Oslo, February 9th, 2016: Conax, part of the Kudelski Group, and a leader in total service protection for digital entertainment services worldwide via broadcast, broadband and connected devices, today announced the appointment of Daniel Johansson as Executive Vice President and Head of Global Sales. A member of the Conax executive management team, Johansson is reporting to President and CEO, Morten Solbakken.

The new commercial EVP brings vast leadership experience from high impact global technology arenas and key executive management roles from leading visionary companies including Cisco, Tandberg and AVAYA. Tapping his extensive background and proven results in sales, marketing, partnerships and strategic alliances, Johansson will lead development and execution of Conax global sales strategies and growth cultures. He brings an impressive track record in building high performance sales teams and cultivating growth strategies for Fortune 100 & 500 accounts in South America, EMEA and Asia. Additionally, he holds pivotal, hands-on experience from M&A integrations at Cisco and AVAYA and active membership in several councils and boards.

-“I am highly pleased to welcome Daniel to Conax to further energize our global team, and take part in driving our global ambitions and activities to the next level,” confirms Morten Solbakken, President and CEO, Conax.

-“Daniel brings vast experience in developing and building top-performing sales cultures and forward-thinking customer value propositions. Already widely recognized as an innovative and results-oriented leader, I am highly confident he will add substantial value to Conax growth plans, our global organization and our executive management team.”

Conax Executive Profiles:
Executive profiles for Daniel Johansson and the Conax Executive Team including Conax’ key SVP regional roles are available at www.conax.com/about-us/executive-profiles/

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About Conax
A part of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD:S), Conax is a leading global specialist in total service protection for digital TV and entertainment services via broadcast, broadband and connected devices. The Conax Contego™ unified security hub provides telcos, cable, satellite, IP, mobile, terrestrial and broadband operations with an innovative portfolio of flexible and cost-efficient solutions to deliver premium content securely. Conax’ future-ready technology offers modular, fast-time-to-market solutions that enable easy entry into a world of secure multiscreen, multi-DRM content delivery and secures rights for premium content delivery to a range of devices over new hybrid network combinations. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, ISO 9001 & 27001 certified Conax technology enables secure content revenues for 400 operators in 85 countries globally. For more information, please visit www.conax.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to join in the conversation.

Conax media contact
Leslie Johnsen
Head of Public Relations & Communications
Mob: +47 41 45 80 43
Email: leslie.johnsen@conax.com

4 Feb, 2016 – Iconic American actor Matt LeBlanc has today been revealed as one of the new presenters of the upcoming and eagerly awaited return of Top Gear – the planet’s biggest motoring entertainment show. LeBlanc’s appointment marks the first time the show has ever had a non-British host in its 39-year history.

In what promises to be an explosive cocktail of car-obsessed entertainers and cultural clashes – the eagerly anticipated return of the revamped show is expected to noisily announce itself on BBC Two and TV screens everywhere this May.

The Golden Globe-winning star of the popular BBC comedy Episodes, LeBlanc’s international appeal has never been stronger despite filming the finale of his global hit Friends almost 12 years ago. He’s already a familiar face to Top Gear viewers, having been a two-time guest on the show and the fastest celebrity to date around the Top Gear track in its reasonably priced car. LeBlanc also presented the recent standalone spin-off Top Gear: The Races, where he led fans through some of the most memorable racing moments from the previous 22 series.

He joins production immediately and additional Top Gear cast members will be confirmed shortly.

Chris Evans said of his new Top Gear presenter: “Matt’s a lifelong fellow petrolhead and I’m thrilled he’s joining Top Gear. Acting out our craziest car notions on screen is a dream job and I know we’ll both be debating some epic road trip ideas. We can’t wait to share what we’ve been up to on screen later this year.”

Matt LeBlanc commented: “As a car nut and a massive fan of Top Gear, I’m honoured and excited to be a part of this iconic show’s new chapter. What a thrill!”

Alan Tyler, the BBC’s Acting Controller for Entertainment Commissioning said: “Matt is a class act and a brilliant signing for Top Gear. He is a self-confessed car fanatic with a passion for the programme. I’m really looking forward to watching Chris and Matt bring the all new show to our audiences.”

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4 Feb, 2016 – When it comes to English Premier League (EPL), Astro is certainly one of the main platform for many football fans in Malaysia to watch matches from the hugely popular league. Looks like it will remain so for at least three more seasons as the satellite-based pay TV operator has announced that the company has secured EPL’s broadcast rights from 2016/17 to 2018/19.

According to Henry Tan, the Chief Operating Officer of Astro, customers will able to catch all 380 EPL matches on each season in full HD through its platform. Additionally, customers will also able to catch these matches online through mobile devices with the help of Astro On-The-Go.

Read more at lowyat.net

3 Feb, 2016 – Theme parks unit profit also set a new record, while cable giant and NBCU owner Comcast posted its biggest pay TV subscriber gain in years.

Cable giant Comcast on Wednesday reported improved fourth-quarter and full-year financials for its entertainment arm NBCUniversal.

The entertainment company, led by CEO Steve Burke, reported higher operating cash flow, the profitability metric that the company uses, and revenue than in the year-ago period, driven by growth in its film and theme park units. Both divisions also posted record full-year operating cash flow, as expected.

Read more at the Hollywood Reporter

3 Feb, 2016 – Star India has renewed its exclusive broadcast rights for the English Premier League for the next three seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

With this renewal, Star India will continue to broadcast Premier League matches on a live or delayed basis across India on the Star Sports channels, as well as stream all matches on its digital platforms, Hotstar and starsports.com.

Star India will broadcast more than 200 Premier League games live across its Star Sports TV network, and all the 380 games live on its digital platforms.

Read more at Indian Television

3 Feb, 2016 – Comcast execs say that there’s a lot of life left in traditional TV advertising, and in the expanded basic pay TV bundle, even in a time of growing cord cutting and shaving.

Only a “very small percentage” of Comcast’s cable TV customers take a smaller package — a so-called skinny bundle — Comcast Cable chief Neil Smit said in a call this morning with analysts. Some 75% of the new video customers in Q4 “were at the higher end of video packages, so you don’t want to overstate the significance of skinny bundles.”

Read more at Yahoo Singapore

3 Feb, 2016 – GroupM Malaysia recently tied up with Kantar Media for the subscription of the UK-based research company’s service to measure the habits of pay-TV viewers in the country. GroupM Malaysia is also investing heavily in data technology to put the agency on stronger footing amid fierce competition among ad agencies in the area of data-driven marketing.

“Data helps us to understand customers’ history and behaviour patterns more effectively,” GroupM Malaysia CEO Girish Menon recently told StarBizWeek. “This enables us to have a sharper insight and facilitates marketers to deliver the right message to consumers at the right time and in the right context for a particular brand. For us, data is the future and this allows GroupM to have a competitive advantage over its counterparts in the ad industry as it helps in formulating better decisions for our clients, i.e. marketers and advertisers. This investment is an integral part of our business growth initiative.”

Read more at Adobo Magazine

3 Feb, 2016 – Discovery has announced a raft of carriage deals for its channels in the MENA region, adding six to the fledgling entertainment service from beIN, and two new brands to longstanding platform operator OSN.

The beIN pay TV service branched out from sport and launched its entertainment line-up last November. It has added six Discovery services, five of which it will have on an exclusive basis: Discovery Kids, Dlife, DMAX, DTX and an HD version of lifestyle channel Fatafeat.

Read more at Digital TV Net

LUXEMBOURG, 3 February 2016 – SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that it has launched a new satellite data network, SES Plus, that will offer customised products and solutions to tackle the evolving needs of the markets.

By leveraging SES’s partnership with O3b Networks and its medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, in combination with SES’s geostationary (GEO) widebeams and upcoming HTS payloads, the global satellite operator will be able to offer multiple solutions that will address the diverse needs of the data markets. SES will also continue to invest in ground infrastructure to ensure easy accessibility to space.

SES’s first Plus product, Enterprise+ Broadband, was launched across five markets in Africa in November. Offering up to 1 Gbps of connectivity, it is a competitively priced flexible connectivity platform that has a plug and play offering, with pay-as-you-go options to ensure the service can go live quickly.

“SES is a leading video satellite operator, but our expertise goes beyond providing services to video customers. Our new data network, SES Plus, highlights the strengths of SES as a data satellite operator. We go beyond building a new ground infrastructure and new satellite architecture of GEO, MEO and HTS beams, to deepening collaboration with our customers to design customised and differentiated products that will enable them to excel in their markets,” said Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer at SES. “The first Plus product is already out in the market, and already we are hearing positive feedback about how this high-speed broadband platform is essential to the countries in which we are operating. That aside, our teams are working around the clock to develop more much-needed customised products to deliver more connectivity.”

More information about SES Plus can be found at: www.ses.com/plus.