SES announced that satellite TV continued to increase its reach in Germany after the analogue switch-off in April. In the first half of 2012, satellite TV gained 100,000 households to reach 17.6 million.

Cable TV reception declined further, to 17 million households in the first half of 2012 (December 2011: 17.3 million). By contrast, digital terrestrial TV (DVB-T) benefited from the analogue switch-off and reached 2 million households by June 30th (December 2011: 1.8 million). IPTV increased its reach to 1.4 million households (December 2011: 1.3 million). The overall number of TV households in Germany increased slightly to 38 million (December 2011: 37.9 million). High definition TV continues on its growth path, with 7.2 million or 41 percent of all satellite households in Germany watching HD content (December 2011: 5.9 million / 34 percent).

The figures are based on the latest Satellite Monitor. The research was conducted by market research company TNS Infratest on behalf of SES and in cooperation with the broadcasting institutions in Germany’s federal states. TNS conducted 8,000 interviews across Germany in May 2012.

Eutelsa announces the commercial entry into service of its KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite, marking the official launch of its new-generation Tooway broadband service.

Eutelsat's high-capacity all Ka-band system, combining satellite and on-ground infrastructure, opens a new chapter in the market for satellite-based IP services. As a powerful new platform for delivering high-bandwidth services to users beyond range of terrestrial networks, it can deliver cost-effective and competitive solutions that contribute to building inclusive digital economies across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.

SES ASTRA announces a cooperation with Deutsche Telekom in Germany to combine ASTRA's broad satellite free-TV offer including HD+ with Deutsche Telekom's IPTV product Entertain. The offer will include all free-to-air, TV and radio channels in Standard and HD on ASTRA including HD+ as well as the typical Entertain services like Video on Demand, a TV archive and an Electronic Programme Guide. Entertain Sat also comprises time shift functions and hard disk recording with 500 GB memory. Flat rate telephony and Internet will also be included. Entertain Sat will be available for households all across Germany with a DSL connection of at least 3 Mbit/s.

HD+ is a platform launched by SES ASTRA in Germany for access to free-TV programmes in HD. The HD+ offer currently comprises eight German private free-TV programmes in HD: RTL HD, Vox HD, RTL2 HD, ProSieben HD, Sat.1 HD, kabel eins HD, Sport1 HD and sixx HD.

DISH Network is delivering an all-access pass to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, ensuring that cricket fans across the country won't miss a second of the action. Plus for the first time, DISH Network will offer coverage of the tournament in high definition.

The ICC Cricket World Cup, held every four years, will be co-hosted in the sub-continent by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, and features a 14-nation pool competing for the title. The event opens with Bangladesh playing India on Feb. 19 and will conclude with the championship match in Mumbai on April 2.

Telenor's Canal Digital and announce the start of a long-term strategic alliance which will see TiVo products introduced and distributed as the premier consumer experience for Canal Digital Direct-to-Home satellite customers in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

For Canal Digital, the alliance becomes one of the key pillars in its strategy to continue offering the most advanced and enjoyable television experience to viewers across Scandinavia. The TiVo product will be available exclusively through Canal Digital where it will serve as Canal Digital's next generation platform, seamlessly integrating linear satellite and terrestrial TV channels, Canal Digital's video-on-demand service, and a variety of current and future "OTT" services. TiVo's intuitive, high definition user experience has been identified by several operators in Europe as the most compelling solution for translating an increasingly complex world of content options into a fun and elegant experience for the consumer.

Comcast Media Center, is preparing to expand the reach of its content solutions to support the distribution of Latin American video programming into the North American video market. The CMC announced its plans to support the Latin American video market in conjunction with its participation at Expo Canitec 2010, an industry event serving telecommunications leaders from Latin America, being held in Monterrey, Mexico, April 28-30.

A leading North American provider of centralized solutions for television programming networks and other video companies, the CMC’s video content solutions include transmission (satellite, fiber, IPTV), network origination and playout, video on demand distribution, live events distribution and disaster recovery/business continuity

EchoStar to deliver its ViP-TV video transport service to the city of Ketchikan's KPU Telecommunications, a provider of telecommunications and video services to a city of approximately 14,000 residents in Ketchikan, Alaska. Taking advantage of EchoStar's IP-Prime Conversion Program, KPU will receive transport of up to 42 popular high definition TV channels to its IP headend.

EchoStar and Asia Satellite Telecommunications announce the formation of a joint venture for the delivery of a direct-to-home satellite television service to Taiwan and other targeted regions in Asia. The satellite TV service will broadcast from AsiaSat 4, providing a wide variety of audio and video channels in an all digital format distributed directly to consumer homes via a small satellite antenna and a digital set-top box.

SES AMERICOM sold out its entire available inventory of Ku-band transponder capacity to support news reporting of Super Tuesday presidential primary elections across the United States. Occasional use satellite services allow media companies to purchase capacity on SES AMERICOM satellites to support special events and short-term broadcasting needs.

Over 700 channel hours, representing 14 full transponders of Ku-band transponder capacity, were sold in advance of Super Tuesday. This load is more than ten times what SES AMERICOM books for coverage of a typical news event.

DISH Network satellite TV service is enhancing its already robust international programming lineup by premiering the Thuan Viet channel. Thuan Viet is available exclusively on DISH Network and is the satellite TV provider's first Vietnamese channel.

Thuan Viet is a pure entertainment channel with offerings for the whole family, including hit dramas, comedies, cooking, fashion and travel shows, traditional and modern Vietnamese music, Vietnamese stage performances of Cai Long, Kich and more. Thuan Viet is considered the first true Vietnamese television channel created for America with 100 percent of the programming originating in Vietnam.

After some final trials and tweaking, SES AMERICOM said today that its end-to-end IPTV solution, IP-PRIME, is commercially available. IP-PRIME has received extensive and successful technical trials with large, medium and small sized telcos across the United States, and is now available to any North American telco looking for a turnkey solution to offer their customers a world-class television service.

SES AMERICOM's IP-PRIME gives telecommunications companies the ability to offer television together with their other services. It goes without saying that adding television service can be complex and expensive, but IP-PRIME minimizes the risk of a complex technical integration, simplifies difficult program acquisition challenges and lowers their financial risks for launching a television service.

Maxime Bernier announces the results of a licensing initiative to authorize the development of new Canadian satellites that will increase and improve broadcasting and telecommunications services to Canadian entrepreneurs and consumers. The first satellites are expected to provide services as early as 2010.

"Canada needs to increase its satellite capacity to keep pace with the ever-increasing demand for satellite services," said Minister Bernier. "By awarding these new licences, we are helping the expansion of satellite capacity and services that will benefit Canadians for years to come. We're helping to foster an environment that will bring all the benefits of competition, including increased product and service offerings, choice in supplier, competitive prices and export revenues."

On the verge of its nationwide commercial IPTV launch, SES AMERICOM, an SES company announces that Comcast Networks, Fox Cable Networks, NBC Universal, Showtime Networks, and Turner Broadcasting System, representing some of the world’s best and most watched television, have joined the IP-PRIME IPTV digital dial, which now features more than 350 channels.

Comcast Networks, Fox Cable, NBC Universal, Showtime Networks and Turner have signed IP-PRIME transport agreements, enabling SES AMERICOM to process their popular programming for IPTV distribution over its AMC-9 satellite to authorized video hubs and consumers’ IPTV set top boxes.

Eagle Broadband has entered into a multi-year agreement with FrontGate Broadband, a multi-service broadband provider, to deliver IPTV services to condominium and master planned properties in Florida.

Since December, Eagle has been delivering IPTV signals on a test basis to FrontGate MediaCom, which plans to deliver standard and high-definition programming to properties under contract to FrontGate.

Avail Media has signed a contract to offer Intelsat’s MPEG-4 content aggregation and delivery service - Intelsat IPTV. With the new agreement, Avail Media, who provides turnkey solutions, will be able to offer an IPTV solution to its customer base consisting of telco operators fiber-to-the-home providers and independent cable operators. Avail will offer its IPTV solution starting in the second quarter of 2007.

The Intelsat IPTV Super Headend will offer a lineup of more than 200 video and audio channels in MPEG-4 IP format.