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Satnews Daily
October 12th, 2011

SatBroadcasting™ — This report includes new information on Bright Technologies, Digital Rapids, NEXTV Australia, SES + TBS


[SatNews] For those involved in the SatBroadcasting™ environment, here is important market segment news that could well be of interest to you...

  • Bright Technologies, Inc., a developer of technology for shared media, has promoted Roger Beck to chief technology officer from his position as worldwide manager of the Company’s Technical Services Group (TSG).  As CTO, Beck will collaborate with senior management to define and maintain strategies that support Bright’s blueprint for growth and deliver on the Company vision.  He will remain well versed in current technology and industry trends while using his technical acumen to uncover, evaluate and develop new concepts and products to satisfy customer demand and strengthen the Company’s competitive edge. Beck will establish technical standards and ensure adherence for product development. Beck will also be responsible for managing Bright’s technical committees, recruiting and managing the TSG, and overall staff training and motivation. Beck’s additional duties include prioritizing technology initiatives and issues to achieve current and future business goals. He will oversee sales activities and function as the primary contact for customers and resellers regarding technical questions in the pre-sales process.



  • Digital Rapids has been selected by Streaming Media magazine as one of the inaugural Streaming Media 100, defined by the publication as "the 100 companies that matter most in online video." The goal of the Streaming Media 100 list was to identify the companies that are the most important, most innovative, have had the most impact on the space in the recent past and are likely to continue to do so in the future. From an initial list of nearly 200 companies proposed by Streaming Media magazine's staff and contributing editors, the judges discussed and debated the relative merits of each until arriving at the final list. Companies evaluated spanned the entire online video ecosystem, from content creation and production, to ingest and encoding, to distribution, syndication, and monetization. Digital Rapids' flexible hardware and software solutions transform video and audio into the multiple formats required by applications ranging from production and archive to multi-screen viewing on devices from PCs, tablets, mobile phones and game consoles to 'connected' and traditional television. Combining superior quality, outstanding performance and easy adaptability to dynamic customer requirements, Digital Rapids' encoding, transcoding and streaming solutions enable media organizations and professionals to maximize the potential of their media content when pursuing new revenue opportunities or new ways to reach their audiences.



  • NEXTV has appointed Mark Lobwein as President and CEO of NEXTV Australia. Lobwein will also serve as Executive Chairman of EURO-World Network, the shareholder of NEXTV in Australia and America. Lobwein has more than 15 years experience in the delivery of international television channels. He has spent his career assisting hundreds of international broadcasters fulfill their broadcast goals. He brings a strong sales and operations background to NEXTV. His relationships in the international broadcast industry include top satellite operators such as Intelsat, OptusSingTel and platform providers such as FOXTEL, Austar, The ART Group and Vision Asia.



  • SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) has announced that Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), a Time Warner company, has signed capacity renewal agreements. This agreement is for nearly seven transponders on four satellites that will enable the distribution of news and entertainment programs throughout North America and Europe. TBS relies on more than ten transponders on SES satellites for global coverage. As part of the multi-year, multi-satellite deal, TBS, Inc. is using five transponders of Ku-band capacity aboard SES’ AMC-3 satellite. Four transponders are used for CNN satellite news gathering (SNG) across the U.S. and Canada, and one is used for distribution of CNN Newsource to more than 800 domestic affiliates. The SNG coverage will seamlessly migrate to the new SES-2 satellite once the spacecraft initiates service in the 87 degrees West orbital slot next month. An additional 8 MHz of capacity is being used to provide voice communications between remote SNG news trucks and CNN in Atlanta. Turner is delivering news from North America via CNN Newsource to European affiliates using 9 MHz of Ku-band capacity on SES’ NSS-7 satellite at 338 degrees East. The service is scheduled to transition to the new SES-4 spacecraft once operational next year. DTH viewers across the U.K. and Germany are receiving a variety of programming from Turner Broadcasting System, including CNN International, TNT, Boomerang and Cartoon Network, over Ku-band capacity on two of SES’ ASTRA satellites located at 19.2 degrees East and 28.2 degrees East.