23 April 2009
SES ASTRA has entered into a partnership with the Arab satellite operator Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) to create a new company operating under the YahLive brand that will offer Direct-to-Home (DTH) television capacity and services to more than two dozen countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South West Asia, a large region mainly including the Gulf states and the Maghreb.
YahLive will offer DTH satellite services to free-to-air and pay-TV broadcasters in this region. It will own and commercialise 23 BSS-transponders on the Yahsat 1A spacecraft to be positioned at the 52.5 degrees East orbital position and operating in the Ku-band frequency. The satellite, procured from a consortium of EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, is currently under construction and is scheduled to be launched by the fourth quarter of 2010.
Yahsat is a private joint stock company based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and owned by Mubadala, the investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi.
Creating a company with Yahsat opens a very important and dynamic new market for us, where we can leverage our core DTH competences and join forces with a strong player in the region, said Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Executive Officer of SES ASTRA. This partnership will establish a major business hub for SES ASTRA in the Middle East, and will add a new dimension to the existing strong regional presence of SES through the satellite operator SES NEW SKIES and the system integrator ND SatCom. The region is a market with significant growth potential as the fill rate of the Ku-band capacity is estimated at 90 percent, while demand is expected to grow faster than supply. We are very pleased to work with Yahsat to tap these markets and to contribute our knowledge in deploying satellite capacity as well as a large range of specialised ground and broadcasting services.
We are very pleased to announce this strategic partnership with one of the worlds leading satellite broadcasting operators. SES ASTRAs significant experience in this sector will fast track our ability to create a new TV hotspot over the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, said Jassem Al Zaabi, Yahsats Chief Executive Officer. This alliance also confirms the satellite industrys conviction that Yahsat is the partner of choice in the region. As a new player in the broadcasting sector, we believe this partnership will enable Yahsat to make a very strong entry into the market.
23 April 2009
NorCom Information Technology AG presents a new member of the NCPower product family at the NAB show 2009 in Las Vegas:
the ready-to-use media asset management system NCPower Compact.
NCPower Compact is the end-to-end technical solution for TV, special-interest and Internet broadcasters as well as corporate TV and post-production companies. The media asset management system provides all functions from ingesting to playing out in a single appliance.
Pre-installed and fully equipped with hardware and software, the system can be put into operation with minimum effort.
NCPower Compact is a standard version of NCPower Pro, the individually configured editorial and production system numerous broadcast companies already use. NCPower Compact is based on IBM BladeCenter technology; currently the world’s most modern computing system. This way system interfaces can be avoided. As a result NCPower Compact is highly available, scalable and low-maintenance. NCPower Compact delivers proven workflows for TV, web, mobile and postproduction applications and supports along the entire media production chain. The user interface conveniently integrates all necessary information and tools, allowing the editor to concentrate on what really counts in media production.
‘NCPower Compact allows an affordable entry in the broadcast business’, explains Dr. Tobias Abthoff, a member of NorCom AG’s Management Board. ‘We are pleased to introduce our new end-to-end technical solution at the NAB.
This widget enables us to explore new markets and target groups and we want to address potential clients as well as possible sales partners.’
22 April 2009
During NAB in Las Vegas, German public broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) opted for a campus licence of S4Ms ClipJOCKEY System.The studio production tool covers all workflows in TV control rooms and is supposed to be applied to all sites of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.
MDR has used S4Ms Video Production Management System (VPMS) since 2003. Amongst other things VPMS controls video capture and manages the complete HiRes storage for high resolution broadcast quality video. Hitherto, the module Playout Control was applied in order to pilot the processes in control rooms; now it will be replaced by the new ClipJOCKEY solution. ClipJOCKEY supports the daily processes carried out in TV control rooms, allows to work throughout within a file-based environment and offers MDRs users a variety of new features and functions.
For instance, the system supports all MDR server platforms (Omneon, Grass Valley K2), administers several active playlists simultaneously, provides a time-delayed playout of video material while it is still recorded (playout while record) and it enables to import ingest lists in different formats (ALE, EDL).
In addition the pre-production of magazines can be accomplished without tapes. Especially to that end, S4M has developed the add-on mode offering the same comfort that was hitherto only possible in a tape-based context. A multi channel link feature also supports key-fill applications and multi camera productions.
In a first step ClipJOCKEY will be installed in the HD- ready control room 1 in Leipzig. MDR will use this location to provide the 2010 Winter Olympics program for Germanys public broadcaster consortium ARD. As soon as MDRs main office in Leipzig is equipped with the system, the regional broadcasting studios in Dresden, Magdeburg and Erfurt including the ARD/ZDF Kinderkanal (kids channel) are supposed to employ ClipJOCKEY as well.
22 April 2009
US broadcasters announced at the National Association of Broadcaster’s annual conference in Las Vegas that a new pilot programme is launching in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area that will allow people to watch free mobile digital television on cell phones and other mobile devices.
Local affiliate stations for CBS, NBC, PBS, Ion, and Fox will broadcast their programmes beginning in late summer for mobile devices, which includes cell phones, laptops and car entertainment systems. Broadcasters throughout the country are switching to all-digital transmission in June as part of a government mandate. And as part of the switch, some broadcasters will also broadcast their over-the-air TV signals on a digital sub-channel for mobile devices.
The standard that will be used to transmit the signal is called ATSC Mobile DTV. And the hope is that consumer electronics makers, like cell phone manufacturers, will include the technology in their products so that they can receive the signals.
The trial in the Baltimore-Washington area is expected to kick off later this summer. But it’s only the first step toward offering free mobile DTV. Broadcasters in 28 markets, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta, said they will be broadcasting their signals in mobile DTV.
22 April 2009
Quantel and Spatial View Inc. have entered into a strategic partnership agreement that will make it easier and more cost-effective for content creators of any size to accelerate 3D development projects. The first partnership project will be a plug-in that enables Stereo3D material produced on Quantel systems to be displayed on a wide variety of Spatial View devices, including 3D displays, computer screens, and the iPhone 3G, without the need for 3D glasses.
Quantels ground-breaking Stereo3D technology, as used in movie productions such as Disneys spectacularly successful Hannah Montana concert movie, has enabled the industry to handle the post production of live action, high resolution Stereo3D media in manageable timescales for the first time. Spatial View is a leading developer of autostereoscopic 3D image processing and display technologies that enable glasses-free presentation of 3D-rich content for key markets, including retail/POS, digital signage, professional design, gaming, entertainment and animation. Spatial Views latest product, the Wazabee 3DeeShell, enables 3D content to be viewed on the iPhone 3G, glasses-free.
We are pleased to partner with Quantel to enhance their leading content creation system with our advanced 3D display technology, said Brad Casemore, VP Business Development at Spatial View. With at least 14 3D films scheduled for release this year, 40 expected to be released over the next three years and industry anticipation that 70% of film admissions will be in 3D by 2010*, this timely partnership is set to benefit production studios as they ramp up these 3D productions. Additionally, content creators will now have a 3D solution that can be viewed across multiple distribution platforms, from display screens to the iPhone 3G.
How Stereo3D gets delivered is a real issue for many of the people we are talking to, said Steve Owen, Quantel Director of Marketing. Spatial View provides an innovative range of solutions that both bypass and complement the traditional broadcast delivery chain. Its all about getting great stereo in front of as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Our partnership with Spatial View will help to achieve this and drive this exciting new business area.
In addition to the development of the plug-in, Quantel will offer demonstrations featuring Spatial Views autostereoscopic 3D technology over the coming months. The plug-in is scheduled for release this Spring.
22 April 2009
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd., a rapidly growing provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, has launched a new service: RRsat Global Internet TV (www.RRsatGlobalInternet.tv). This is a global, managed, end-to-end TV service solution, which delivers TV from broadcasters anywhere in the world to viewers throughout the world, for viewing on television screens, PCs and mobile devices, using the infrastructure of the Public Internet.
RRsat Global Internet TV offers a broad content platform to attract viewers from all over the globe, providing content unavailable from local TV Operators, with viewing on all three screens: TV set, PC and mobile phone.
To Broadcasters, RRsat Global Internet TV affords worldwide exposure through a single global solution. The system utilizes cutting-edge technology to achieve highly-economical, reliable delivery of TV over the public Internet, to unlimited numbers of viewers. RRsat Global Internet TV also enables Broadcasters to further monetize their channels via the services integral ad insertion system which serves targeted, high-value advertising in accordance with each Broadcasters policy.
David Rivel, Founder and CEO of RRsat, commented: We are proud to offer our broadcasting customers an additional category of services, which affords them easy access to audiences worldwide, exposure across all viewing devices, and new revenue streams. We bring to this new service the same responsiveness, quality and reliability that our customers always expect and receive from RRsat.
IN MARCH, RRSAT WON THE 2009 INDEPENDENT TELEPORT OPERATOR OF
THE YEAR AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
