devices,” said Daniel Simmons, the senior principal analyst for TV technology at IHS. “However, operators are continuing to deploy STBs in order to manage the compatibility between their delivery networks and the consumer electronics devices that consumers are increasingly using to view content now.”

“As pay-TV operators rush to accommodate changes in delivery platforms and in video formats – including the adoption of HD – STB shipments will continue to rise, hitting record levels for the next few years”, adds Simmons.

July 13, 2013
Satellite broadcasting companies given final opportunity to give networth details and balance sheet for 2011-12

NEW DELHI: Over forty broadcasting companies have been asked by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to give by 15 July certain details relating to their balance sheet for the year 2011-12, networth, and details of the satellite being used by them for beaming their television channels.

Noting that this is the ‘last and final opportunity’, the Ministry has warned that the details are not given in the proforma drawn up by the Ministry, then appropriate action will be taken ex-parte in accordance with the extant guidelines.

The notice also wants the composition of the Board of Directors of the company, the shareholding pattern including foreign investment, renewal details along with the renewal fee paid, details of Teleport and satellite from which Uplinking/Downlinking is being done, and operational Status of the channel including WPC validity and NOCC Certificate.

lf the channels is not operational, then the status of PBG submission/encashment etc. has to be submitted.

The Ministry had called meetings in batches of different channels to learn about their status, and has attached a list of 44 companies which did not attend the meetings. However, it has said that this list is not exhaustive and whichever company has not given the details according to the format should do so by 15 July.

The list of 44 companies which failed to attend the meetings includes Broadcast Worldwide, Hindustan Broadcasting, Indo-Asian News Channel, Music Choice India , TVC Skyshop and UTV Entertainment Television.

July 12, 2013
SES renews deal with Pakistan’s Supernet

NEW DELHI: SES, a satellite operator with a fleet of 53geostationary satellites, has renewed a multi-year multi-million dollar contract with Pakistan‘s satellite network service provider Supernet.

Supernet will acquire C-band capacity on the SES NSS-12 satellite at the prime orbital location of 57 degrees east. The capacity of this satellite, combined with the strong system integration capabilities of Supernet will provide a high quality GSM backhaul services to mobile operators in Pakistan.

This will also expand network coverage in the remote mountainous areas in the northern region and hard to reach southern regions of the country.

Supernet COO Hamid Nawaz was present on the occasion at CommunicAsia2013 and said the company was quite satisfied with the performance of the NSS-12 satellite throughout Supernet‘s networks.

SES Asia-Pacific and the Middle East senior VP commercial Deepak Mathur expressed his satisfaction at working with Supernet since 2010 and delight at being able to support the company‘s growth.

June 25, 2013