30 June 2016
Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), operator of the world’s first Globalized Network, powered by its leading satellite backbone, announced today that Marlink, the global business critical communication solutions specialist, selected Intelsat to deliver fast, high quality Intelsat EpicNG broadband connectivity to Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) cruise ships. At the end of May, MSC Cruises began to apply the benefits of EpicNG’s high throughput connectivity aboard the MSC Divina, one of the world’s largest cruise ships. Utilizing Intelsat’s Globalized Network, Marlink will provide broadband connectivity to all of MSC Cruises’ 12 existing ships, ensuring all of the Company’s ships will be covered globally.
Passengers and crew members are demanding mobile broadband on par with the speeds and reliability experienced at home. The agreement with Intelsat enables Marlink to supplement its existing maritime VSAT services with Sealink Cloud Services to one of the world’s largest, and fastest growing cruise lines. As a result, MSC Cruises will be able to deliver high speed, reliable and affordable connectivity packages to passengers and crew members anywhere the cruise ships travel.
Under the existing long-term partnership agreement signed in 2014, Marlink will take advantage of the flexibility and scale of Intelsat’s fully interoperable and integrated satellite network to provide MSC Cruises with global coverage for their worldwide itineraries. Marlink will use wide beam C- and Ku-band satellite solutions from nine Intelsat satellites initially, as well as Ku-band high throughput spot beams from Intelsat 29e, the first of the Intelsat EpicNG fleet, and Intelsat 33e, once it enters service in the second half of the year.
Marlink will also leverage the IntelsatOne terrestrial network, specifically teleports located in Georgia and California in the U.S., as well as Germany and South Korea.
“When serving a ‘floating town’ such as a cruise ship with connectivity requirements for its various itineraries globally, delivering consistent quality and reliability is essential to the passenger experience and the brand integrity of the customer that we are serving,” said Tore Morten Olsen, President Maritime, Marlink. “With Intelsat, we are providing a scalable and robust solution to MSC Cruises, delivering on high volume broadband demands across many ships operating in high-traffic regions. The high performing, resilient and secure network will enable our customer to further streamline vessel operations, deliver superior services to its crew and most importantly, keep thousands of passengers on each of their ships connected at all times.”
Kurt Riegelman, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Intelsat, said: “Marlink has been a great partner and understands the value that Intelsat’s fully integrated wide beam and high throughput global network can deliver to its customers, particularly those operating a fleet of ships in the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean ocean regions at the same time. Our Globalized Network will enable Marlink to quickly and cost effectively scale to meet its customer demands and consistently deliver high performing, resilient and secure broadband connectivity to the many ships operated by their cruise ship customer.”
Supporting Resources:
Can Bandwidth Supply Keep up with Maritime Demand? http://www2.intelsat.com/e/48312/-keep-up-with-maritime-demand-/3ysdtp/178078452
Learn more about Intelsat’s Mobility Services: http://www2.intelsat.com/e/48312/solutions-mobility-/3ysdtr/178078452
Learn more about Intelsat EpicNG:
http://www2.intelsat.com/e/48312/bal-network-satellites-epicng-/3ysdtt/178078452
(Source: Intelsat press release)
29 June 2016
Arqiva, the communications infrastructure and media services company, has today announced that it has been selected by specialist Australian media company Inverleigh to distribute its premium sports content internationally, representing a first win for Arqiva’s new Australasian office.
As part of a three year, six figure contract, Arqiva will use its international leases on AsiaSat, Eutelsat and Intelsat, along with its teleports to distribute Inverleigh’s programmes throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas. The programmes will initially be delivered from Inverleigh ’s Melbourne base to Arqiva’s Sydney Teleport Services (Sydney PoP) via FTP, but Arqiva aim to move to a full-time fibre connection in the future.
With over 2,000 hours of content already developed, Inverleigh is a specialist producer of premium sports and entertainment programmes, including one of the widest reaching league football weeklies, ‘The Football Review’, which analyses the latest results and developments in all European leagues and internationals twice a week.
Peter Wraith, CEO at Inverleigh commented: “More than 260 international broadcasters already love our high-value content solutions and we have no intention of stopping there. The focus for Inverleigh is to continue our international growth, and by working with an experienced partner like Arqiva we believe we can deliver a reliable, high quality programming solution to a growing broadcaster base to meet our clients demands.”
“Having worked with Arqiva over the past few years we have come to expect outstanding personal service and dedication to our business. It was largely the quality of the relationship Arqiva built with us that convinced us to change from our long term provider.”
David Crawford, Managing Director of Satellite & Media at Arqiva commented: “This is a great milestone for our Australasian office and we are very excited to be working with one of the most progressive, and ambitious global media companies.”
“In a highly competitive market it is always tricky to convince a company to switch from its long-term incumbent – ultimately we believe that it’s the confidence Inverleigh has in our ability to deliver its content that has encouraged it to do so, and it delights us to see our partners having such high faith.”
(Source: Arqiva press release)
27 June 2016
In 2009 veteran TV producer Fran Mires set up Al Youm for MBN’s Alhurra TV, the live daily three-hour show for the Middle East that broadcasts simultaneously from Dubai, Cairo, Beirut, Jerusalem and the US. It proved a big challenge, not least because Mires did not speak any Arabic. In 2016, with Al Youm firmly established among audiences in 22 Middle Eastern countries and having spawned a number of successful spin-offs such as Street Pulse, Mires has turned the spotlight on female empowerment in Arab society with her latest production Sit B’Mit Ragel. The Channel spoke to Mires to find out more – click here to go to interview
23 June 2016
RT’s round the clock documentary channel RTDoc has presented hundreds of documentaries and has been recognized by many international industry awards, including the New York Festivals Awards and US International Film & Video Festival Awards, in the five years since its launch.
“The original idea was to focus on producing documentaries about Russia, but the channel has grown to cover the entire world in these 5 years,” says Yekaterina Yakovleva, head of RTDoc. “To-date, we have produced and aired over 500 films. Our teams find one-of-a-kind, absolutely stunning stories all over the world, and run live investigations at the sites of ongoing conflicts, often risking their lives.”
RTDoc crew’s recent trip to Syrian Kurdistan produced two eye-opening documentaries. In the Name of the Profit explores a possible connection between Turkey and the Islamic State; it has been scheduled for screening at the UN later this summer. Her War: Women vs. ISIS tells the story of Kurdish women fighting against the Islamic State militants who fear dying at the hand of a woman.
Other notable RTDoc films about the military conflicts include Trauma, which is dedicated to the work of emergency response doctors in the conflict-torn Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and Zashto? (Why?), shot 15 years after NATO’s air strikes of Yugoslavia, which documents present-day consequences of that military operation.
Several RTDoc stories captivated the international public with their unexpected and peculiar subjects. Sleepy Hollow followed reports of a Kazakh village whose many residents would occasionally fall into several-days-long sleep. The documentary piqued the interest of the Washington Post, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Week, and other outlets. Meanwhile, Agafia presented to the world a 70-year-old recluse who has lived her entire life cut off from the civilization, hundreds of kilometers deep into the thick forests of Siberia.
RTDoc documentaries have been distinguished with many international awards including New York Festivals Awards, MediaExcellence Awards, OMNI Intermedia Awards, Broadcast Digital Awards, US International Film & Video Festival and Russian film festival Strana. Stand-out works include Blood and Honour, which investigated the story of a centuries-old tradition in the North Caucasus, Albino Africa about the hardships befalling albino children born in Tanzania, The Town of Little Angels, filmed six years after Beslan massacre, and Children of the Tundra, portraying the life of the indigenous population of Russia’s Far North.
(Source: RT press release)
22 June 2016
GRAND SUMO Highlights
Jul 10 – 24 16:30/ 22:30/ Next Day 4:30/ 8:30 (UTC) <23 min.>
Sumo, Japan’s national sport, is coming to NHK World TV. Six grand sumo tournaments are held each year, and with wrestlers coming from around the globe, the interest of overseas fans is growing. During the 15 days of the July tournament, NHK World TV programming will feature bouts involving high-ranking wrestlers. Mongolian Yokozuna Hakuho, the winner of the previous tournament, is the centre of attention. To make the highlights even more enjoyable, the weekend coverage will have “Sumopedia,” information of the sports, including its history and customs.
Other highlights from the July schedule include:
Amazing Bug’s Technology
Jul 15 Fri 23:10/ Sat 5:10/ 10:10/ 17:10 (UTC) < 48 min.>
For millions of years, insects have come out ahead in the struggle for survival. The programme reveals some of the mechanisms hidden in their bodies and shows how human-made technology is being inspired by those evolutionary traits. 4K high-speed cameras and digital microscopes provide an extraordinary view of the world of bugs, from painless mosquito stings to high-performance dragonfly wings.
Bunraku in Paris-Oiran: Experts in the Art of Love
Jul 23 Sat 23:10/ Sun 5:10/ 10:10/ 17:10 (UTC) < 49 min.>
Designing shoes for Lady Gaga garnered a lot of attention for contemporary artist Noritaka Tatehana. Now he’s turning his talents to staging Japan’s traditional puppet theatre in Paris. Collaborating with Bunraku master Kanjuro Kiritake, Tatehana serves as art director for a story steeped in Japanese aesthetics. The master himself is giving the grand role of the courtesan Akoya its premiere outside of Japan, bringing the soul of the character to the present. The programme documents the two men’s efforts to discover new dimensions of Bunraku.
(Source: NHK World TV press release)
