20 November 2013
Globecast today announced that it has signed a new contract with longtime customer China Central Television (CCTV), the state broadcaster of China. Under the latest agreement, Globecast will deliver CCTV-français, the network’s French-language channel, on the SES-4 platform to West African viewers as part of Canalsat, a package of more than 130 channels, radio stations, and services. Canalsat is operated by CANAL+ Afrique, the leading pay-TV bouquet for the region. Globecast is providing a complete solution to bring the CCTV channels to the point of uplink, including contribution, encryption, and encoding.
“SES-4 and the Canalsat bouquet are the ideal vehicles for CCTV to reach a large new audience of African viewers in more than 20 countries,” said Philippe Fort, Chief Operating Officer of Globecast. “The new contract builds on our strong and ongoing relationship with CCTV to offer French-speaking viewers in Africa the best in high-quality international content.”
With a global reach of more than a billion viewers, CCTV currently delivers seven of its 30 channels throughout Europe and Africa via Globecast platforms. In addition to CCTV-français, CCTV recently moved four free-to-air channels for the African market to Globecast’s SES-5 platform.
26 September 2013
Globecast today announced that it is providing services to NHK WORLD, delivering the channel via satellite to new audiences in Central and Western Africa. NHK WORLD, the international broadcast channel of Japanese national public broadcaster NHK, launched the new service on July 30 as part of Canalsat, a package of more than 130 channels, radio stations, and services operated by CANAL+ Afrique on the SES-4 satellite at 22 degrees west orbital position.
Carried as part of the Canalsat Afrique direct-to-home schedule, NHK WORLD is being offered free-to-air for these new African audiences, in keeping with its global brand philosophy for other markets. Globecast is providing a complete solution to bring NHK WORLD to the point of uplink, including contribution, encryption, and encoding.
“With its excellent coverage of the whole Central and Western Africa region and a compelling path to entry into the hotel chains there, SES-4 offers NHK WORLD a solid platform for its initial launch into Africa and future expansion moving forward,” said Juliet Bayliss, UK Sales Director for Globecast. “We’re glad we were able to leverage our close ties with Canalsat to integrate our client NHK WORLD in its service plan, despite the very tight schedule. Our ability to negotiate effectively with our satellite partners is a large part of the service we offer to content providers.” (Source: Press Release)
13 September 2013
At IBC2013, Globecast announced plans to offer IP/MPLS (MultiProtocol Label Switching) technology using the Globecast Backbone Network (GCBN) in 2014. An international DTM (Dynamic Synchronous Transfer Mode) network that spans five continents with 92,000 km of fiber, the GCBN reaches 32 points of presence around the globe. Globecast will operate IP/MPLS side by side with DTM technologies to provide its broadcast clients with the widest range of options for content delivery via more traditional linear services as well as non-linear and multi-platform offerings.
For permanent, full-time linear broadcast delivery, DTM is the current standard; Globecast allows its clients to reach new markets and connect to major bouquet operators, broadcasters, playout facilities, media centers, and teleports worldwide thanks to its extensive DTM network on three continents. However, as broadcasters continue to diversify and expand their offerings beyond linear programming to VOD and other non-linear services, they require reliable capabilities for delivering file-based content. For example, this file-based delivery will be especially useful for broadcasters that use Globecast for their playout operations.
“Globecast is network agnostic and aims to provide our clients with the best solution using the best adapted technology. Today we are responding to the growing trend towards file-based technologies and the use of IP networks by announcing that next year Globecast will be able to use IP/MPLS in addition to current terrestrial and satellite broadcast solutions to reach their audience in the most effective way possible.” said Philippe Fort, chief operating officer of Globecast. (Source: GlobeCast press release)
11 June 2013
GlobeCast and SES (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that they are providing services to Orange Romania for the launch of a high-quality direct-to-home satellite TV package this month. The package will use multiple transponders on ASTRA’s 31.5 degrees East orbital position and will be broadcast in the DVB-S2 and MPEG4 technical standards. GlobeCast will provide contribution, encryption, and encoding for SD and HD channels in the package.
Orange Romania will launch the new TV package to complement its existing mobile service, enabling the company to offer full multi-device communication services to its customers. Orange Romania booked this service through GlobeCast, which is providing a complete solution to bring Orange Romania’s channels to the point of uplink and prepare them for broadcast on capacity that GlobeCast has leased from SES.
“Today OrangeRomaniais ready to provide high-quality television services and to offer our Romanian customers truly attractive packages,” said Jean-Francois Fallacher, Chief Executive Officer of OrangeRomania. “Orange TV means the highest number of HD TV channels, the best satellite beam strength and coverage, dedicated customer care, multiscreen access, a smaller and efficient dish, and other remarkable features that will allow us to offer an amazing TV experience. All these were brought to life with Orange Group’s expertise and solid partnerships we developed with world-renowned companies in the TV industry.”
“Our offices worldwide collaborated to ensure a full technical solution for GlobeCast’s customer, OrangeRomania, beginning with reception of the channels fromBucharestand ending with handoff to our partner SES for uplink to their powerful satellite,” said Philippe Fort, Chief Operating Officer of GlobeCast. “We are proud of the result and will continue to ensure excellent quality of service on the platform, leading to a high-quality experience for the viewer.”
“Telecommunication operators increasingly invest in content distribution in order to complement their existing services,” said Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer of SES. “This agreement shows the growing importance of satellite as a technical infrastructure for linear television packages of telecommunication operators. In addition to its unrivalled technical reach, satellite offers a fixed cost structure that is not dependent on the number of households receiving a TV service. We are delighted that Orange Romania decided to launch its new service via ASTRA. This confirms the leading role that SES plays in central and Eastern Europe and shows that our orbital slot 31.5 degrees East is becoming a new hot spot in this region.”
28 May 2013
GlobeCast, using a combination of satellite, fiber, and IP technology, offered services from the famous red carpet of the Palais des Festivals this year for the 66th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival. The event was held from May 15 to May 26 and was chaired by Steven Spielberg.
Major broadcasters relied on GlobeCast for on-site production services as well as complete end-to-end transmission using satellite, dynamic synchronous transfer mode fiber, and Ethernet connectivity. By making use of all these diverse means of transport, GlobeCast was able to provide cost-effective, high-quality coverage for television channels around the globe.
GlobeCast’s technical operations on site included standup positions just across fromCannes’ beautiful harbour, as well as playout and global content delivery solutions.
A video of the Cannes festival from GlobeCast’s perspective can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arZ9al5XqFg&feature=youtu.be.
