Irdeto will enable Tata Sky to launch a secure OTT service, supporting a variety of connected devices

IBC 2017, AMSTERDAM – 16 September 2017 – Irdeto, the world leader in digital platform security, has been selected by Tata Sky, India’s leading content distribution platform providing pay TV and over-the-top (OTT) services, to enhance its end-to-end solution for OTT services. Tata Sky aims to launch the most innovative online video service in India to give consumers greater choice and convenience. Irdeto’s OTT solutions simplify the operations and workflow of supporting multiple digital rights management (DRM) systems, configuring consistent business policies across different devices and managing a massive library of media assets. Irdeto will enable Tata Sky to not only rapidly re-launch their service, but also have the flexibility to easily adapt their service and business model to meet changing demands.

The pay TV market in India is highly competitive, yet there is tremendous growth potential for OTT services as disposable incomes rise. According to Tetra Pax Index 2017, 82% of the Indian population spends their time on mobile phones, and 2017 saw a 23% rise in internet users who spend an average of eight hours a day online compared to 2016.

“To take advantage of the growing trend of consumption of video on-the-go, in India, it is important for us to offer our customers the best user experience on their devices. This means a high quality, multi-lingual viewing experience of live channels and on-demand content with superior navigation within a reliable and scalable service,” said Pallavi Puri, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Sky. “We are confident that we can deliver the best Tata Sky OTT experience to our customers quickly with the help of Irdeto’s solutions, expertise and support. Irdeto’s long-standing presence in India is also a testament to their strong commitment in helping the industry mature and develop.”

“There is a tremendous growth opportunity for OTT services in India, which brings about fierce competition in the industry. As such, it is crucial for operators like Tata Sky to have the freedom to innovate and the confidence to take risks and be in control of their future,” said Bengt Jonsson, Senior Vice President of Sales & Services, Irdeto. “This will be our first time working with Tata Sky and we are heavily invested in helping them meet their business goals. We can offload the complexity of managing security, fragmented technologies and backend workflow for them, and enable them to focus on delivering value to their customers.”

The first phase of the project has been launched with Android devices, and the follow-on phases will extend Tata Sky’s OTT service to PC and iOS devices. Irdeto manages the planning and deployment of the project for Tata Sky, including both implementing Irdeto’s own solutions and working with third parties to ensure successful end-to-end integration.

Tata Sky and Irdeto sign contract to launch next generation OTT media services at IBC 2017. From Left to Right – Sanjiv Kainth, Country Manager for India at Irdeto; Doug Lowther, CEO of Irdeto; Harit Nagpal, CEO of Tata Sky; and A. Arun Kumar, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Services at Tata Sky.

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About Irdeto

Irdeto is the world leader in digital platform security, protecting platforms and applications for media & entertainment, automotive and IoT connected industries. Our solutions and services enable customers to protect their revenue, create new offerings and fight cybercrime. With nearly 50 years of expertise in security, Irdeto’s software security technology and cyber services protect over 5 billion devices and applications for some of the world’s best-known brands. Our unique heritage as a subsidiary of multinational media group Naspers (JSE: NPN) means that we are a well-established and reliable partner to help build a more secure future. Please visit Irdeto at www.irdeto.com.

For further information, please contact:

Jon White
PR Manager, EMEA, Irdeto
Phone: +44 (0)7384 234942
Email: jonathan.white@irdeto.com

Crystal Kung
Senior Account Manager, WE Communications
P: +65 6303 8472
Email: ckung@we-worldwide.com

Amsterdam, 15 September 2017 – APT Satellite Company Limited (APT Satellite) and Telekom Austria Group inked a satellite capacity agreement to broadcast channels from the APSTAR-7 satellite at 76.5E. After a couple of months test run on APSTAR-7 satellite, a bouquet of 13 channels including a 4K channel using HEVC encoding started broadcasting on APSTAR-7, being uplinked by Telekom Austria Group’s own earth station Aflenz in the Styrian Alps.

“APT Satellite is pleased to cooperate with TAG. And we are interested at broadcasting a 4K channel from one of our satellites. APT Satellite is expecting the cooperation can boost European TV’s viewership in Asia, meanwhile increase the popularity of 4K TV in this part of world.” said Huang Baozhong, Executive Vice President of APT Satellite.

“We are excited to work with APT Satellite – the fastest growing satellite operator in Asia. With this unique cooperation, we have now built a bridge between Europe and Asia, aiding the European broadcasters to enter and pursue growth into the expansive Asian market. We are optimistic about the fast adoption of 4K content in Asia and proud to broadcast one of the first 4K channels for this territory.” said Stanislav Georgiev, Head of Media Broadcasting, Telekom Austria Group.

The TV platform is available throughout Asia Pacific region, South Asia, Middle East, most part of Europe and Africa by its operation on APSTAR-7 satellite.

Reception Parameters of FTV Platform

About TAG

Telekom Austria Group, listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, is a leading provider of digital services and communications solutions in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 24 million customers, currently operating in seven countries: Austria and Slovenia (A1), Bulgaria (Mobiltel), Belarus (velcom), Croatia (Vipnet), the Republic of Serbia (Vip mobile) and the Republic of Macedonia (one.Vip).

Offering communications, payment and entertainment services as well as integrated business solutions, Telekom Austria Group achieved revenues of more than 4 billion Euros by year end 2016. Over 18.000 employees and state of the art broadband infrastructure make digital business and lifestyle possible and enable people, companies and things to connect everywhere anytime. As European unit of América Móvil, the third largest wireless services provider in the world, Telekom Austria Group is headquartered in Vienna and gives access to global solutions.

About APT Satellite

Based in Hong Kong, APT SATELLITE COMPANY LIMITED (“APT Satellite”) is a satellite company operating a fleet of five satellites, namely APSTAR-5, APSTAR-6, APSTAR-7 and APSTAR-9. APSTAR-5C and APSTAR-6C are currently under construction, they will replace APSTAR-5 and APSTAR-6 respectively in 2018. The footprints of the fleet cover Asia, Middle East, Oceania, and most part of Europe and Africa, extending services to over 75% of the world’s population. Currently distributing 600+ TV channels around the world including HBO, Disney, Sony Pictures, NBCU, RTL-CBS, EBU, GMA, TVBI, TVn, Celestial Tiger etc, APT Satellite is also supplying transponder capacity to a variety of DTH platforms, as well as to media networks for video contributions across the world.

Hong Kong, 13 September 2017 – Arqiva, the UK’s leading communications infrastructure and media services company, has extended its lease for C and Ku-band capacity with Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat), Asia’s leading satellite operator for sports content delivery across the Asia-Pacific.

The agreement will see Arqiva’s continued use of AsiaSat 5 to deliver a broad range of sporting events to Asian viewers, from football and cricket, to volleyball and tennis. The new agreement also provides Arqiva the option of using Ku-band capacity on AsiaSat 7, allowing additional flexibility in the deployment of smaller antennas for occasional use and live events.

Arqiva’s expanded collaboration with AsiaSat demonstrates AsiaSat’s capability in presenting a wide range of satellite capacity of the quality and penetration that meets clients’ distribution needs. AsiaSat’s ubiquitous coverage now plays an essential role in Arqiva’s global content delivery network.

David Crawford, Managing Director, Satellite and Media at Arqiva, said, “In addition to our continued commitment to provide services in the Asia-Pacific region, this lease extension with AsiaSat gives Arqiva and our customers true flexibility for future live events. Our on-going strategic partnership with AsiaSat reinforces our commitment to providing premium occasional use services in the market.”

Barrie Woolston, Chief Commercial Officer of AsiaSat said, “We are delighted to support Arqiva with an expanding range of high quality capacity, enabling Arqiva to enjoy great flexibility and efficiency for delivering the best possible content distribution solutions to their clients, alongside the benefits of AsiaSat satellites’ strong penetration in the Asian TV market.”

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About Arqiva

Arqiva is a leading UK communications infrastructure and media services provider dedicated to connecting people wherever they are through the delivery of TV, radio, mobile and the Internet of Things (IoT). We are an independent provider of telecom towers, with circa 8,000 active sites across Great Britain, and are also the only supplier of national terrestrial television and radio broadcasting services in the UK. Our advanced networks support the exponential growth of connected devices and the ever-increasing demand for data from smartphones to tablets, connected TVs, smart meters, cars and medical devices. For more information, news and insights from Arqiva, please visit the website at: www.arqiva.com

About AsiaSat

Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat), the leading satellite operator in Asia, serves over two-thirds of the world’s population with its six satellites, AsiaSat 3S, AsiaSat 4, AsiaSat 5, AsiaSat 6, AsiaSat 7 and AsiaSat 8. The AsiaSat satellite fleet serves both the broadcast and telecommunications industries. Over 700 television and radio channels are now delivered by the company’s satellites offering access to more than 830 million TV households across the Asia-Pacific region. AsiaSat’s next satellite, AsiaSat 9 is planned to be launched at the end of September 2017. AsiaSat is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited, a company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (Stock Code: 1135). For more information, please visit www.asiasat.com | LinkedIn | Facebook | Mobile App

Media Contacts:

AsiaSat
Winnie Pang, Manager, Marketing Communications | Tel: (852) 2500 0880 | Email: wpang@asiasat.com

Arqiva
Tony Johnson, Media & PR Manager | Mobile: (41) 07773 045480 | Email: Tony.Johnson@arqiva.com

Arqiva has dedicated OU capacity on AsiaSat satellites to distribute live content in Asia Pacific

BBC Worldwide Asia today announced a deal that will, for the first time, see international news and current affairs television brand, BBC World News, premium factual brand BBC Earth and award winning pre-school channel, CBeebies available in Laos.

The channels, broadcast on Laosat DTH will available in the country’s 17 provinces including Vientiane.

“The pay TV market is set for high growth in the next few years. With our partnership with Laosat DTH, we are very pleased to be part of that growth, bringing our genre-defining content to viewers there,” said Myleeta Aga, SVP, South and South East Asia, BBC Worldwide.

There is a strong demand for BBC content in Laos,” said Mr. Ding Yongbing, General Manager of Laosat. “We are confident that with the addition of BBC World News, BBC Earth and CBeebies to our line-up, we are now able to deliver the best British and international content to our viewers here.”

Over the next few months, viewers of BBC Earth will be able to catch natural history landmarks like Blue Planet II, right after the UK telecast. The new seven-part series about our underwater worlds is produced by the multi-award-winning BBC Studios Natural History Unit and is narrated by Sir David Attenborough; the entertaining and informative Fishing Impossible (series two) sees three mad fishermen – an ex Royal Marine, a marine biologist, and a gadget-obsessed airline pilot, travel to some of the most remote places on Earth with their crazy-luring inventions, and Life Below Zero (series five) which follows the daily and seasonal activities of six people who live in the remotest areas of Alaska trying to survive in the below zero conditions, as they hunt and depend only on themselves and survive using the resources they have.

CBeebies, a multi-platform brand for pre-schoolers aged six years and under, encourages children to learn through play. The award-winning channel offers a mixture of new and classic titles to educate and entertain young audiences. Young viewers in Laos can look forward to programmes like Hey Duggee, the award-winning animated series aimed at two to five year olds in which Duggee, a big lovable dog, runs a club for pre-schoolers, that encourages children to have fun while discovering new things about the world around them; and Sarah & Duck, the multiple award-winning, 2D animated, pre-school series, which follows the curious adventures of seven-year-old Sarah and her loud, quacky friend Duck, as they explore the world around them in unexpected ways.

BBC World News is the BBC’s award-winning, 24-hour global news channel offering world-class international news and feature programmes from an unrivalled network of journalists. Bringing audiences agenda-setting programmes such as HARDtalk and Our World, and projects including 100 Women, BBC World News offers impartial and in-depth analysis of the news that matters most around the globe. With journalists in more places than any other international news broadcaster, BBC World News reports global breaking news whenever and wherever it happens and is the world’s most trusted international news outlet.

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For more information, please contact:

Jeanne Leong
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Jeanne.Leong@bbc.com

Jessie Lim
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5295
Email: Jessie.Lim@bbc.com

ITV Choice has today announced the transmission date for the extra weekly episode of Coronation Street.

The first extra episode will air on Thursday September 21st – meaning Corrie fans get double helpings of their favourite soap on Thursdays every week.

And the first week of the new six episode double Thursday transmission pattern will kick off in fittingly spectacular style with the double wedding of Aidan, Eva, Jenny and Johnny.

The action packed week begins with Aidan Connor confessing his affair with Maria to fiancee Eva on the day of their wedding. Just when it looks as though she has decided to still go ahead with the marriage jilted mistress Maria gatecrashes the wedding in truly jaw dropping style.

What follows is one of the most sensational stunt-filled weddings the cobbles have ever seen.

But the drama is not confined to Aidan and Eva’s nuptials. Things don’t go quite to plan for Jenny and Johnny when Rita’s health takes a turn for the worse. As a concerned Jenny refuses to leave her hospital bedside it looks as though neither of the Connor men are going to manage to tie the knot.

One couple who did get to say ‘I Do’ are the newly married Norris and Mary Cole – this week they take part in the Mr and Mrs Quiz which was behind their decision to get married. They are taken aback when they meet the over enthusiastic organiser of the competition Colin Callen played by Jim Moir. Colin seems to be keen for them to win but is there more to the flamboyant NewsCo boss than meets the eye?

Meanwhile Michelle Connor makes a chilling discovery when she goes to the home of ex boyfriend Will for a drink only to stumble across a drawer full of photos of herself – has she finally discovered the identity of her stalker and can she get out unharmed?

It has been just over a year since ITV announced plans for Coronation Street to join the channel’s other soap Emmerdale in transmitting 6 episodes each week.

In preparation for the increase in episodes new studio space has been created. Construction of an expansion of the outside sets to give more exterior filming opportunities is also well under way and expected to be completed in early 2018, viewers should expect to be able to venture into wider Weatherfield on screen during spring 2018.

Coronation Street Executive producer Kieran Roberts said: “Getting ready to deliver our extra weekly episode has taken our amazing team more than a year of hard work on everything from story-lining to studio building. Now we’re thrilled to be launching our extra weekly episode at the heart of a truly unmissable week of high drama, high emotion and heartwarming comedy.”

Coronation​ ​Street​ ​airs​ ​Monday-Friday​ ​on​ ​ITV​ ​Choice 

IND: 16:15 MALTA/THAI: 17:45
TWN: 18:45 KSA: 19:45 UAE: 20:45

Extra​ ​weekly​ ​episode​ ​of​ ​Coronation​ ​Street​ ​starts​ ​Thursday​ ​21st​ ​September

IND: 15:45 MALTA/THAI: 17:15
TWN: 18:15 KSA: 19:15 UAE: 20:15 

For any other assets or for more details please contact: international.channels@itv.com

…a psychological portrait of Britain’s longest reigning monarch

Acclaimed biographer AN Wilson uncovers the intriguing personal life of Queen Victoria through her journals and letters in Queen Victoria’s Letters: A Monarch Unveiled; a two-part psychological portrait of Britain’s longest reigning monarch, airing on ITV Choice on Monday 4th September after the first episode of the brand new series of Victoria.

Examining the first half of Victoria’s life, Wilson goes in search of a monarch too often misunderstood as the solid black-clad matron, and reveals a woman who was passionately romantic and who spent her early years fighting the control of domineering men.

Queen Victoria was one of the nineteenth century’s most prolific diarists, sometimes writing up to 2,500 words a day. From state affairs to family gossip, she poured out her emotions onto paper. Those close to her were afraid her more alarming opinions might escape in written form, causing havoc. In fact much of her writing was destroyed after her death and her personal journals edited by her daughter. But what survives frequently reveals a woman quite different to the one we think we know.

AN Wilson reads her personal journals and unpublished letters and discovers the factors that shaped the Queen’s personality. From the tortured relationship with her mother, to the dominant men she clung to in search of a father figure and the powerful struggle that made her marriage to Prince Albert a battleground, Queen Victoria was always a woman in search of intimate relationships. As a daughter, a wife, a mother and the queen of a growing empire, as friends and family came and went, her pen remained her constant companion and friend.

By examining her closest relationships in the four decades after Albert’s death, Wilson tells the story of the Queen’s gradual freedom from a life spent under the shadow of domineering men. Victoria’s marriage had been a source of constraint as well as love, as Albert had used her pregnancies as a way to gain power and punished her for resenting it. In her widowhood, although bereft and deranged, Queen Victoria was free to move in the world of politics and make deep friendships without concern. From the controversial friendship with her highland servant John Brown to her most unconventional behaviour with her young Indian servant Abdul Karim, Wilson uncovers Victoria as a woman who was anything but ‘Victorian’. Far from being prim and proper, she loved life in all its richness – she was blind to class and colour and, contrary to what we think, had a great sense of humour.

Mondays​ ​from​ ​4th​ ​September 
 
IND: 19:25 MALTA/THAI: 20:55
KSA/TWN: 21:55 UAE: 22:55
 
For any other assets or for more details please contact: international.channels@itv.com

BBC World Service is expanding in Afghanistan with the launch of a TV news programme for the country’s Uzbek-speaking audience. From Monday, 4 September, the BBC Uzbek news bulletins will be broadcast on Arezo TV between 18.00 and 18.10 local time, Monday to Friday. The launch is part of the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s.

Broadcast from the BBC’s headquarters in London, the 10-minute programme is presented by the BBC Uzbek journalists, Firuz Rahimi and Luiza Iskandariy. The hard-hitting, dynamic programme will bring interviews, in-depth reporting and analysis of the day’s key international, regional and Afghan developments, delivered by the BBC Uzbek teams in London and Northern Afghanistan, in collaboration with the BBC Afghan service, BBC Persian – and supported by the rest of the BBC’s global newsgathering network.

The Uzbek TV Editor, Diloram Ibrahimova, commented: “This is an exciting time for us as we expand our presence in Afghanistan. Content from the BBC Uzbek newsgathering team in the country will add a regional dimension to our international news bulletin, to make it relevant to the country’s Uzbek-speakers. We are looking forward to making an impact on Afghanistan’s media scene by serving this very special audience with the BBC’s reporting on current affairs, business, sport and culture. We will do our best to attract young and female audiences.”

The launch is part of the BBC World Service’s expansion – its biggest since the 1940s – that includes the enhancement of the BBC’s offer in various regions as well as the addition of 12 new language services in Europe, Asia and Africa.

The BBC Uzbek TV bulletins are broadcast by partner channel, Arezo TV, based in Mazar-e Sharif. They add to the existing BBC Uzbek content for Uzbek-speakers in Afghanistan, which includes a special Facebook page – bbcuzbekafghan. In addition to Arezo TV, the bulletins will be streamed on Facebook and the BBC Uzbek Afghanistan YouTube channel.

BBC Uzbek has a strong presence on social media, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google+, Twitter and Odnoklassniki as well as Telegram and WhatsApp. BBC Uzbek’s rich experience of independent reporting has been put into special use on BBC Academy’s journalism training site in Uzbek, also available via bbcuzbek.com.

BBC Uzbek is part of the BBC World Service.

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For more information please contact:

BBC World Service Group Communications – Lala Najafova lala.najafova@bbc.co.uk