WALTHAM, Mass. and PHILADELPHIA—Zixi and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) today announced a strategic new integration to deliver C-band replacement solutions for linear broadcasters and content distributors. The collaboration brings together the end-to-end video management capabilities provided by Comcast Media360 with the Zixi Software Platform to give operators a direct migration path from C-band satellite to IP-based content distribution, they said.

With the C-band satellite transition underway, programmers and distributors are exploring solutions to migrate linear workflows to IP while maintaining the kind of reliability, rights compliance, and affiliate distribution control that C-band has historically provided. At the core of the joint Zixi and CTS solution is a technical integration between the Zixi Software Platform and Comcast Media360, which provides customers with a 24/7 managed service backed by the proven reliability and scale of Comcast Technology Solutions.

“The C-band transition is not a distant deadline for our customers. It is a decision they are making now. Working with Comcast Technology Solutions means that we can offer broadcasters a solution that does not ask them to trade rights compliance and reliability for IP flexibility. The integration between the Zixi Software Platform and Comcast Media360 is the kind of joint engineering that makes a real operational difference," said Marc Aldrich, CEO, Zixi.

"Broadcasters are looking for ways to operate their linear channels more efficiently while continuing to scale distribution as part of their C-band transition efforts,” said Bart Spriester, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Streaming, Broadcast, and Advertising at Comcast Technology Solutions. “Comcast Media360 helps make that possible across broadcast and IP workflows and, together with Zixi, delivers a satellite replacement option that gives programmers and distributors a manageable path to IP and unlocks new monetization opportunities."

Notably, CTS’ linear rights management normalizes rights metadata using the SCTE 224 standard, enabling content providers to manage alternate content delivery, ad insertion windows, and audience-based content restrictions across broadcast and streaming destinations. Zixi ZEN Master orchestrates the live video workflow across cloud or hybrid network environments, with native support for SCTE-35/224 signaling, blackout enforcement, and schedule-driven source switching.

Together, the integrated platforms can provide broadcasters a single, intelligent, rights-aware distribution chain that combines signal orchestration, affiliate distribution, and rights enforcement enabling new monetization and distribution capability, while removing the dependency on satellite infrastructure and maintaining compliance and control.

As C-band satellite capacity is reclaimed and transition deadlines approach, the need for end-to-end IP workflows has become a near-term business imperative for broadcasters, the companies said, adding that the combined Zixi and CTS solution gives broadcasters a migration path that preserves existing investment in rights management infrastructure while moving to the flexibility and cost structure that IP distribution offers and simplifying the path from ingest to monetization.

Editor's note: This article was written prior to the FCC's formal announcement on June 30 of the planned auction of 160 MHz of midband spectrum.

As broadcasters wait for the FCC to release the ground rules for the congressionally mandated upper C-band auction in July 2027, the gap is widening between what their lobbyists and suppliers say will happen if they lose all 180 MHz of the high-value block.

The contrasting perspectives, ranging from near panic to sanguinity that—with enough transition time—broadcasters will be fine—played out in interviews, recent Federal Communications Commission filings and a high-level executive C-band panel at NAB Show. It’s still unclear how much spectrum will end up on the auction block, how long stations will have to make whatever transitions to alternatives are necessary and what they can expect in the way of compensation for the costs.

The View From NAB and NABA
Messaging from the National Association of Broadcasters, the North American Broadcast Association (NABA) and other industry representatives expressed deep concerns on all points, starting with the possibility of losing more than 100 MHz of upper C-band spectrum. After 60% of the overall C-band total vanished in the 2021 lower C-band auction, losing all 180 MHz in the upper band could cause irreparable harm, NABA Director-General Rebecca Hanson said.

“We have members already suffering after the first auction,” Hanson said, citing evidence submitted in an FCC filing by the North American Spectrum Alliance, an independent project launched last year under NABA management. “I hesitate to say broadcasters will be just fine if we can keep 80 GHz. Current constraints are already having an impact.

“There are no viable alternatives that match what C-band delivers,” she said. “Ku-band has rain-fade problems; fiber has penetration problems; there can be multiday outages on internet connections. In research you find claims to the contrary, but what’s in the NAB filings challenges those claims.”

Indeed, earlier this year NAB advised the commission, “The record consistently demonstrates that claims of ‘viable alternatives’ are overstated, unsupported, and incomplete.” It went so far as to cite discussions with broadcasters that showed one vendor’s claims of offering a terrestrial alternative to C-band with “zero downtime” over several years “to be false, or at least misleading.

“Terrestrial circuits are vulnerable to physical cuts, congestion, vendor outages and first-mile failures, with restoration times measured in hours or days—conditions completely incompatible with broadcast operations,” NAB said. “No one offers a universal, one-for-one [C-band] replacement capable of delivering the same reliability, coverage, scalability and resilience nationwide.”

‘So Many Options’
But the no “one-for-one replacement” caveat is beside the point for many broadcasters hoping to orchestrate various combinations of these transport solutions to meet NAB’s requirements. Even if the whole C-band sky falls, they said there’s reason to believe technology will open ways forward that could even work to their advantage.

“If we lose all or substantially all of the spectrum, which I think we probably will, our plan will be to forklift the traffic to Ku-band and then supplement that with some number of terrestrial paths,” said Alastair Hamilton, senior vice president of distribution engineering and architecture at Fox, who spoke on the NAB Show C-band panel. “I’m glad we have so many options.”

On the satellite front, along with the Ku-band option, broadcasters could also use low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite capacity, Hamilton noted. Deepak Mathur, president of media at SES, said the satellite operator is aggressively working with suppliers to design and build a new set of Ku-band satellites enabling higher power outputs in heavy rain zones and “cross-strapping” tie-ins to uplinks that work in the C-band.

“We believe that we can come very close, not exactly all the way there, but very, very close to the network reliability that you’ve enjoyed with C-band,” Mathur told the NAB Show panel audience. Setting 2030 as the target date when broadcasters would be able to deploy retrofitted Ku-band antennas for the uplink strategy, he added, “We’re on a good track to get there.”

The ‘Last-Mile’ Challenge
For many broadcasters, a comprehensive C-band replacement solution will have to include support for off-shore connectivity, which in CBS’s case includes service in the Caribbean, parts of Latin America and Canada. Whatever the hybrid replacement solution turns out to be, “it’s going to put more onus on us to make sure the carriers and the service providers are indeed routing the paths and have the proper resiliency within their networks,” Fuller said, noting that the last-mile transition is the “hard part.”

Hamilton agreed. “That’s the bit that worries us the most,” he said. “Our broadcast markets for the most part have some reasonable connectivity, and we can go to the top five or six MVPDs on the cable side with fiber, internet, satellite. We’ve got whatever the number is, 90%, but it’s that extra 10% that’s going to be the real challenge. I think we’re going to have to get creative.”

Just how hard that will be remains to be seen.

There’s a well-proven solution readily at hand, said Rich Young, head of global products at LTN, who appeared on a second vendor panel at the NAB Show C-band session. Station groups and multichannel operators can “bring one feed in” on the IP network and “deliver it with synchronized latency to every location,” he said, noting the LTN Network coverage was on course to connect customers accounting for an aggregate 1,700-plus broadcast station affiliates plus multichannel video programming distributors reaching 98% of “the MVPD eyeballs.”

The range of possibilities was well illustrated by last month’s announcement that 330 PBS member stations are adopting LTN’s IP platform. Without mentioning the upper C-band issue, PBS said the move was aimed at “modernizing and future proofing” the PBS Interconnection system. The LTN Network will deliver up to nine linear broadcast feeds from PBS and affiliated networks to member stations while enabling always-on support for inter-station content sharing and contributions of locally produced content to regional and national broadcasts.

LTN is tackling the C-band replacement issue with multivendor integrations and network enhancements aimed at improving reliability, scalability and operational visibility. For example, a collaboration with Appear integrates that firm’s high-density X Platform to support encoding and decoding IP-native live video contribution and distribution payloads on the LTN network.

Harmonic is another supplier partnering with LTN, in this case through a tie-in with Harmonic’s XOS Advanced Media Processor software appliance used in MVPD headends to unify encoding, playout and delivery. As Andrew Hildenbrandt, Harmonic’s solutions director for broadcast and primary distribution solutions, makes clear, LTN is just one of the paths XOS customers can take in their adjustments to C-band replacement.

“At the affiliate edge, XOS acts as a ‘headend-in-a-box,’ offering a flexible and
future-proof solution for distribution via Ku-band satellite, managed IP through partners like LTN or Zixi, CDN or hybrid workflows,” Hildenbrandt told TV Tech. “With XOS media processor, we are embracing a very straightforward but powerful idea: broadcasters and programmers can deliver any content, over any platform, to any affiliate.”

Multiplatform Approach
Other suppliers said it’s possible to fashion a seamless flow of live-event feeds into production and out to affiliates without relying on C-band, but doing so requires a means of orchestrating support from more than one platform.

Synamedia, for example, has long enabled use of its workflows in multiple transport environments, including “delivering content over satellite securely for over 30 years,” noted Synamedia Director of Distribution Kenelm Deen, another NAB Show C-band session speaker.

“There’s no one technology that will solve this,” Deen said. “There will be multiple technologies for different use-case applications.” He said Synamedia, with an edge platform “that can receive across any network technology, be it Ku with BSF [bandstop filters], IP, Zixi, SRT—any protocol,” is working with broadcasters to shape post-C-band paths precisely to their needs.

Zixi is also working with broadcasters making the transition from C-band on the assumption that “there’s no one technology that can replace it,” as Alan Young, vice president of strategic business development, put it during the NAB Show session. “We act as a trust boundary for a lot of traffic as it passes through the workflow,” he said.

Zixi’s Zen Master manages all the complexity of orchestrating hitless switching across multiuse IP networks so latency is deterministically fixed “everywhere at every receive site” with transmissions in and out of multiple vendor workflows, Young said. “Doing that, you can create five 9s or maybe even better if you add more paths,” he added, noting that Zixi “is working with pretty much everyone on this panel and many others.”

Blended Connectivity
Coming from a different perspective on support for C-band replacement through hybrid transmission solutions, Dejero has been showing broadcasters how its TITAN Command platform can be used to orchestrate video flows at high performance across 5G and LEO networks utilizing the blended connectivity enabled by its field-based EnGo 3 transmitter.

At the NAB Show, Dejero teamed with other suppliers, including Clear-Com, GlobalM, Matrox Video and Ross Video, in a live “field-to-air” demo that leveraged use of the TITAN Command orchestration platform to combine cellular and Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO constellation into a resilient alternative to C-band in a multivendor environment.

“We have the right technology and are in the middle of trying to understand what the business model looks like and what the next steps should be,” said Kevin Fernandes, Dejero’s chief revenue officer, adding that working out the business model includes figuring out a way that LEO network capacity can be monetized for as-needed broadcast industry use.

“These discussions don’t happen overnight,” he added. “Right now, we’re putting TITAN out there and showing it works.”

Other suppliers are bucking the perception that C-band replacement requires hybrid multiplatform approaches by offering single-platform solutions they say can do the job with C-band-caliber performance on the internet. One such advocate is BCNEXXT. In an interview, Graham Sharp, its sales and marketing vice president, noted successes in the playout arena, including providing Sky Europe with cloud-based playout support on 220 channels, as a foundation to providing a C-band alternative.

“Our whole system is developed around reducing CPU power and distribution costs,” Sharp said, noting BCNEXXT is hoping to close on its first large U.S. station group deal by year’s end. “That’s why we think it’s a good alternative to satellite distribution.”

Another executive expressing confidence in a single IP-based platform solution to the C-band replacement issue is Michelle Munson, CEO and co-founder of Eluvio. At the NAB Show event, Munson said Eluvio’s global broadcast fabric supports any-to-any networks at global scales “built on top of TCP/IP with a novel decentralized content routing protocol that allows distribution meeting latency targets…with deterministic global switching” and “multipath SMPTE 2022-7 routing throughout.”

“One distribution serves all receivers, and along with that, each receiver is dynamically able to become a new output,” she added. “We have the flexibility, I think, this is really about. It’s not just about replacing satellite. It’s the transformation of the industry into what could be a truly over-the-top, flexible, simple, data-driven kind of workflow that we’ve really not been able to take advantage of before.”

Learn more about the challenges facing C-band users in the TV Tech Talk, “C-Band Spectrum Changes: The Next Infrastructure Shift for Broadcasters,” July 29 at 2 p.m. ET. To register, click here.

LONG BEACH, Calif. & MCLEAN, Va.—Rocket Lab Corporation has inked an agreement to acquire Iridium Communications Inc., a leading provider of global voice, data, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite services, for about $8 billion.

The deal is a notable example of consolidation in the space industry, merging Rocket Lab's launch capabilities and satellite manufacturing with Iridium's global satellite communications network, spectrum, and 500-plus strong partner ecosystem to create a vertically-integrated space company that designs, builds, launches, and operates its own constellations and delivers critical communications capability to millions of users worldwide.

Iridium’s mobile satellite network is widely used by journalists who are reporting from war zones, areas impacted by natural disasters and other locations where regular mobile or terrestrial communications may not be available.

In recent years, however, it has faced increased competition from providers like Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starlink division. The deal could help it expand its operations and competitive position.

The transaction will give Rocket Lab an immediate foothold in space-based applications, including both proprietary and standards-based satellite Internet of Things (IoT) and direct-to-device (D2D), PNT, and critical safety-of-life services.

Rocket Lab reported that rather than simply continuing the Iridium network, Rocket Lab will build upon it to scale into untapped markets and pioneer new space-based services.

Iridium’s globally harmonized L-band spectrum and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network provide a secure, resilient foundation for reliable satellite communications and PNT services across government, defense, aviation, maritime, and commercial markets. Supporting more than 2.55 million active subscribers worldwide, Iridium delivers highly reliable, weather-resilient connectivity and an alternative PNT architecture for applications where Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite Systema (GNSS) are degraded or unavailable.

"This is a defining moment for the space industry and the start of a new era of strategic, accelerated growth for Rocket Lab and Iridium," said Sir Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab in a statement. "Iridium has built the gold standard in secure, safety critical global satellite connectivity. It is relied upon by maritime fleets, the aviation industry, governments, and heavy industrial organizations who operate in the most remote off-the-grid locations. By marrying Iridium's deep heritage, trusted infrastructure, and highly sought-after spectrum with Rocket Lab's extensive and proven launch and manufacturing capabilities, we have the capability to unlock entirely new markets. We will go far beyond maintaining a legacy; we are going to build upon it to pioneer next-generation space applications and deliver sought-after capabilities to existing and new customers."

“As the worlds of space and terrestrial communications continue to converge, more critical services will depend on space-based capabilities,” added Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. “Success will come from those who can bring new innovations to space quickly and sustain them over time as efficiently as possible. We’re excited about being able to accelerate the next generation of IoT, aviation, maritime, PNT, and national security capabilities, and pursue new innovative applications as part of Rocket Lab - a fully integrated, end-to-end space company. That’s an incredible opportunity for our customers, partners, employees, and stockholders.”

With the Federal Communications Commission rules for an auction of at least the congressionally mandated 100 MHz of C-band spectrum expected as soon as July, many broadcasters had a laser-beam focus on how best to proceed with signal contribution and distribution alternatives during the 2026 NAB Show.

A breakfast event organized by The Hive Group, a public relations and creative agency headquartered in McLean, Va., on behalf of LTN, shed a great deal of light on the issues and alternatives from both the broadcaster and vendor points of view. For the purposes of this column, I’ll focus on the former.

Brad Cheney, vice president of field operations and engineering at Fox Sports, moderated a panel discussion about the challenges of living with less C-band spectrum. Panelists included David Johnson, senior vice president of technology at The Walt Disney Co., Alastair Hamilton, senior vice president of distribution, engineering and architecture at Fox, and Ken Fuller, vice president of distribution and technology operations at Paramount/CBS.

While video of the event posted to YouTube is available, panelists made several points worth calling attention to here.

There are multiple ingredients to success, including quality, reliability and availability, that must match what broadcasters have today in C-band. What each broadcaster ultimately chooses to do will include a mix of technologies. “There is not one silver bullet solution that gives us what we have today,” Fuller said. Finding what’s right will require “a testing curve” and a “learning curve.”

Matching C-band reliability is a big job. As things stand today, broadcasters have 99.999% C-band reliability. Disney has a lot of experience using non-satellite fiber IP and the public internet. That provides it with a good basis for comparison with C-band. “The primary challenge there is, it’s not five 9s,” said Johnson. “When you think about five 9s compared to four 9s, that’s four minutes difference in a 30-day period.” That translates into a “significant difference in quality and reliability that we need to solve for.”

Packet recovery via the internet is concerning. Some alternatives to C-band involve multiple transport paths, such as Ku-band with internet backup for dropped packets. After looking at nearly 200 major markets, Fox found ISP internet outages to be “quite alarming,” said Hamilton. “Some major markets were down for hours and hours.”

Distribution to small MVPDs will be a challenge. Taken together, Disney, Fox, Paramount/CBS, Warner Bros. and other major broadcasters deliver more than 10 Gbps of content to MVPD partners. That’s not a problem for the largest players with fiber connectivity. But the 10% of MVPDs that are smaller operators is “the bit that worries me,” said Hamilton. “I think we are going to have to get creative to service those.”

Opex reimbursement will be key. Unlike the last C-band auction, maintaining service won’t simply be a matter of replacing capital equipment. Recurring operational expenses for alternatives to C-band will be a major factor. “The blanket statement…is you [government reimbursement funds] will have to pay for our Opex for 10 years,” Fuller said. “Now, what does that mean? We don’t know yet.”

We will be holding a TV Tech Talk webinar July 29 on the ramifications of the C-band auction and available alternatives. Rebecca Hanson, director-general of the North American Broadcasters Association, will be our featured speaker. I am moderating.

Skyview Networks has launched Cirocast, a cloud-native, broadcast-grade audio distribution platform that the company says is designed to provide broadcasters with greater versatility, control and new revenue opportunities.

The launch comes at a time when upcoming FCC C-band auctions are pushing broadcasters to find alternatives to their traditional satellite distributions and adopt new IP solutions.

Skyview said that the new Cirocast cloud-based system is designed to help with that transition and in the process move from capital-intensive platforms to a scalable cloud platform that offers broadcasters the reliability they expect from mission-critical delivery systems.

“We built Cirocast because the economics of broadcast distribution are shifting and networks deserve a platform that takes advantage of this transition,” said Aaron Mellis, senior vice president, technology of Skyview Networks. “For years, broadcasters have been asked to accept tradeoffs between reliability, flexibility and revenue. Cirocast challenges that thinking by delivering the operational confidence broadcasters expect while unlocking the flexibility and monetization opportunities of cloud-based workflows. With built-in ad insertion and copy split capabilities, distribution becomes a strategic revenue platform rather than a fixed cost.”

Unlike IP audio platforms focusing solely on point-to-point transport, Skyview reported that Cirocast offers a different approach to how broadcast feeds are built.

The platform delivers broadcast-quality audio over IP with the low-latency performance required for live and linear programming. Fully mixed, market-specific audio feeds are assembled in the cloud before delivery, moving ad targeting, copy splits and content personalization upstream.

This approach, Skyview said, allows broadcasters to unlock new revenue from programming that connects directly to virtualized environments, cloud-based automation systems or on-premises infrastructure.

Skyview Networks will demonstrate Cirocast live at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 18–22.

For more information or to schedule a demonstration, visit cirocast.com.

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2026 NAB Show?

Malik Khan: At NAB Show, a key focus will be the impact of ongoing C-band spectrum repurposing on media distribution. With U.S. federal auctions set to reallocate up to 180 MHz of spectrum for 5G by 2027, pressure on networks, broadcasters and rightsholders is intensifying, prompting them to reassess how they deliver high-value content at scale. This is accelerating conversations around shifting to alternative infrastructure that can provide the highest certainty around reliability, performance, visibility, and cost.

Live production, in particular sports production, is being reshaped by the need to scale efficiently while supporting more-tailored event creation and distribution. As sports leagues and rightsholders revisit longstanding delivery models in light of regulatory and commercial pressures, there is growing momentum behind workflows that allow content to be adapted for different audiences and platforms without increasing complexity and cost. This shift is driving greater alignment between production, localization, and distribution, with IP and cloud technologies playing a central role in enabling more flexible operations.

TVT: What will be your most important product news?

MK: Industry dynamics are accelerating the need for change, particularly as upcoming spectrum auctions place additional pressure on satellite capacity. In response, LTN is strengthening network reliability and performance, increasing the depth and transparency of content and network visibility, faster deployment with full-market reach, and improved economics to support high-value content delivery across a growing number of channels and platforms.

LTN is introducing enhancements to its global IP video network designed to support event and full-time channel distribution with 99.9999% reliability. These updates build on LTN’s industry-leading experience supporting large-scale deployments for networks, station groups, programmers, and sports broadcasters. In addition to the industry’s highest reliability guarantee, LTN’s innovation focuses on increasing full-market reach to 100% of legacy and digital platforms, further reducing migration time from satellite to IP distribution to a few weeks, increasing the visibility of the content and network for customers with detailed real-time and historical data, and offering improved economics for up to 60% reduction in cost of distribution.

New developments include expanded resiliency and monitoring capabilities, along with a network gateway capable of receiving up to 500 channels. This enables more efficient management of large channel lineups, while supporting faster deployment and broader distribution across both established and emerging environments.

TVT: How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?

MK: The key difference lies in how the infrastructure is designed and operated for live video at scale. Many solutions rely on public cloud services or protocol-based transport, which can introduce variability in performance, limited visibility, and unpredictable costs as workflows grow. LTN’s approach is built around a purpose-designed and managed IP video network that integrates transport, monitoring, and control within a single environment. This allows broadcasters to maintain consistent performance with clear insight into signal health across the full distribution chain.

Recent enhancements further strengthen this by enhanced 99.9999% SLA-backed availability for improved resiliency, expanding monitoring capabilities, and simplifying large-scale deployment. Combined with centralized orchestration and broader interoperability, this enables broadcasters to manage complex distribution workflows more efficiently while maintaining control over performance and operations.

TVT: What is it about NAB Show that brings you back every year?

MK: NAB Show remains one of the most important gatherings for the media and broadcast industry, offering a unique view into how technology and business priorities are evolving. It provides an opportunity to see new developments in context and understand how they are being applied in real-world environments.

For LTN, the event is also an opportunity to reconnect with existing partners and build new relationships. It brings together a wide range of perspectives, from broadcasters to technology providers, all focused on navigating the same industry shifts and identifying practical ways to move forward. Engaging with customers, partners, and industry peers creates space to share experiences, address common challenges, and explore new approaches to content production and distribution. LTN will showcase partners like MediaKind, Ateme, Synamedia, Harmonic, NCTC, ACA, Amagi, Appear, Lumen and Sencore at the booth.

COLUMBIA, MD—LTN has announced the appointments of Mark Romano as Vice President, Multichannel Platforms, and Edward (Ed) Cox as Vice President, Sales & Business Development to support strategic communications and industry engagement.

Romano will lead initiatives focused on expanding multichannel platform capabilities and supporting MVPDs transitioning to IP. He brings extensive experience working with MVPDs with over two decades in technology and network affiliate relations with executive roles with SES and Outdoor Channel.

Cox will help media companies navigate a smooth transition from satellite. He brings over 20 year’s experience in media distribution, most recently as VP of SES, leading its Media business in the US.

Romano and Cox will join LTN executives and industry leaders at NAB Show 2026 for exclusive, in-depth discussions on real-world satellite-to-IP migration. LTN will be in booth W2100 in the West Hall of the LVCC during the show, April 18-22 in Las Vegas.

“As the industry accelerates toward IP-based distribution, our focus is building on LTN’s leading position as the go-to IP network for cable headends,” said Romano. “LTN’s network and platform are built for scale and its multi-tenant gateways offer an easy transition for up to the full channel lineups for MVPDs.”

“LTN’s network and platform are built to deliver the reliability, flexibility, and operational efficiency broadcasters need as they transition mission-critical workflows from satellite to IP,” said Cox.

“This is a critical time of change in our industry and Mark and Ed are just the kind of experts our customers need to make a smooth transition onto LTN’s trusted IP video network," said Bryan McGuirk, CRO of LTN.

WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr announced a tentative agenda for the April Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 30, 2026 that closely follows his recent blog post outlining major issues the agency is addressing in April.

The FCC described the items on the agenda as follows:

• Modernizing Spectrum Sharing for Satellite Broadband. The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would promote efficient spectrum sharing between geostationary and non-geostationary satellite systems. To take account of today’s satellite technology and operations and to promote expanded services to American consumers, the item would update the decades-old framework for how non-geostationary and geostationary satellite systems share spectrum. (SB Docket No. 25-157)
• Combatting Robocalls Through Enhanced Know-Your-Customer Requirements. The Commission will consider a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to enhance existing “Know-Your-Customer” (KYC) requirements by seeking comment on the information that originating providers must obtain from customers before they make calls, how providers should verify that information, and proposing to better set penalties for violations of these requirements proportionate to harm. This would fill gaps between general KYC requirements and the types of rigorous steps necessary to protect consumers from illegal calls. (CG Docket No. 17-59, 02-278)
• Ensuring Integrity and Security in Electronic Device Testing. The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at strengthening national security and reciprocity through the equipment authorization program. The item would incentivize U.S. and allied testing and certification by creating a fast‑track review process for applications tested in Trusted Test Labs, direct updates to post‑market surveillance procedures, bolster enforcement tools, and establish confidential channels for industry to report potential violations or national security concerns. (ET Docket No. 24-136)
• Protecting Against National Security Threats in Domestic Telecommunications Service. The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would continue its efforts to protect the nation’s telecommunications networks by proposing to exclude entities identified on the “Covered List” from providing domestic interstate telecommunications services pursuant to blanket authority under section 214 of the Communications Act, and seek comment on other potential exclusions from blanket authority under section 214 and other related measures. (WC Docket No. 26-82)
• Establishing a New E-Rate Competitive Bidding Portal. The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration that would strengthen the integrity of the E-Rate program by establishing a competitive bidding portal and adopt several proposals aimed at streamlining and simplifying E-Rate program procedures. The portal would be used by applicants and service providers during the procurement process beginning in funding year 2028. (WC Docket No. 21-455; CC Docket No. 02-6)
• Amending the Audible Crawl Rule. The Commission will consider a Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the Audible Crawl Rule and eliminate a technically unworkable provision while ensuring that people who are visually impaired continue receiving the critical emergency information they need. (MB Docket No. 12-107)

A list of materials providing more information on each of the items is available here.

WASHINGTON—The Hive Group has published a new white paper, “No Safe Harbor: Why the FCC’s Upper C-Band Auction Demands Early Action from Broadcasters” ahead of NAB Show 2026 that examines the implications of the FCC’s planned auction of upper C-band spectrum and sets out what broadcasters need to consider now.

The FCC has scheduled an auction of between 100 and 180 MHz of upper C-band spectrum by July 2027. Unlike the 2020 reallocation, which left some C-band capacity intact, this auction would eliminate the remaining spectrum available to broadcasters, removing the option to stay on satellite without a significant infrastructure change.

For broadcasters that have relied on C-band for decades, this is an even more complex problem than the last transition. The study explains that this time around, there is no direct like-for-like replacement. Alternatives-including Ku-band, managed IP, and hybrid IP delivery each involve trade-offs in cost, complexity, and coverage.

The white paper evaluates these options and makes clear that no single model fully replicates what C-band has provided in terms of reliability, reach, and economics.

“The industry is facing a structural shift, not a routine spectrum reallocation,” said Lorenzo Zanni, lead data analyst, The Hive Group. “There is no safe harbor this time. Broadcasters that delay preparation will find themselves making high-stakes decisions under compressed timelines, with limited leverage. The window to act strategically is now.”

The report also delves into a number of practical challenges broadcasters should prepare for:

• Greater operational risk for live and time-sensitive content during the transition period
• Substantial equipment and infrastructure upgrades required across affiliate networks
• Less predictable cost structures as broadcasters move to IP-based and hybrid delivery
• Disproportionate burden on smaller broadcasters and local stations with limited resources to adapt

To address those thorny challenges, the white paper recommends that broadcasters begin now, starting with infrastructure audits, evaluating alternative delivery models, and engaging vendors early to allow enough lead time for informed decision-making.

Alongside the white paper launch, The Hive Group will host "The Future of Satellite Replacement” executive breakfast on Tuesday, April 21, from 7:30 to 9:30am at The Renaissance Hotel, Las Vegas during NAB Show 2026. The session is designed as an open industry forum bringing together senior leaders from broadcasters, satellite operators, IP transport providers, telcos, and cloud platforms to discuss the practical realities of moving away from C-band.

Topics under discussion will include how broadcasters are managing continued C-band spectrum loss, the operational and economic implications of shrinking satellite capacity, the role of IP terrestrial delivery, fiber, and cloud infrastructure, and what resiliency and redundancy look like in IP-based architectures.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Brad Cheney, VP, Field Operations & Engineering, FOX Sports
• Kenelm Deen, Director, B2B Distribution Solutions, Synamedia
• Thomas Edwards, Principal Solutions Architect, AWS
• Ken Fuller, Vice President, Distribution & Technology, Paramount/CBS
• Alastair Hamilton, SVP, Distribution Engineering & Architecture, Fox Corporation
• David Johnson, Senior Vice President, Technology, The Walt Disney Company
• G Morgan, Executive Vice President of Sales, Globecast
• Michelle Munson, CEO, Eluvio
• Alan Young, VP, Strategic Business Development, Zixi
• Rick Young, SVP, Head of Global Products, LTN
• Deepak Mathur, President, Media, SES Satellites
• Rick Gibson, VP, Vyvx Solutions, Lumen

Download the white paper at https://wearehivegroup.com/future-of-satellite-replacement.

Register for the breakfast event at https://wearehivegroup.com/future-of-satellite-replacement.

WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has highlighted a series of items that the regulator is likely to consider at its Open Meeting on April 30.

Those items include changes to the so-called “Audible Crawl.” Earlier this month the agency once again agreed to delay enforcement of that rule until November of 2027. It was the sixth time the implementation of the rule has been delayed since it was adopted in 2013.

The rule applies to “video programming distributors and video programming providers,” including TV stations, who must “provide an aural representation of visual, non-textual emergency information that is displayed during non-newscast programming, such as radar maps or other graphics, on a secondary audio stream” for persons who are blind or visually impaired.

“During the more than ten years that the successive waivers have been in place, the record indicates that there has been little progress in developing a workable technical compliance solution, and there is no indication of imminent progress,” the agency said in April 8 decision to delay implementation once again.

Carr provided few details on the items that will be considered at the April 20 meeting. Typically the agency posts supporting materials on its website closer to the meeting.

In a blog post he noted, “we’re enhancing accessibility by proposing to amend the Audible Crawl Rule, to eliminate an unworkable provision while ensuring that people who are visually impaired continue receiving the critical emergency information they need. This action keeps that information available in an accessible audio format while long‑term, modernized solutions are developed.”

In the blog, Carr also said that “we will be taking a major step by enhancing the satellite broadband experience for millions of Americans. Specifically, the Commission will vote on an order to modernize our satellite spectrum-sharing rules—a change that could unlock more than $2 billion in economic benefits for the American people and up to seven-fold capacity for satellite Internet services.”

The FCC will also be beefing up its fight against illegal robocalls.

“The Commission will vote on a proposal to strengthen our “Know‑Your‑Customer” rules for originating providers, closing gaps that have allowed too many illegal calls to enter the network,” Carr wrote.

Another major issue on the agenda is enhancing national security in the telecommunications landscape.

“We’re advancing a proposal to promote reciprocity in the Equipment Authorization program. The proposal will require that all test labs and certification bodies—the entities that review electronic devices for use in our country—be based in the U.S. or foreign countries with reciprocal trade agreements with America,” he wrote. “The proposal also seeks comment on phasing out the use of test labs and bodies based in countries without reciprocity agreements. The Commission will concurrently adopt an order to strengthen the integrity and security of our equipment authorization program through a range of measures building on the Commission’s `Bad Labs’ work.”

In another national security related item, Carr said “the Commission will consider a proposal to exclude entities identified on the national security `Covered List’ from blanket authority to provide domestic interstate telecommunications services under section 214. This proposal also seek comment on a range of other actions the Commission could take to end the “End Run” around our Covered List rules.”

In terms of universal service rules, Carr said they would be “enhancing the integrity of the E-Rate program by voting on an order to establish a new competitive bidding portal and document repository. This action brings greater transparency and consistency to the bidding process, helping ensure schools and libraries receive the most cost‑effective services.”

Every year at NAB, the conversation centers on what's new at the production layer, cameras, switchers, encoders, cloud playout. And every year, connectivity is treated as the assumed foundation: the thing that's supposed to just work so everything else can shine.

That assumption is costing broadcasters.

The broadcast industry has spent a decade investing in software-defined workflows, IP infrastructure and cloud-native production architectures, and yet many organizations are still routing that chain over connectivity infrastructure that hasn't kept pace. The weakest link isn't the switcher or the encoder. It's often the network path between the field and air.

This is the problem the Field to Air demonstration at NAB 2026 was designed to expose, and solve, in plain view on the show floor.

What "Field to Air" Actually Is
Field to Air is a live, end-to-end broadcast workflow running in real time with six production partners: Dejero, Eutelsat, Ross Video, Matrox Video, Clear-Com, GlobalM and Cuez. Everything is live, connected, and dependent on the reliability of the network beneath it.

When you build a workflow with the network at the center, the production chain changes character. Redundancy is built in, not bolted on. Failover becomes invisible. The field-to-air chain stops being a series of fragile handoffs and becomes a single, resilient system.

The Hidden Cost of "Good Enough" Connectivity
Bonded cellular was a meaningful step forward, but bonded cellular is not the same as intelligent network blending. Where bonded approaches aggregate paths and switch when one fails, intelligent blending simultaneously uses all available connections, cellular, satellite, Wi-Fi, fixed-line, weighting each dynamically based on real-time conditions. Eutelsat's OneWeb LEO constellation extends into locations where terrestrial networks are unavailable or under stress.

The practical effect is a connectivity layer that actively maintains signal quality rather than reacting after degradation occurs. For live production teams, that's the difference between infrastructure they can plan around and infrastructure they're constantly compensating for.

A Question Worth Asking
Have we been building sophisticated production architectures on a connectivity foundation that isn't ready to carry them? In too many cases, the honest answer is yes.

The story doesn't start when the camera goes up. It starts when the network is ready.

COLUMBIA, MD—LTN has announced major enhancements to its purpose-built global IP video network, introducing new capabilities for channel creators as they accelerate their transition from legacy satellite models. The latest innovations are based on the company’s experience completing large-scale migrations for national networks, station groups and sports networks to deliver even better reach, reliability, visibility and operational control.

LTN will showcase the new network enhancements at Booth W2100 in the West Hall of the LVCC during the NAB Show, April 18–22 in Las Vegas.

U.S. federal auctions to free up large portions of spectrum capacity for 5G services are approaching, with up to 180 MHz set to be reallocated in the next auction cycle, expected before the end of July 2027. As broadcasters face severe pressure on the remaining C-Band capacity for content distribution, LTN says it is enhancing the transition to reliable, IP-based alternatives with new capabilities that exceed the performance, visibility and reach of C-band or Ku satellite or protocol-only IP solutions.

LTN’s latest innovations prioritize resilience under real-world conditions, operational visibility, scalable management and flexible deployment—aligning with evolving customer needs as broadcasters expand IP distribution footprints and increase channel complexity, according to Malik Khan, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, LTN.

“We are continuing to invest in the areas that drive clear value for major networks and broadcasters—resilience, visibility, scale and cost control,” he said. “As the C-band spectrum auction approaches, broadcasters are looking for certainty and measurable performance. We’re seeing unprecedented momentum and are innovating to ensure we continue to deliver the market’s leading reliable and intelligent distribution platform. For our customers, this means they can unlock new growth opportunities while also driving meaningful cost efficiencies.”

Enhancements include:

• Reliability and performance: Enhancements include Adaptive Multicarrier Rapid Error Recovery (RER), hitless switching and last-mile improvements, delivering improved stability and consistent performance at scale.
• Visibility and monitoring: New capabilities include historical performance views, enhanced source monitoring and expanded API integrations for advanced reporting and analytics – providing greater transparency across feeds, faster issue identification and improved monitoring across complex distribution footprints.
• Reach and deployment enablement: LTN has introduced expanded network access options, including a gateway capable of receiving 500 channels targeted at headends with large channel lineups and small-footprint gateway targeted at affiliates needing to receive just a handful of full time channels. These enhancements deliver open interoperability, greater reach and faster deployment while integrating seamlessly into existing workflows and technical architectures.
• Edge device integration: LTN is working with the leading edge device manufacturers—encoding and IRDs systems—to integrate LTN Network access directly into those devices. The roster of partners—including MediaKind, Harmonic, Appear, and Ateme—will be demonstrated for the first time at the 2026 NAB Show.
• Control, orchestration and scale: Enhancements include more robust dynamic content routing, advanced distribution group management and centralized portal-based orchestration. Broadcasters can manage hundreds of affiliates, across a hybrid footprint, via a single interface, reducing manual workflows while improving visibility and control as scale increases.

LTN has delivered successful satellite-to-IP migrations for leading organizations, including Tennis Channel, TelevisaUnivision, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, MSG and MovieSphereGold, while expanding innovation for cable, broadcast and streaming networks through new capabilities and partnerships.

The company says its IP distribution footprint surged 200% in 2025, enabling seamless access to every content delivery platform. Today, LTN powers over 80 million hours of live video content annually — including nearly 5 million hours of live news and over 1 million live sporting events.

LAS VEGAS and OSLO—PSSI, a global provider of live media production services announced a new phase in its collaboration with Appear, deploying Appear’s X Platform to upgrade its mobile fleet and PSSI International Teleport in advance of live coverage of the FIFA World Cup, which takes place in North America, June 11-July 19.

PSSI also deployed Appear X for its coverage of the FIFA Club World Cup Cup in 2025. The company said it selected Appear’s solutions “due to their high density, integrated functionality and advanced security, enabling PSSI to build a more flexible and future-ready contribution infrastructure.”

“Upgrading the PSSI trucks and our teleport in Pittsburgh with Appear’s X Platform puts us in a strong position for an extremely demanding summer of live sports,” says Derek Blount, CEO of PSSI. “The combination of Appear’s high-density deployment and our own operations and engineering expertise enables us to exceed our customers’ requirements in premium live events. As an early adopter of this platform, PSSI has years of experience proving the reliability of both the Appear technology and the support team behind it.”

Appear is providing PSSI with multiple X20 chassis and a range of integrated functionality including encoding, decoding, satellite modulation and demodulation, ASI and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT).

As part of this project, Appear has enabled PSSI to upgrade its video transport security to BISS-2, giving customers confidence that their premium sports feeds are highly secure, leveraging AES-128 encryption, dynamic key rotation and real-time receiver control.

“PSSI operates in some of the most challenging live production and transmission environments in the broadcast market, with its customers demanding flawless performance, strong security and total operational reliability,” said Ed McGivern, President & General Manager, Appear US. “This deployment helps ensure that PSSI delivers for its customers with greater efficiency, more flexibility and the confidence that premium live sports feeds are protected at every stage.”

Following the FCC’s 2020 decision to repurpose the lower C-Band from satellite broadcast contribution use to mobile wireless services, they are now looking to do the same for the upper C-band spectrum currently used for broadcast distribution, supporting the delivery of live news, sports, and entertainment programming to local affiliate stations and cable head-ends.

Currently, the upper C-band spectrum remains a critical part of traditional distribution infrastructure, but often utilizes older technology, is expensive to operate and offers a centralized distribution network without the ability to easily localize.

When the lower C-band spectrum was reallocated in 2020, the resulting auction raised $81 billion, with a portion of the proceeds allocated to help broadcasters relocate and modernize contribution workflows that suddenly lost access to spectrum.

That transition accelerated the industry’s move toward IP-based contribution and permanently changed how live content is transported. What might have taken a decade under normal conditions happened in a matter of years, driven by regulation and supported by government funding.

If the upper C Band spectrum is re-allocated similarly, at a time when the industry is heavily cost overhung, it could create opportunities for broadcasters to reduce costs and open up new sources of revenue, funded at least partially by the government.

Migrating from Satellite to IP Distribution
Currently, broadcasters deliver fully assembled channels via satellite to transmitters and cable head ends. There is limited content replacement for localization utilizing local ad servers triggered by SCTE triggers embedded in the signal.

In the future, content, schedules, and metadata could be delivered over IP in the distribution stream format, often in non-real time for file based content, to a lightweight playout server in the headend or transmitter site, which creates the channel locally, enabling:

• Lower infrastructure and distribution costs
• Increased revenue through hyperlocal advertising and targeted content
• Increased reliability with a multipath architecture and redundant, independently operating playout servers

To facilitate this, the IRD in the head end is replaced with either a small playout server or a lightweight cloud instance, connected to an IP network; the onward distribution network remains the same.

The server has a storage cache for file content and can switch to local live IP feeds. It also has a copy of the schedule downloaded to it, so if the network is lost, it can operate independently, either playing cached content or, if it has not been downloaded yet, evergreen emergency content.

The Business Impact: Lower Cost, Greater Flexibility
If the FCC chooses to fund the transition, broadcasters may face a rare opportunity to receive financial support to replace infrastructure that already limits flexibility and profitability.

Rather than treating the potential C-band claw-back as a like-for-like replacement exercise, station groups can use it as a catalyst to modernize distribution in ways that:

• Reduce long-term operating costs
  Typically, IP networks are less costly than Satellite time and the required equipment generally shifts from specialized high-frequency capable to off-the-shelf IT-based.
• Improve monetization flexibility
  With a server at the point of distribution, local content and advertisements can be added just for the region served, creating great flexibility to localize and sell local advertising.
  In addition, IP and software offer new and more flexible business models, such as pay-as-you-go and SaaS, which are ideal for providing pop-up channels for occasional live events.
• Simplify operations across linear and streaming
  Linear, streaming, FAST and VoD channels can be distributed from a common content pool, simplifying the supply chain and consolidating silos, further reducing operating costs.
• Increase reliability and reduce on-air incidents
  Utilizing IP technology enables multipath distribution and lower cost, off-the-shelf hardware, and provides for easy to implement redundancy strategies. The use of distributed networks and local servers provides a robust solution, reducing technical failures, on-air incidents and errors.
• Future-proof distribution against further spectrum or market shifts
  IP distribution provides a materially different cost and operating model for station groups and network operators, as well as providing them with insulation against further satellite bandwidth reallocation and the ability to localize content more easily.

Looking Ahead
This distributed IP architecture reflects the approach BCNEXXT has already implemented in the playout architecture behind Vipe, which was designed from the ground up for distributed, IP-based playout rather than centralized, hardware-dependent broadcast infrastructures.

As the industry evolves, this type of architecture provides broadcasters with a practical path to modernize playout and distribution, improving operational efficiency, unlocking new monetization opportunities, and adapting to change without disruption. The spectrum conversation may be the immediate catalyst, but the bigger opportunity is for broadcasters to rethink how distribution is built, operated, and monetized over the next decade.

LONDON and WALTHAM, Mass.—A notable new study finds that broadcasters are rebuilding live operations workflows around IP delivery as satellite and dedicated fibre distribution decline. Live sports is one of the most important areas where the shift is having a major operational impact.

The new study from Caretta Research produced in partnership with Zixi found that the shift is already transforming live sports production. By moving contribution feeds and master control operations to IP and cloud infrastructure, broadcasters can scale coverage beyond the limits of traditional outside broadcast trucks and control rooms, enabling many more simultaneous events., the study found.

"IP delivery is fundamentally changing the economics and flexibility of live video distribution," said Robert Ambrose, CEO and co-founder, and the report's author at Caretta Research. "Broadcasters are moving away from fixed satellite and fiber infrastructure toward software-defined workflows that allow them to scale production, reach new distribution partners and respond much more quickly to changing audience demand."

Broadcasters and rights holders, including Sky and the NHL, are already using IP contribution feeds and cloud-based master control rooms to expand coverage, deliver additional camera angles, and produce highlights and streaming feeds more efficiently, the researchers reported.

"Broadcasters are moving beyond simply replacing satellite circuits with IP transport," said Marc Aldrich, CEO of Zixi. "They are rebuilding live operations around flexible, cloud-based workflows that allow them to scale events, reach new distribution partners and maintain broadcast-grade reliability across global networks."

The report, "Unlocking Live Video Workflows with IP: Transforming the Economics and User Experience of Live Video Delivery," examines how broadcasters, sports leagues and media companies are replacing traditional satellite and fiber infrastructure with scalable IP and cloud-based workflows for live video contribution and distribution.

The researchers noted that historically, broadcasters relied on satellite transponders and private fiber circuits to deliver live video feeds. While reliable, these systems require long-term capacity commitments and significant operational cost. IP delivery over internet networks and cloud infrastructure offers a more flexible alternative, allowing broadcasters to scale workflows and manage multiple live events simultaneously.

The report notes that the drivers behind this transition vary across regions. In the United States, the ongoing reallocation and reduction of C-band satellite spectrum is accelerating the need for alternative distribution approaches. In other markets, cost pressures, expanding streaming distribution and demand for more flexible event production are encouraging broadcasters to adopt IP-based delivery.

Live sports is one of the areas where IP workflows are having the greatest operational impact. By combining IP contribution feeds with cloud-based master control rooms, broadcasters can scale production beyond the physical limits of outside broadcast trucks and control rooms.

Organizations such as Sky and the NHL are using IP workflows to deliver more simultaneous events, support additional camera angles, enable instant replay and distribute content to global streaming platforms and affiliates.

The research also highlights the importance of enterprise platforms that provide monitoring, orchestration and automation across complex IP workflows. Platforms such as the Zixi Platform enable broadcasters to manage multi-protocol delivery and maintain reliability across global distribution networks.

For channel owners, IP distribution is also opening new commercial opportunities, including expanding global reach to new partners, launching localized channel variants and enabling dynamic ad insertion within IP-based workflows.

Caretta Research concludes that IP delivery is reshaping broadcast operations by enabling scalable cloud production, more efficient global distribution and greater operational flexibility for media organizations.

The white paper is available for download at https://www.carettaresearch.com/downloads/unlocking-live-video-workflows-with-ip.

COLUMBIA, MD—LTN and MediaKind today announced a strategic partnership to tightly integrate MediaKind’s MK.IO Beam on-premise devices with the LTN Network, combining advanced edge video processing with LTN’s global IP transport infrastructure.

The integration connects MediaKind’s MK.IO Beam devices directly to the LTN Network, enabling reliable, redundant transmission of compressed video transport streams — for both contribution and distribution. The companies said the end result will be the delivery of a seamless path from high-availability IP distribution to on-premise content processing at scale.

The partnership comes at a pivotal moment as satellite-based C-Band distribution options continue to decline. With the FCC scheduled to auction off the remaining C-Band spectrum by 2027, programmers and content distributors, particularly in mid- and small-size headend markets, are seeking solutions that match the reliability of traditional C-Band while delivering faster deployment and improved cost efficiency.

“As the industry accelerates its shift away from satellite distribution, programmers and content distributors need IP solutions that deliver the same reliability, with greater flexibility and speed,” said Malik Khan, executive dhairman and co-founder of LTN. “Our integration with MediaKind brings advanced content processing directly to the edge of the LTN Network, enabling customers to deploy faster, operate more efficiently, and confidently scale their IP distribution plans.”

Enabling Direct, Redundant Connectivity at the Edge
Through the integration, MK.IO Beam devices can connect directly into the LTN Network, extending LTN’s multicast and multipath IP delivery capabilities to the edge. This enables multipath delivery over dual redundant IP connections, automatic “steering” of last-mile traffic to the best available LTN Network access node, and reliable, managed transport for both sending and receiving compressed video streams.

At the same time, the LTN Network gains streamlined access to MediaKind’s edge processing capabilities, allowing customers to transcode, multiplex, and transform content directly on-prem — ideal for source- or destination-specific processing requirements.

“The industry is under growing pressure to modernize distribution workflows without sacrificing performance,” said Shahar Bar, senior vice president, Products & Marketing at MediaKind. “By integrating MK.IO Beam directly with the LTN Network, we combine advanced software-based video processing with a highly reliable IP transport backbone—enabling faster deployments, greater operational agility, flexible cloud economics including monthly or hourly pay-as-you-go models, and a seamless transition away from legacy satellite infrastructure.”

Faster Deployment and Simplified Edge Operations
The companies say the partnership significantly accelerates IP distribution and contribution rollout timelines. Any MK.IO Beam device can now be quickly provisioned onto the LTN Network, shortening deployment cycles for contribution and distribution workflows, particularly in environments where time, infrastructure constraints, or cost sensitivity are critical.

For existing LTN customers, the integration enables content transformation at the edge, by simplifying custom encoding for regional or affiliate requirements, multiplexing for cable headends, and destination-specific processing handled locally.

By combining managed IP transport with on-prem video processing, programmers and content distributors can reduce infrastructure complexity while maintaining high reliability, they said.

HUDSON, N.H.—Game Creek Video is a leading provider of mobile production facilities for major sports and entertainment broadcasts across the United States. Known for its state-of-the-art fleet and engineering expertise, the company supports high-profile events for networks such as Fox, CBS, ESPN and NBC. With a commitment to innovation, reliability and top-tier workflows, Game Creek builds and operates some of the most advanced remote production trucks in the industry.

We’re always looking for ways to modernize our fleet, and one of the most transformative steps we’ve taken has been deploying Riedel’s MediorNet FusioN gateways directly behind the monitors inside our trucks.

Frees Up Much-Needed Space
Previously, our monitoring designs were limited to 1080p by hybrid SDI workflows wrapped around centralized gateway racks that swallowed up valuable space and added weight. Those traditional systems also constrained how creatively we could lay out our control rooms.

When we evaluated Riedel’s FusioN platform, especially the compact FusioN 3B, the lightweight form factor immediately stood out. These devices are small enough to mount behind monitors yet powerful enough to manage the SDI-to-IP and IP-to-SDI conversions that drive our ST 2110 workflows. Balancing capability with mobility is essential, and these units offered the best of both worlds.

Placing these lightweight gateways at the edge completely changed how we build and wire our trucks. Instead of routing every monitor feed through large, centralized gateway conversion, we now mount a FusioN device directly behind each pair of screens.

This has two major advantages. First, removing large blocks of centralized hardware frees up significant space in our engineering racks. That reclaimed space gives us more flexibility in equipment layout and helps reduce overall truck weight. Since every pound affects transportation logistics and compliance, having conversion handled by lightweight devices rather than heavy racks is a major operational benefit.

Second, we drastically reduce the amount of cabling required, with no more long SDI runs snaking through the subfloor of the truck to feed every display. That reduction allows the FusioN 3B to deliver UHD to each monitor with only a six-foot run of 12G-SDI per display. This has a massive positive impact on the user-monitoring experience.

The day-to-day impact of this shift is obvious during live broadcasts. As we get into playoff runs toward the end of the football or basketball seasons, production often needs to scale up quickly, with operators requesting additional monitors or other out-of-the-box signal assignments. Because adding monitors now only requires a network link to an additional
FusioN converter, we can respond rapidly without major rework through a central point.

The monitor walls and operator workstations become far more dynamic and almost modular. The FusioN devices manage UHD and HDR conversion right at the monitor, eliminating multiple layers of processing that used to add latency and complexity. Handling conversion at the edge keeps the operator experience smooth.

Small Devices, Big Improvements
In our IP-native trucks, where ST 2110 forms the backbone of the system, this approach is incredibly valuable. The core IP fabric handles routing, but the FusioN devices allow us to drop back into SDI seamlessly whenever needed—whether we’re extending to a crowded courtside announcer table inside the venue or providing a world-class monitoring experience inside one of our mobile units. Leveraging NMOS, we can dynamically scale our broadcast infrastructure to suit the needs of our clients on any given day.

When I look at how our trucks operate today versus just a few years ago, the improvement is dramatic. By adopting these small, lightweight FusioN gateways, we’ve decentralized conversion, reduced cabling, saved space and built more flexible and responsive production environments.

What might seem like a subtle change has fundamentally redefined how we design monitor systems and control rooms. It’s a shift that improves reliability, adaptability, and day-to-day workflow and it pays off every time we roll into a new venue.

More information is available on Riedel’s website.

NEW YORK—The live sports broadcasting industry is grappling with a significant technological shift. Productions are becoming larger and more complex, and the demand for wireless cameras has outpaced the capabilities of traditional microwave RF systems that operate on increasingly crowded and limited frequency spectrums.

There’s a constant challenge to efficiently broadcast content wirelessly, which has created a strong industry-wide push to find viable next-generation solutions like 5G. All the traditional solutions still perform well, but when Sony demoed for us its 5G-powered live remote-production offering, comprised of a CBK-RPU7 encoder paired with the PDT-FP1 portable data transmitter and the NXL-ME80 media-edge processor to achieve ultra-low latency, our reaction was, “Why wouldn’t we look at it?”

Low Latency, High Quality
Sony’s solution presented an option offering ultra-low latency and high video quality, plus the ability to send back return video and control the camera and tally.

We’re always limited on the amount of RF cameras we can run on a large-scale event—at a golf major, we typically have around 120 cameras. Over the last four or five years, we’ve been creating one giant camera-control network. If we have six different trucks, the person physically shading cameras can be there, or we can extend the network to New York and have somebody paint it from there.

Our teams have also started virtualizing RF camera control with Sony Camera Control Network Adapters (CNAs), which show up as just another CCU on the network. Now, even if we have 25 video operators, they can be anywhere, in any truck, controlling anything. Having another Sony device on the system allows us to add control to the network more easily.

It’s important we continue to look for ways to transmit more content using the same number of frequencies available. Spectrum is in short supply, so being able to leverage new transmission technology is certainly an advantage, and 5G is obviously, for now, the next solution.

Typically, public networks are specified at about 80% allocation for download and 20% for upload, making it difficult to stream higher bit rates—we need much higher upload bandwidth to transmit live video reliably and smoothly. The video quality and low latency achieved through Sony’s 5G encoder are production-ready and comparable to wired fiber, making it a viable option for primary broadcast cameras.

We’ve even done side-by-side tests of the 5G feed against hard-wired fiber feeds, revealing minimal differences in quality and latency. The video quality from Sony’s 5G encoder was so high when compared to a wired fiber camera that we often could not tell the difference, even when using a high-grade broadcast monitor.

Public 5G Slicing
Production always wants more RF—that’s one of the biggest requests at major events. While private 5G networks provide excellent, dedicated bandwidth, deployment is still challenging enough to warrant further simplification for broader adoption. The potential for carriers to offer guaranteed bandwidth (slicing) on public 5G networks could be the next necessary step towards simplified deployment. Plus, the availability of a public 5G slicing option means you don’t always have to deploy a completely separate 5G system.

Even if there is some trade-off between robustness, latency and quality, it’s worth it for the ability to get more coverage easily and over a large area. The future of wireless broadcasting, at least for the near term, is likely a hybrid model with traditional RF cameras supplemented by 5G cameras placed in strategic locations or in areas difficult to reach with other technologies.

We’re definitely rounding the corner, and as we do, it will be this 5G-powered remote production technology’s time to shine.

More information is available on Sony’s professional products website.

HUDSON, N.H.—My role at Game Creek Video focuses on the design, maintenance, and long-term evolution of our mobile production trucks. In live production, especially at the scale we operate, broadcast technology must be flexible, dense and, above all, reliable. Over the last several years, MultiDyne has become a core technology partner for us, with several of their products playing distinct and critical roles in our workflows.

We heavily rely on three MultiDyne product lines: the VF9000 fiber-transport platform, the HUT camera acquisition system and SilverBullet miniature fiber-transport devices. Each one serves a different purpose, but together they allow us to move large amounts of video efficiently, both inside the truck and across stadiums.

All-in-One Design
The VF-9000 has become the backbone of our inter-truck fiber transport. Over the past several years, we transitioned to this platform after using other solutions, and it’s now installed across six of our mobile units, with multiple frames per truck. What drew us to the VF-9000 was its compact footprint and all-in-one design. Previously, we needed separate products for fiber transport and copper video conversion. The VF-9000 consolidates that into a single, dense and extremely stable platform.

From a production standpoint, we use the VF-9000 to move large volumes of SDI video between trucks. In a typical configuration, we’ll take up to 32 video signals from one truck, transport them over just a few strands of fiber and break them back out in another unit. That level of density allows us to share signals efficiently without running excessive fiber, which is especially valuable on large, complex shows. We primarily use the VF-9000 for video transport with embedded audio, and its CWDM (coarse-wavelength division multiplexing) capabilities allow us to maximize bandwidth while keeping our infrastructure clean and manageable.

Monitoring and troubleshooting are also major strengths of the VF-9000. The platform exposes SNMP (Simple Network Monitoring Protocol) data, which allows us to integrate it directly into our broader monitoring environment. Instead of walking into racks or checking front-panel indicators, our engineers can see real-time status, alerts and performance metrics through dashboards and web-based tools. We can even monitor the far end of a fiber link from another truck, which saves time and reduces on-site coordination during live events.

Out in the field, camera acquisition is handled primarily by the MultiDyne HUT system. HUT has proven to be one of the most universally compatible camera-transport solutions we’ve used—we haven’t encountered a camera platform in our fleet that it doesn’t support. Using SMPTE connections at the camera and single-mode fiber back to the truck, HUT allows us to leverage a venue’s existing fiber infrastructure while maintaining signal integrity and flexibility.

Alongside HUT, the SilverBullet plays an equally important role. While HUT focuses on camera transport, the Silver Bullet is our go-to solution for moving individual video feeds long distances throughout a venue. We frequently deploy them to carry monitoring feeds, auxiliary signals, or other video paths that need to travel alongside camera signals. Many venues are moving away from copper entirely, and the Silver Bullet allows us to run tactical fiber everywhere and convert back to SDI exactly where we need it.

NBA Cup Coverage
This gear was recently deployed together on high-profile broadcasts, including Prime Video’s NBA Cup coverage in Las Vegas, and it’s also in regular use on major productions like “Monday Night Football,” “Thursday Night Football” and Fox primetime football. These are demanding shows with zero tolerance for
failure. The HUT and SilverBullet are rugged, field-ready devices that just work. The VF-9000, despite its density, is modular enough that we can replace individual components without taking an entire system offline.

Our goal is to build trucks that are flexible today and ready for tomorrow as we support a variety of live productions for sports and live events. MultiDyne’s technology has helped us achieve this through reliable transport, smart monitoring, and the confidence to deliver world-class live broadcasts.

More information is available on MultiDyne’s website.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—As the founder of TNDV, a Nashville-based live event and broadcast production company specializing in multicamera television, music specials and large-scale live events, I know how recording and capturing content is one of the most crucial tasks we face on any project.

For more than two decades, our team has supported everything from concert broadcasts and awards shows to network television and corporate productions. As our company has grown, our technology choices have always been driven by reliability, efficiency and the ability to scale alongside increasingly complex productions.

Practical and Affordable
My relationship with AJA’s Ki Pro line goes back to the very beginning. I was an extremely early adopter of the original Ki Pro in 2009, and it fundamentally changed the trajectory of my career and my company. At the time, recording HD content meant relying almost exclusively on tape-based HDCAM systems that could easily cost six figures per unit, and it was preventing me from moving beyond an SD-SDI workflow. The Ki Pro introduced a practical, affordable way to record broadcast-quality HD using a file-based, disc-based workflow, arriving at exactly the moment our industry was ready for change.

We quickly recognized that the Ki Pro was not only just a recorder, it was a workflow solution. As our young company expanded from a single HD production truck to three and eventually to 12, we purchased as many Ki Pro units as we could. They became a core part of our technical infrastructure and a key differentiator when pitching new clients.

As the industry transitioned away from tape formats, we were already prepared to deliver file-based media that quickly entered postproduction pipelines in file formats our clients were asking for, like ProRes.

Deployment was straightforward. Ki Pro units integrated cleanly into our trucks, worked seamlessly with a wide range of cameras and switchers and proved themselves reliable in demanding live environments. On a typical production, we use Ki Pro recorders for ISO recording, program capture, backup recording and deliverables. The ability to hand off high-quality media immediately after a show without real-time tape transfers saved hours on every production and helped our clients move faster.

When AJA introduced the Ki Pro Rack, we immediately began purchasing dozens of units. The rack-mounted form factor was a natural evolution for mobile production and control-room environments. It allowed us to consolidate recording systems, improve cable management and expand channel counts without increasing complexity. The Ki Pro Rack was built upon everything we appreciated about the original Ki Pro while offering greater flexibility for larger shows.

Ready for the Future
A few years later, we were just as eager to adopt the Ki Pro Ultra, followed closely by the Ki Pro Ultra Plus. As our productions moved into higher frame rates and 4K workflows, these units provided the performance and consistency we needed. Today, we own and operate over 100 different Ki Pro recorders across our fleet. They are trusted tools for both HD and 4K shows, whether we are covering a live concert, televised awards show or high-profile corporate event.

Over 15 years after the original Ki Pro was introduced, the Ki Pro family remains a crucial part of our workflow. We have evaluated and tested many alternative recording solutions over the years, but the Ki Pro continues to stand out for its reliability, image quality and ease of use. In live production, failure is not an option, and AJA’s recorders have consistently delivered dependable performance show after show.

For our team, Ki Pro is not just a piece of gear—it represents a turning point in how we work and how we serve our clients. From our earliest HD productions to today’s multi-truck, multiformat broadcasts, AJA Ki Pro recorders have helped us grow, adapt and stay competitive in an ever-evolving industry.

More information is available on the AJA Video Systems website.

BALTIMORE—Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), the regional sports network owned by Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, broadcasts both teams’ games to fans across a seven-state region. On top of 24/7 access to all its core live baseball coverage, MASN covers a breadth of exclusive pre- and postgame shows, documentaries, and annual collegiate events spanning from basketball to poker and fight sports.

Lower Costs, More Control
Faced with high satellite costs and other issues, we turned to LTN to explore a full migration to IP delivery. Leveraging its experience supporting IP transitions for TelevisaUnivision, MSG Networks and Tennis Channel, we successfully migrated all our channels from satellite to IP ahead of the 2025 MLB season. The result was a nearly 60% reduction in distribution costs, with greater control, flexibility, and visibility over our transmission feeds.

We decided to move from satellite to IP because regional sports networks like ours face mounting pressures to control operating costs, maintain consistent signal quality and navigate the shrinking C-band spectrum capacity for video distribution. These factors are prompting many of us to look at alternatives to satellite to ensure reliability and low-latency delivery that meets today’s ever-increasing viewer expectations. MASN faced these same challenges.

We needed to modernize our network distribution model without disrupting existing partners or viewers. We set out to reduce delivery and maintenance costs, preserve satellite-grade reliability for consistent streaming experiences and gain deeper insight into how our networks perform. At the same time, we wanted to ensure continuous, high-quality coverage of our traditional multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and newer virtual MVPD partners to keep our live sports delivery uninterrupted throughout the transition.

We needed a trusted partner that understood our key priorities and could deliver uninterrupted high-quality video throughout the transition. Our long-standing collaboration with LTN built the trust that allowed us to make the move, and we were delighted when LTN completed the transition from satellite to IP in just 60 days, including a dual-illumination phase where satellite and IP ran in parallel to ensure an effortless switchover.

The LTN team worked with our engineering teams to plan, test and implement the new delivery workflow. This process included hands-on project management as well as on-site configuration, logistics and testing. One of LTN’s key differentiators was its relationships and direct coordination with MVPD headends to ensure all end points were ready to receive IP feeds before the switch.

We now distribute four variants of our two full-time channels, including MASN1 and MASN2, via LTN’s purpose-built IP video network. This setup enables MASN to insert localized advertising and tailor content for our two core markets in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Event-Driven Transport
As many networks assess their next steps with the C-Band spectrum auction approaching, we moved quickly to secure a future-ready model.

With the added flexibility and control that comes with IP, we can monitor signal integrity in real time and collaborate far more efficiently with our partners. More broadly, our transition demonstrates how rapidly sports networks can embrace IP once they commit to the shift. Today, fully-managed, SLA-backed IP distribution stands out as the most dependable way to deliver multiple channels across a range of platforms while maximizing ad revenue. In addition, LTN’s 24/7 customer service makes this fully-managed service stand out.

Beyond delivering our core channels, we also rely on LTN for event-driven IP transport, including the MLB spring training series. LTN’s low-latency IP transmission lets us centralize production at our control facility while pulling live camera feeds from venues nationwide.

We’re now stronger and more focused than ever following our move to IP, and excited to bring fans an even better viewing experience.

More information is available at https://ltnglobal.com.

This is the fourth installment in a multi-part series by broadcast historian and former TV Tech Technology Editor James O'Neal.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

As documented in the previous installment of this lookback at electronic newsgathering’s development, the era of “modern” ENG came about in the mid-1970s, as a “perfect storm” in technology finally enabled broadcasters to move away from movie film for capturing out-of-studio news events and into electronic imaging and recording.

After the initial pieces — smaller, lighter-weight color cameras and videotape recorders, along with editing systems that accommodated this new media —began to fall into place, broadcasters started to dip their collective toes in the water, with some embracing the technological shift wholeheartedly and others holding back for one reason or another. However, the ENG movement had begun and it was inevitable that film’s days were numbered.

As with most nascent industries and endeavors, movement into ENG was not painless, bringing along new problems and issues for early adopters. One of these, described in the previous ENG history installment, involved operators at full-service filling stations assuming that van camera or cable ports were gas tank filler openings and inadvertently flooding a vehicle with gasoline. Other issues were more subtle and didn’t involve third parties.

Powering First Gen ENG Gear Was Not Always Easy
Portable television cameras continued to shrink both in bulk and weight. Imager sensitivity, or the ability to produce satisfactory images in low-light situations, also became a driving force in R&D groups, as did reductions in electrical power requirements.

Power demands of most all of the early ENG cameras were so great that operators wore “belts” with compartments for a sufficient number of rather heavy “NiCad” (nickel-cadmium) batteries to accommodate anticipated shooting times. According to Jay Ballard, who was with NBC when the 1970s ENG movement began, power requirements for some of the early cameras made battery packs even more cumbersome.

“The first cameras used at NBC’s Washington O&O, WRC-TV, were Norelco PCP-90s,” Ballard recalled. “They were paired with Ampex VR-3000 two-inch quad backpack video recorders. (Both) had substantial power requirements.”

He noted that the NiCads powering most early ENG gear could be problematic. One issue was a “memory” effect, with batteries that were not fully discharged before recharging developing substantially shorter operating times. Another issue was the tendency of fully-charged NiCads to self-discharge on their own, creating unpredictable results when an ENG shoot was underway.

“Battery life was always an issue,” noted Ballard. “We used batteries from a number of manufacturers along with special charging (equipment) to try and overcome this problem.”

George Lemaster, who was also with NBC during ENG’s initial rollout also recalled the demands on the operation’s engineering department in terms of battery maintenance.

“NBC Washington deployed more than 20 ENG crews and there was one technician whose duties centered on maintenance of the large number of batteries being used,” he said. “These were NiCads and also some very expensive silver zinc that required a special charger.”

Lemaster amplified Ballard’s NiCad observations.

“Some would last a long time and some wouldn’t. It was the job of the battery technician to determine the run time of each of the battery packs in use. He would discharge them using a timer to see how long they lasted. NBC practice was just to trash a sub-par NiCad pack,” he said. “These were made up of several ‘D’ cells, and usually only one these had failed by shorting out, but that meant the rest were very near end of life.

Those involved in early ENG also recall the heavy and uncomfortable “battery belts,” which completely encircled the camera operator’s mid-section and contained multiple pouches for the batteries needed to power both the ENG camera and the equally power-hungry portable lighting instruments necessary to produce airable video in many low-light situations.

Art Donahue, who shot news and documentary footage for a number of New England stations, remembered some of his own experiences with battery belts.

“In cold weather, you usually needed multiple battery belts to get through a shoot,” he recalled. “The cold weather affected battery output and you would have to carry the extra belts under your parka to keep them warm.

Donahue also recalled another issue that existed before batteries were integrated within camera and recorder housings.

“The connecting cables were always a problem. They kept getting pulled out and frequently failed,” he said. “We had to kept plenty of spares.”

Those Problematic Masts
Microwave antennas used on the early ENG vehicles had very simple pan-and-tilt mounts, with the dish only a few feet above the top of the van or truck. While such mounts were satisfactory when beaming signals to a communications tower or high-rise receiving/relay site, their low elevation above ground was a limiting factor in getting video back to the TV station.

It wasn’t long in the evolution of ENG that some stations began to experiment with telescoping pipe masts in an effort to elevate van transmitting antennas. Later, a commercial product using compressed air as a means for raising the pipe sections was developed and soon became standard equipment on all ENG vehicles.

While these pneumatically-driven telescoping masts did provide greatly enhanced coverage range, they came with their own set of issues. One of the worst usually happened when a crew was in a hurry to go live with a breaking news event and the vehicle operator inadvertently parking under powerlines and elevating the mast without checking for obstructions.

This sometimes-lethal occurrence was eventually remedied via a sensor for nearby AC powerline fields and an interlock that would not allow extension of masts if a power line hazard existed.

Another issue was the occasional “stuck” mast, that typically happened in cold weather.

As explained by Bob Russo, former chief engineer at New Haven’s WTHN, this was due to freezing of water vapor in the compressed air supply used to drive the mast extension.

“This was something we always faced during cold weather,” said Russo. “The moisture in the compressed air would freeze the O-rings used to provide an air seal around each of the pipe sections. We tried any number of things to keep moisture out of the air supply, but every so often the O-rings would freeze and keep the operator from lowering the mast after the news feed.”

Russo explained that the remedy for such freeze-ups was to unbolt the collars at the top of the mast sections, starting with the one closest to the truck. He recalled one rather catastrophic situation involving a stuck mast on the station’s ENG truck that occurred when the operator either misunderstood or didn’t follow the procedure supplied by the station’s chief of maintenance.

“This was in January,” recalled Russo. “There was a really awful accident involving a line of cars stopped and waiting to pay tolls when they were hit by a tractor-trailer rig. We were on the scene for live coverage, and when this wrapped up, the van operator found that he couldn’t get the mast to lower and called in to speak with the maintenance chief for instructions on freeing the stuck mast. This called for loosening the U-bolts on the collars on each of the sections.

“Apparently the operator misunderstood his instructions and applied air pressure after loosening the first collar. The result was the launch of the eight-section 42-foot mast and microwave antenna. When it came down it fell across the highway, fortunately, it came down clear of the stopped cars, otherwise, there could have been additional casualties that night.”

Russo also recalled van operators sometimes overriding interlocks that prevented van movement when the mast was deployed.

“They would be in a hurry to get a better microwave shot back to the station and decide to move the van a few feet without lowering the antenna. We had one incident where this resulted in damage from the mast hitting a tree limb.”

Living With 'Plastic Faces'
Early ENG adopters recall another issue associated with conversion from film to tape operations that no amount of operator training or change in workflow practices could alter. This was a rather peculiar "look" associated with news events captured on small-format videotape machines. In order to shrink the profile, weight, and power requirements of videotape recorders, sacrifices in performance had to be made. The greatest of these was reduction in video bandwidth.

“I evaluated small format machines for video and chroma response,” Ballard recalled. “The video they produced was nowhere near what a conventional ‘quad’ broadcast machine produces.”

The problem stemmed from lower head-to-tape “writing speeds” that were necessary to allow video recording on small and easily handled magnetic tape media. It should be recalled too, that the 3/4-inch Sony U-matic cassette tape format—which became an early ENG industry standard—was never intended for broadcast purposes, but rather for educational and institutional applications where size, convenience and ease of use trumped video performance. The author once measured video frequency response of a new U-matic machine and observed that there was little above 2.25 MHz.

Obviously, NTSC color video, with its chroma information centered around a 3.58 MHz carrier, could not be captured by the U-matic or any of the other first generation of small portable video recorders, so some electronic trickery had to be employed. As explained by Ballard, this involved some electronic alterations.

“Although Sony may have been the first manufacturer to employ it in video recorders, the principle of ‘color under’ came from RCA back in the 1950s,” he said, explaining that when NTSC color was introduced in late 1953, a number of television stations received their network feeds via AT&T Long Lines “L1” coaxial cable paths that dated back to the early 1940s. These coaxial cable routes were designed basically to accommodate multiple voice telephone circuits, with the technology leading to them going back to the 1930s when video was still in its infancy.

As such, L1 frequency response was limited to somewhat less than 3 MHz. To transmit color, RCA devised a scheme for bandpass filtering of the 3.58 MHz chroma content, then filtering the luminance component so that it did not exceed 2.0 MHz. The chroma content was heterodyned down in frequency and transmitted slightly above the bandwidth-limited luminance.

When the modified NTSC color signal was delivered to a TV station, the process was reversed, with the chroma being converted back to its 3.58 MHz berth and recombined with the luminance component. While it wasn’t the best looking video, the process did allow stations to broadcast network color until AT&T could improve their delivery system.

A similar scheme was employed to accommodate color in early small-format video recorders.

“This was okay with one generation of video recording,” said Ballard. “The problem arose when you started editing these tapes.”

Such editing necessitated re-recording the already bandwidth-compromised video, especially the chroma information. After just three generations, surviving detail in the colored areas was limited to no more than a few tens of kilohertz. This lack of detail was especially noticeable in human faces, with the effect being dubbed “plastic faces.”

“This is what happens when you try to squeeze in too much information into limited bandwidth,” said Ballard, “With ‘quad’ and (later) “type C,’ you didn’t have this color problem, as these formats were designed for broadcast.”

While "plastic faces" were never an issue when news capture was done on 16mm color film, it became something of an early ENG trademark, with the immediacy afforded by use of small-format videotape recording generally overriding quality concerns both at network and local TV station levels.

“NBC did have a rule of thumb that any videotape format used had to hold up for at least three generations,” recalled Ballard. “But this was very loose.”

The adoption of video recorders not really intended for broadcast use also created another issue; one that was not so apparent as plastic faces.

‘A Little Extra Blanking Never Hurt Anyone'
The airing of recordings made on so-called “slant-track” VTRs, especially those employing the 3/4-inch “U-matic” format, came with a defect of sorts that the developers of the earlier quadruplex broadcast format machines had been mindful of, and took measures to conceal.

This was the slight perturbation in recovered video that existed when one video playback head ended reading a recorded video track and another head began to scan the next track. The smaller slant track VTRs adopted for ENG were designed with two heads on a common drum, with each recording (or playing back) a complete field (262.5-lines) of video.

On playback, as one head completed its scan of a video track, it was switched off and the second head became active. This resulted in a small amount of visible “flutter,” sometimes referred to as “flag waving” in the recovered video. Sony and other manufacturers designed their machines to place this switching near the bottom of the frame, just above the vertical blanking interval (VBI) where it was less noticeable.

As explained by George Lemaster, a problem arose when some broadcasters wanted to hide this disturbance, in connection with external time base correctors (TBCs) used to provide “legal” sync and blanking signals from the VTRs.

“The CVS 504 (a very popular early TBC) had a ‘vertical advance’ control,” said Lemaster. “Broadcasters would use this control to shift switching out of bottom of picture, and this increased vertical blanking beyond 21 lines.”

The reasoning was that a few extra lines of black in the picture didn’t matter that much. However, at about the same time as the ENG movement was sweeping through the industry, the VBI was beginning to get a lot of attention with the arrival of vertical interval test and reference signals, as well as space for accommodating ancillary data delivery services (Teletext and closed captioning).

An FCC field inspector really didn’t need specialized test equipment to spot stations with excessively wide VBIs. All it took was a quick look at a TV monitor or receiver. Within a four-year period (1974 to 1978), the Commission had issued nearly 250 citations. And as Broadcasting magazine reported, it wasn’t “mostly the little guys” who were being cited. A number of major market stations, including network O&Os, had been ticketed.

“I do recall the FCC handing out citations,” said Lemaster. “NBC came out with a set of standards to comply with FCC rules. We had to go through all of our tape machines and set blanking widths to make sure they were correct.

“Back then, you could also misadjust cameras to produce excessive blanking widths,” he said, noting that the airing of recordings produced by out of tolerance cameras could result in non-compliance with FCC rules.

“NBC would reject tapes (from outside sources) with blanking widths that were too wide.”

By June 1978, the blanking situation had gotten serious enough to prompt the FCC to issue a Notice of Inquiry to determine if changes needed to be made to Commission regulations governing television waveforms, and setting a one-year grace period that allowed blanking widths to slightly exceed specs.

An industry group — the Broadcasters Ad Hoc Committee on Television Blanking Widths — was also created with the objective of helping to “identify problem areas and recommend corrective action” to the FCC.

Eventually, blanking discrepancies were resolved through greater operator vigilance, along with the development of technology for easily spotting and correcting signal issues.

(The next installment of this ENG history series will examine the addition of communications satellite technology as a news gathering tool.)

BACKNANG, Germany—Hiltron featured its HMAM-XY motorized antenna mount and other satellite communications products and system integration skills at IBC2025, which concluded mid-September in Amsterdam.

The motorized antenna mount, introduced as a prototype at last year’s IBC, is now in full production. Hiltron highlighted the product along with its range of satcom control, monitoring and antenna de-icing technology as well as the Premium Line D-SNG platform.

“Following a well-attended GovSatCom and its near-namesake GoSatCom, IBC remains a well-timed event attracting major broadcasters and broadcast-related telco service providers from many countries,” Hiltron Communications managing director Antonio Monteverde said.

“System integration continues to be the core element of successful ground station operation, ensuring fully coordinated monitoring, control and long-term reliability in all weather conditions.”

The HMAM-XY was well-received and recognized for its ability to provide stable transmit and receive links to LEO, MEO, smallsat satellite constellations and drones as well as traditional geostationary satellites, he said.

The new motorized mount accommodates parabolic reflectors and planar antennas up to 9.84 feet (3 meters) in diameter and operates in the L, S, C, X, Ku and Ka bands with circular or linear polarization, the company said.

Among its key features are fast tracking speed with low backlash and full hemispheric coverage with no zenith keyhole.

“We also promoted our satcom system upgrade capabilities, including 3D laser scanning and evaluation of teleport antennas,” Monteverde said. “This resource is far more accurate than the commonly used photogrammetry technique and can be conducted without interrupting the subject antenna’s operating schedule.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

The broadcast industry is undergoing rapid change and rising uncertainty. As regulatory debates continue, shifting audience expectations and growing demand are accelerating a long-standing move away from legacy satellite models toward smarter, IP-based distribution. With fast moving changes in both policy and business models, broadcasters must act now to prepare for a future that is IP-first.

The Decline of Satellite
Ongoing deregulatory initiatives including C-band reallocation, spectrum repacking, and the future of spectrum usage pose significant questions for satellite-reliant broadcasters. Once driven by cost and complexity concerns, many now doubt satellite’s long-term viability altogether.

With additional C-Band spectrum under review for new 5G and connectivity services, the pressure is mounting. Earlier C-band auctions squeezed spectrum capacity, and now as further reallocations loom, many broadcasters are preparing for an inevitable pivot.

As the industry moves toward the 2028 target for full ATSC 3.0 adoption, broadcasters face a critical juncture. NextGen TV promises new revenue streams and advanced capabilities, including UHD video, targeted advertising, and advanced emergency alerts.

However, deployment depends on regulatory clarity and infrastructure investment. At the same time, rising audience demand for on-demand, cross platform access is pushing legacy models to their limit. Forward-thinking broadcasters now see IP-based distribution and new delivery standards as urgent business imperatives.

Prepare for the IP Transition on Your Own Terms
With C-band capacity increasingly at risk, purpose-built IP distribution options are delivering the scalability, efficiency and satellite-grade reliability broadcasters need, along with the flexibility of IP. The majority of broadcasters are telling us they’re actively preparing for this shift to IP distribution, even if timelines vary. A successful transition doesn’t require abandoning satellite overnight.

It requires a flexible strategy that aligns with existing contracts, controls cost, and supports long-term goals. Fortunately, today’s migration paths are clearer than ever. Hybrid models and regional deployments allow broadcasters to adopt IP on their terms.

At the same time, expanding support for IP native and HLS-supported receivers enables major networks and channel owners to cost-effectively scale IP distribution, streamline group management, and unlock new markets.

As more companies prepare to embrace IP, many ask us how to make the transition easier. It starts with end-to-end project management and hands-on support. Business and operations leaders should hold prospective IP partners to the highest standard, demanding managed services that surpass what satellite and protocol only IP options provide.

This includes real-time monitoring, proactive issue resolution and responsive support. Reliability isn’t optional. Ask vendors the hard questions: How is their IP architecture built? What redundancy and failover measures are in place? Do they operate across Tier 1 data centers? Do they rely on networks and public clouds that are not built exclusively for real time video delivery and workflows? Future-ready distribution must be bulletproof, and your partner in this transition should be able prove all of this.

Growth Opportunities in FAST and NextGen TV
Shifting to IP channel distribution unlocks new audience engagement and revenue opportunities, especially in the booming FAST market, projected to hit $8B globally this year (Omdia).

Whether streaming live sports on Roku or syndicating local news digitally, single-source IP solutions make it easier and faster to deliver premium content. LTN's work with major U.S. networks powering multiple live FAST channels with real-time localized news has shown us just how effective live programming can be in driving both viewer engagement and ad revenue.

NextGen TV, now reaching 76% of US households, is redefining broadcast innovation. Early adopters are already seeing value through addressable ads, shoppable content, interactive overlays, and advanced emergency alerts.

Datacasting advancements from industry leaders like Scripps, Sinclair, Gray Media and Nexstar Media Group are unlocking new use cases, from drone navigation to loT to real-time asset tracking. As the demand for high-speed, precise data grows, broadcasters are well positioned to monetize it if their distribution tech is IP ready. These aren’t future concepts, they’re active opportunities, supported by infrastructure that exists today.

Broadcasters and sports networks like Scripps, MSG Networks, TelevisaUnivision, and the Tennis Channel are already leading the shift to IP-first distribution. As more organizations follow, it’s critical to recognize that not all IP networks are equal.

Broadcasters should prioritize purpose-built video networks designed for live premium content — not retrofitted enterprise tech, protocol-only solutions or costly public cloud options. That means, find a network that is exclusively designed for live video with a host of enrichment options in real-time. Now is the time to assess your infrastructure, accelerate transition plans and choose partners built for this moment. The leaders embracing IP today are already securing audience loyalty and long-term revenue.

McLEAN, Va.—Intelsat, operator of one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, became one of the first foreign satellite operators to receive approval from the Indian government to provide extensive satellite coverage directly to India’s broadcast media companies, a significant regulatory achievement the company says puts Intelsat on an accelerated path to offering new services and further India investment.

The company has secured authorization for four geostationary (GEO) satellites providing C-band coverage over India: the IS-17, IS-20, IS-36 and IS-39 satellites. The approved satellite fleet will primarily serve India’s dynamic broadcast media industry, enabling enhanced content delivery and distribution capabilities across the subcontinent and from India to other regions of the world.

“This approval represents a significant step forward in Intelsat’s contribution to India’s space commerce sector, a source of great national pride,” Gaurav Kharod, regional vice president for Asia Pacific at Intelsat, said. “Our extensive satellite network with four satellites covering the region will provide Indian broadcasters with reliable, high-quality connectivity solutions that meet their evolving needs. This authorization enables us to better serve our customers and contribute to India’s growing media landscape.”

Following the authorization from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), Intelsat won new business from three of India’s largest media companies. This new and expanded service will see Intelsat deliver its full portfolio of media content to viewers in India.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission is moving to investigate certain 5G and satellite spectrum held by EchoStar and its satellite-TV subsidiary, Dish.

The move is a potentially serious blow to EchoStar’s plans to reinvent itself as a wireless company as its pay TV operations continue to lose subscribers. News of the investigation pushed EchoStar’s stock down in Tuesday trading.

As part of the effort, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau issued a public notice seeking additional comment on a petition for reconsideration of the FCC’s decision last year to grant EchoStar an extension of the construction deadlines for certain of its licenses as part of its 5G network buildout.

In addition, the Space Bureau established SB Docket No. 25-173 to seek comment on EchoStar’s use of the 2,000-2,020 MHz (Earth-to-space) and 2,180-2,200 MHz (space-to-Earth) (2 GHz bands) for mobile-satellite service (MSS).

EchoStar pushed back with a statement from Chairman Charlie Ergen saying, “Today, we are proud to have invested tens of billions to deploy the world’s largest 5G Open RAN network—primarily using American vendors—across 24,000 5G sites, to offer broadband service to over 268 million people nationwide.”

The moves by the FCC to reconsider EchoStar’s 5G and satellite spectrum came after The Wall Street Journal reported that FCC chair Brendan Carr sent a letter to Ergen saying “I have asked the FCC’s staff to take several steps regarding spectrum licenses that your companies hold.”

“I have directed agency staff to begin a review of EchoStar’s compliance with its federal obligations to provide 5G service throughout the United States per the terms of its federal spectrum licenses,” Carr wrote to Ergen.

In the letter Carr, accused EchoStar of not complying with its obligations to build out its 5G network to at least 70% of the population in its licensed geographical areas by June 14, 2025. Instead, Carr contended: “EchoStar negotiated behind closed doors during the previous Administration in September 2024. Under the terms of that bureau-level decision, EchoStar would no longer have to meet the June 2025 buildout obligations—meaning, its commitment to provide 5G to a broad swath of America. Nor would EchoStar have to face the agreed-upon consequences for failing to do so. Instead, EchoStar would generally kick the can down the road while agreeing to buildout milestones for some major-market licenses by December 2024, along with other commitments.”

In the letter, Carr also detailed some examples of how EchoStar had failed to meet its obligations in building out its network.

Carr has been previously vocal about his desire to expand 5G spectrum and his dissatisfaction with how EchoStar has used its spectrum during a recent interview at the Milken Institute.

EchoStar has also come under fire from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which filed a letter with the FCC saying: “Despite years of false promises and dubious technical showings, new data confirms what most people already suspected—Dish Network barely uses the AWS-4 band, if it is used at all, to provide 5G or any other service to American consumers. After extensive consumer complaints about the difficulties of signing up for Dish’s mobile service, recent spectrum analysis now explains why: Dish barely uses the spectrum. While Dish has already written off the satellites that justified its licenses in the first place, new measurements show that Dish uses less than 5% of what would be expected from an actual wireless network operator. This data is the starkest example yet of why the Commission must swiftly recognize that Dish has left this valuable midband spectrum chronically underused and take steps to welcome new satellite entrants who will finally put this spectrum to use to serve the American people.”

Elon Musk has long battled with Ergen over EchoStar’s spectrum, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In response to the FCC’s investigation, EchoStar chairman Ergen said: “We have worked collaboratively with FCC leaders since we launched our first DBS satellite more than 30 years ago. Today, we are proud to have invested tens of billions to deploy the world’s largest 5G Open RAN network—primarily using American vendors—across 24,000 5G sites, to offer broadband service to over 268 million people nationwide. Through this deployment, which is possible thanks to scores of tower climbers, engineers and partners, we have met or exceeded all of the commitments we have entered into with the FCC to date. And our work is not yet finished as we continue to deploy and invest in our network. Not only does our network create American jobs and a competitive alternative to incumbent wireless carriers, it also furthers another critical Trump administration priority: Deploying Open RAN to ensure the United States is at the forefront of wireless leadership and that our infrastructure is free of Chinese vendors.”

MELBOURNE, Fla.—USSI Global and Sinclair Broadcast Group are conducting field trials to demonstrate the benefits that Eutelsat Group’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity offers for demanding live, local news production workflows.

The ongoing trials highlight real-world examples of how local news teams at three Sinclair-owned TV stations in Washington D.C.; Columbus, Ohio; and Las Vegas, Nevada, leverage Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO satellite constellation for reliable, real-time news gathering from the acquisition point to their desired production facilities. USSI Global supports logistics, installation and interconnect to the Eutelsat OneWeb LEO network through their full end-to-end managed services.

The entire ecosystem ensures reliable delivery of live news content from the acquisition point to the broadcaster’s production studio with very low latency, offering broadcasters and their local news production teams an affordable alternative to microwave links and bonded cellular technologies, the companies said. The service can also be added to existing contribution technologies for additional bandwidth and/or redundancy.

Sinclair utilizes a low-profile, flat-panel user terminal to establish the interconnect to the LEO network. USSI Global provides mounts to securely affix these user terminals to newsgathering vehicles, or the terminals can operate remotely to improve access to news events. The compact and portability of the user terminals combined with USSI Global’s interconnect ensures that the entire service is quick to deploy as a primary or redundant live link with exceptional stability.

“USSI Global is enthusiastic about its partnership with Sinclair and Eutelsat Group for this trial as we are well-equipped to provide this service due to its robust presence in North America. We hope this cutting-edge approach to live news production will provide a strategic advantage to the broadcast community,” said Anthony Morelli, CEO and President, USSI Global.

“As part of the continuing mission to reduce the costs of live news production without sacrifice to quality standards, we are leveraging a new way to deliver live coverage that can be a primary means of transmission or a complement to cellular options and reduce the need for expensive SNG and ENG vehicles,” said Ernie Ensign, AVP, News Technology and Operations.

"At Eutelsat Group, we are committed to empowering customers with seamless, high-quality connectivity, anywhere in the world. Our OneWeb LEO network delivers global coverage, ensuring reliable, real-time content contribution.” J. Ignacio González-Nuñez, RVP, Americas & MENA, Sales Video Business. “With a low-latency, IP-based solution that is plug-and-play, we provide broadcasters with the flexibility to enhance their live production workflows—whether as a primary transmission path or a seamless complement to existing technologies. This is the future of live news gathering: agile, cost-effective, and always connected."

Representatives from all three companies close to the trial will be at NAB Show 2025 (April 6-9) and available to meet at Eutelsat’s West Hal booth (W3614) in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

STAMFORD, Conn., and PHILADELPHIA—Charter Communications and Comcast have announced that Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile have launched satellite-based services.

The services are being done in partnership with Skylo, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) service provider. They are now available on Samsung’s Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 9 devices and will provide customers with access to emergency messaging services when their device is not connected to either a cellular or WiFi network.

The ability to send and receive SMS text messages over satellite service on Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 9 devices is expected to be added in the coming weeks.

In addition to Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 9, both Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile customers already have access to emergency messaging via satellite backup service on select Apple and Google devices, provided directly by the manufacturers.

“The availability of satellite backup service provides Spectrum Mobile customers with a sense of security, knowing they can stay connected even in the most remote locations,” said Danny Bowman, executive vice president, product, Charter Communications. “We are delivering cutting-edge technology that continues to empower our customers with the confidence that their communication needs are always met, no matter where they are."

“Today, our wireless customers already benefit from the nation’s largest and fastest converged network in and out of the home with over tens of millions of hotspots delivering up to gig speeds,” said Emily Waldorf, senior vice president, consumer products, Comcast. “And now, we’re excited to further enhance our connectivity experiences with these satellite-based services to help our Xfinity Mobile customers stay connected in situations where they need it most.”

"We understand how crucial it is to stay connected,” added Paul Hanton, vice president of Skylo's Global Carrier Partnerships. “Skylo’s groundbreaking satellite network, combined with the reach of Charter and Comcast, will bring enhanced coverage to countless individuals. We're proud to be building a future where everyone can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with reliable, always-on connectivity."

Skylo plans to make its services available on additional devices in the future. Satellite-based services are already being offered to Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile customers through a select number of other devices, including iPhone 14, 15 and 16 operating on iOS 18 software. These services are provided directly by the manufacturers and specific services available to customers vary by device type.

The operators also reported that their business mobile services, Spectrum Business and Comcast Business Mobile, will benefit from the satellite services from Skylo. Customers from each of these consumer and business mobile services have the nation’s largest WiFi network and most reliable 5G at their fingertips, with at least 87 percent of mobile traffic traveling over each company’s respective WiFi networks.

For more information visit Spectrum.com/mobile or Xfinity.com/mobile.

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN will unveil live sports, channel distribution, and real-time content versioning technologies designed to drive revenue for sports leagues, content owners, and streaming platforms at the 2025 NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 6-9.

LTN will present its uniquely integrated solutions to maximize media rights value, expand channel distribution capabilities, and boost FAST channel revenue with live sports and news. Trusted by major broadcasters and sports organizations like TelevisaUnivision, DAZN, World Surf League, and Pro Volleyball Federation, LTN’s purpose-built global video IP network delivers scalable, reliable, and seamless content distribution.

“Our new custom solutions reflect a reinvigorated focus on revenue enablement for sports and media companies of all sizes,” said Chris Myers, LTN EVP, CRO. “Content providers need ways to quickly create FAST channels and drive additional revenue from live sports and news. Sports leagues want to grow globally with affordable ways to produce content once and engage limitless rights buyers and digital audiences. We’re excited to share unique technologies that deliver unparalleled value and power trusted partnerships at NAB Show 2025.”

Demo stations will highlight game-changing features of the LTN platform:

Live Sports
LTN’s single-source platform empowers sports organizations, rights holders, and industry leaders to minimize complexity and third-party risk, while maximizing flexibility. LTN will demonstrate comprehensive capabilities like:

• Flexible signal acquisition using the LTN Network, fiber, satellite, SRT, and other protocols
• Real-time signal monitoring of multiple feeds in the built-in Watch Portal
• Real-time customization of video and audio for different audiences and platforms
• Easy ad insertion workflows that account for unpredictable commercial breaks
• Dynamic support from fully managed workflows to stand-alone tech

Channel Distribution
LTN’s purpose-built global video network provides efficient, scalable content distribution with the reliability of satellite and the unmatched control, flexibility, and reach of IP. At NAB, LTN will showcase:

• Group management that makes it easy to deploy 10 channels to 100 locations or scale 1 channel to 1,000 locations
• Tools that provide maximum visibility throughout the signal chain
• Seamlessly enrich and customize content, including blackout management, during transport
• Built-in diversity, redundancy, and streamlined implementation of the LTN ecosystem

FAST Channels
The FAST demo will showcase how LTN’s advanced solutions drive viewership, monetization, and growth through:

• Ability to build new FAST channels in hours, not days
• Full transparency from content acquisition to destination—even for 25 channels or more
• Tailored workflows that automate the creation and deployment of enriched FAST channels
• Flexible APIs that integrate into customer ecosystems and seamlessly connect all services

LTN says its IP network is built exclusively to create, customize, deliver, and monetize live video at scale. LTN has powered over 150,000 hours of produced live events and distributes 78.5 million hours of live content annually.

LTN will be in Booth W2601 in the West Hall of the LVCC.

NEW YORK—DirecTV Advertising is bringing programmatic ad sales capabilities to its linear satellite inventory in a move that it said will provide advertisers to increased inventory, scale and untapped audiences across satellite and streaming.

While connected TV and streaming platforms have long offered programmatic ad capabilities, traditional linear TV—which does not generally offer programmatic sales—still dominates ad impressions, generating nearly six times more impressions than streaming, according to Comscore.

By enabling programmatic capabilities for its satellite households, DirecTV plans to change that by allowing for the same real-time bidding, campaign execution via private guarantees (PG) or private marketplaces (PMPs) and enhanced signals that are widely available in streaming environments. This will offer buyers access to premium, brand-safe inventory through their preferred demand-side platform and sell-side platform across all DirecTV endpoints.

“In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, buyers require a new level of flexibility. We’re excited to set TV free,” said Amy Leifer, chief advertising sales officer, DirecTV Advertising, which has been a pioneer in addressable advertising. “By enabling satellite households to be accessed programmatically, we’re creating flexible, seamless solutions for marketers to reach premium TV inventory.”

DirecTV Advertising is currently in market with select partners including, Publicis Media Exchange (PMX), Magnite and Basis Technologies, with plans to make this inventory more widely available in the first quarter this year.

“DirecTV Advertising is meeting marketers where they are by automating and streamlining how customers are engaging with TV,” said Tyler Kelly, president, Basis Technologies. “Having unparalleled, preferred access to DirecTV’s brand-safe premium content via programmatic advertising methods gives Basis Technologies and our clients unique opportunities to reach incremental audiences.”

In addition to expanding its programmatic inventory, DirecTV Advertising said it is leveraging universal IDs and content metadata to boost relevancy and transparency, as well as enhance brand safety for buyers. By enabling more signals, brands can reach and manage their audiences on a granular level and gain a deeper understanding of the content in which ads are running.

“We’re excited to help DirecTV Advertising bridge the gap between linear and streaming, creating a unified workflow for buyers to seamlessly access inventory across their portfolio,” Magnite President, Revenue Sean Buckley said. “At a time when control and transparency are top of mind for programmatic buyers, DirecTV Advertising is meeting the moment by enabling more signals within their content. These advancements have generated new opportunities, such as in live sports, where clients can leverage rich contextual signals to get closer to the content and enhance transparency.”

The effort builds on the launch late last year of MyFree DirecTV, an app-based free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service offering more than 70 channels and on-demand content within the DirecTV app. With this new consumer offering and the connected devices within its linear satellite footprint, DirecTV said its streaming footprint is doubling, bringing more scale to digital buyers.

TV2GO International and Multi-Link Holland have announced that their new teleport in Nijkerk, Netherlands, is now fully operational.

The new facility is part of a strategic joint venture between TV2GO and Multi-Link Holland, a leading provider of satellite solutions with SNG trucks and fly-away packs serving clients such as Formula 1 (for its entire racing circuit).

The new teleport is designed to serve as a pivotal hub for satellite and IP-based transmissions, enhancing TV2GO’s ability to cater to the growing demand for high-quality broadcasting solutions in Europe, the companies explained.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with TV2GO International on this venture,” Bob Snieder, president of Multi-Link Holland, said. “By combining our strengths and resources, we are now delivering unparalleled teleport services to clients across Europe and beyond.”

“This joint venture represents a significant step forward for TV2GO,” added J. Gary Gladman, CEO of TV2GO International. “The establishment of a Teleport in Europe reinforces our commitment to delivering exceptional services to clients worldwide.”

The teleport facility in Nijkerk, just outside Amsterdam, is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and staffed by a team of experienced engineers, ensuring seamless and reliable transmission for live events and broadcasts.

The addition of this facility allows TV2GO and Multi-Link to streamline their transmission processes, reducing the logistical challenges of international transmission and offering greater flexibility. This ensures broadcasters can deliver their content with confidence and precision and it further solidifies both companies' positions as leading providers of broadcasting solutions on a global scale, the companies said.

TV2GO International provides end-to-end solutions for the new age of broadcasting, streaming and transmission.

Multi-Link Holland offers top-tier satellite solutions through their advanced satellite news gathering (SNG) trucks and fly-away packs for some of the world's most prestigious events, including Formula 1, the Olympics, and the World Cup.

TROY, Mich.—The highly anticipated annual J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study indicates that once again vMVPDs, which J.D. Power calls “Live TV streamers,” had a much higher satisfaction rate than traditional cable and satellite services. 

The newly redesigned survey found that live TV streamers is 625 (on a 1,000-point scale) compared with 524 among cable and satellite customers.

The biggest gap in satisfaction between live TV streaming and cable and satellite—140 points—is heavily based on costs, the researchers said. The survey found that the reported monthly average cost for live TV streaming is $75, while cable and satellite is $120.

YouTube TV ranked highest in the live TV streaming segment for a second consecutive year, with a score of 651. Hulu + Live TV (635) ranked second.

Spectrum ranked highest in the cable/satellite TV–national segment with a score of 530. Xfinity (529) ranked second.

“It is clear that price has been a main driver in satisfaction, however, satisfaction for streaming is higher than cable and satellite customers across all seven dimensions of the study,” said Carl Lepper, senior director of technology, media and telecom intelligence at J.D. Power. “Live streaming has reorganized the industry and as it continues, cable and satellite providers have been working hard to remain competitive, including exploring new revenue models to compete with the cost pressure.”

In terms of different regions, Verizon Fios ranked highest in the cable/satellite TV–east region for a third consecutive year, with a score of 570. DirecTV (520) ranked second.

Xfinity ranked highest in the cable/satellite TV–north central region with a score of 528. Spectrum (516) ranked second.

Xfinity ranked highest in the cable/satellite TV–south region with a score of 570. Cox Communications (547) ranked second and Spectrum (545) ranked third.

Spectrum ranked highest in the cable/satellite TV–west region with a score of 534. Xfinity (517) ranked second and Dish (516) ranked third.

The J.D. Power U.S. Television Service Provider Satisfaction StudySM is designed to provide a detailed assessment of customer perceptions of service with their current television provider. The study measures Overall Satisfaction with television service providers based on seven dimensions: value for price paid; consistently delivering high-quality service; level of trust with provider; ease of doing business; people; digital tools; and resolving problems or complaints. To be included in the national cable/satellite TV ranking, brands must be ranked in all four geographic regions. The study is based on responses from 32,349 customers and was fielded from October 2023 through August 2024.

For more information about the U.S. Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/tmt/us-residential-television-customer-satisfaction-study. 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—DirecTV has unveiled a substantial upgrade to its user experience for all DirecTV satellite customers who use a Genie or Gemini device. 

The update includes a redesigned menu at launch and an upgrade from the “Sports Central” that was introduced in 2023 for satellite customers.

The menu revamp is the first for eligible DirecTV satellite customers in more than five years and will offer a user interface more closely aligned to the experience rolled out earlier this year to users who stream DirecTV with a DirecTV device, the pay TV operator said. 

Included in the new menu are the following prominent content carousels: Live TV, Continue Watching, Discover, and Live Sports, which provides users a seasonal sports carousel, including football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and more.

The upgraded interface will combine a user’s selected favorites with their most watched content to put their most relevant live programming front and center on the menu. Further elevating DirecTV’s super aggregation capabilities, later this year the user interface will include personalized content curated to users’ preferred programming, DirecTV reported.  

As part of the upgrade, “Sports Central” will provide fans easy on-screen access to their favorite games, stats, and scores, including easily finding and accessing content only available on select third-party apps. 

The phased rollout will begin today, starting with on-screen notifications with a small group of customers in Denver, Colorado. The upgrades will be available to all eligible customers in the Denver market and will expand nationwide later this year.

To learn more about DirecTV and additional updates, visit www.directv.com. 

DALLAS—Parks Associates has launched its new Broadband Market Tracker with data showing that SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband residential service has already attracted some 1.3 million subs in the U.S. 

The estimate is notable because it means that Elon Musk's Starlink service has overtaken long-time satellite broadband incumbents HughesNet and Viasat. As of Q1 2024, Starlink is the 12th largest residential internet service provider in the US market. The company is on track to become a top 10 residential ISP by market share by the end of 2024, Parks reported. 

"This year, significant changes in the broadband market include regulatory shifts, increasing competitiveness from wireless options, and mergers and acquisitions," said Kristen Hanich, research director, Parks Associates. "The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program has challenged both ISPs and consumers, and growing price sensitivity is driving renewed interest in service bundling. This research will follow this and other trends and measure their impacts on the bottom line of subscriber counts and revenues for all major providers."

As part of the new broadband market tracker, Parks also released a chart showing that nearly one fifth of all home broadband subscribers now have broadband speeds of 1 Gpbs or faster. 

The new annual research subscription service from Parks profiles more than 25 market leaders in the US and Canadian residential internet service markets. The Broadband Market Tracker delivers quarterly reports that analyze market trends, profile market leaders, and provide estimates for residential internet subscribers and revenues for the North American market. More information is available here. 

Globecast and Blacon Media, a broadcast engineering, production and distribution firm, are partnering to provide live coverage of the 2024 U.S. election and related events.

Both the Republican and Democrat National Conventions in Milwaukee and Chicago, respectively, will be available. Blacon Media ENG crews will be on-site producing contribution feeds for customers Globecast will distribute coverage internationally, the company said.  

Blacon Media will provide a produced program feed, a clean feed and packaged feeds. Party notable, convention delegate and participant as well as man- and woman-on-the-street interviews will be available. A three-camera, switched daily show, “Join the Conversation,” also will be available, it said.

Contribution signal delivery from Globecast’s Media Center is available via HLS, RTMP, SRT internet protocols for streaming media content and via Globecast’s NeXt Generation (GCxN), Backbone fiber (GCBN) networks or managed satellite platforms, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

BACKNANG, Germany—Hiltron Communications is reporting that it is seeing increasing demand for its refurbishment capabilities across the entire satellite communications sector, from high accuracy teleport antenna performance evaluation through to latest-generation motorized antenna mounts and control systems.

“Hiltron Communications has 45 years of experience in satellite systems design, preconstruction, onsite installation and testing,” comments managing director Jochen Ermel. “We also have distribution agreements with many of the world’s leading manufacturers of satcom equipment plus the detailed knowledge required to combine third-party equipment into complete solutions that are reliable and easy to operate.” 

Based on those ties to developments in the satellite market, Ermel added that “One of the main options for teleport managers is to upgrade existing antennas to higher frequencies, typically from C-band to Ku-band or Ka-band.”

“When refurbishing third-party systems, we are often able to achieve better-than-new performance by replacing legacy control devices with Hiltron-developed products that allow satcom systems to be controlled with maximum safety, efficiency and versatility,” he continued. “Examples are our HACU antenna control unit, the HSACU4 compact variant for flyaway antennas, HMCS monitoring and control system, HDCU and compact HDCU2 de-icing control units, plus the HRMU redundancy and monitoring switch.”

A core element of Hiltron’s satcom system refurbishment service is the ability to perform high-accuracy 3D laser scanning and evaluation of teleport antennas, the company explained. 

Based on technology developed by ESA Microwave GmbH, a Hiltron subsidiary partner, this resource is far more accurate than the commonly used photogrammetry technique and can be conducted while the antenna is actually in operation. Photogrammetry requires a large number of adhesive targets, typically several hundred, to be applied by hand on to the reflector. The cost is quite high and the measurement resolution relatively low. The Hiltron/ESA system allows a million surface reference points per second to be captured with a geometric accuracy of less than 1 millimeter.

Hitron also noted that 3D laser scanning measurement can be performed quickly and safely by a single technician using easily transported equipment which in many instances can be operated on a single tripod located at ground level. The resultant information is integrated into approximately 60 million points and used to create a computer-aided design model. Measured specifications and related performance parameters are delivered to the antenna operator or owner together with recommendations clarifying whether the antenna would benefit from upgrading, conversion or fitting with a multiband feed system.

Comcast Business has announced an agreement with Elon Musk’s Starlink, a major provider of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology, to provide connectivity solutions to Comcast Business enterprise customers.

The collaboration will allow Comcast Business to offer satellite connectivity solutions to its business customers, including those with locations in underserved regions.

“Starlink's LEO satellite technology complements our existing network infrastructure, extends our reach and further enhances Comcast Business’ ability to deliver reliable connectivity solutions to enterprises with a human touch,” said Jon Friedman, senior vice president, product strategy and operations, Comcast Business. “As the first major network provider to collaborate with Starlink, we’re excited to uniquely enhance our extensive managed connectivity portfolio with advanced satellite capabilities to better serve our enterprise customers.”

Starlink is the world's first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more. Leveraging advanced satellites and user hardware coupled with its deep experience with both spacecraft and on-orbit operations, Starlink is able to deliver high-speed internet to users.

“Starlink is excited to work with Comcast Business to deliver reliable connectivity to customers,” said Jason Fritch, vice president of Starlink Enterprise Sales at SpaceX. “This agreement with a leading service provider is an acknowledgement of Starlink’s growing role as a critical element in modern enterprise networks.”

In announcing the deal, Comcast noted that the deal will help enterprises operating multiple, disparate locations who are faced with unique connectivity challenges, particularly those with locations where traditional networks do not reach. 

Comcast Business’ collaboration with Starlink will address the demand for reliable, managed connectivity for these enterprise customers, as well as offer an innovative solution for enterprises looking to enhance network redundancy, the companies said. 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—SES has announced that the ASTRA 1P satellite was successfully launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:35 p.m. local time on June 20. 

The ASTRA IP satellite is the most powerful satellite to operate at 19.2 degrees East. It seamlessly replaces the current four satellites at the orbital location and continues their mission of serving 119 million TV households in Europe, SES reported. 

The Ku-band satellite will augment and strengthen SES's prime TV neighborhood at 19.2 degrees East while delivering content for public and private broadcasters, sports organizations and content owners to audiences across largest European TV markets. ASTRA 1P will also ensure the delivery of premium HD content directly to subscribers of HD+, SES’s high- definition satellite TV platform in Germany.

Built by Thales Alenia Space, ASTRA 1P is based on the 100% electric Spacebus NEO platform and features 80 transponders capable of delivering 500 HD TV channels. 

“We are excited that ASTRA 1P will be joining our fleet of geostationary satellites, marking the next generation of satellites to operate at one of our most important orbital positions responsible for delivering content to hundreds of millions of viewers in Europe,” said Adel Al-Saleh, CEO of SES. “Ever since the launch of ASTRA 1A in 1988, our satellites have played a pivotal role in reliably delivering high-quality content to viewers. We are well-positioned to continue supporting our broadcast customers for many years to come with ASTRA 1P.”

CAIRO, Egypt—PlayBox Neo has announced that it is providing technologies for the expansion of the broadcast channel management and playout infrastructure at the Cairo headquarters of Nilesat, one of the largest telecommunication networks in the Middle East. The project was supported by PlayBox Neo distribution partner Modern Broadcast Center (MBC).

The new deployments are "an addition to the 40 PlayBox Neo Channel-in-a-Box playout units we purchased in Q1 2019, elevating the total number to 70,” said Maissa Aly Kamel, Nilesat CTO. “The seamless operations and reliability of the systems continue to enhance our productivity.”

“We integrated 30 complete servers into the Nilesat teleport at Giza near the Egyptian capital,” added Nikolay Spasov, PlayBox Neo head of Technical Department. “We delivered two 4K-UHD CIAB servers plus 13 HD/SD playout units, all with 1:1 redundancy.” 

PlayBox Neo Channel-in-a-Box offers playout automation with AirBox Neo-20, CG and interactive graphics, including with TitleBox Neo-20, media ingest with Capture Suite and live media delivery and distribution with Media Gateway. AirBox Neo-20 supports full automated content streaming and broadcast playout for any kind of television channel. A variety of media files and live inputs can be integrated into a single playlist. Multiple SDI/IP outputs can be streamed simultaneously in different video standards up to 4K.

Founded in 1996, Nilesat is a leading satellite operator company that provides direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting, satellite broadband over Egypt, and other communication services in the Middle East and North Africa region. It operates a fleet of geostationary satellites that deliver a wide range of television channels and radio stations, as well as data and internet connectivity to millions of households, businesses, and governmental organizations.

Modern Broadcast Center (www.mbcegypt.com) specializes in systems integration for broadcast projects of any kind and scale. MBC has built news, entertainment, green-screen facilities, shopping channels, single-camera studios and multi-camera studios for production companies and broadcasters around the world. 

More information is available at www.playboxneo.com. 

European telecom satellite company SES announced today that it is acquiring rival Intelsat for $3.1 billion. The deal, unanimously approved by both companies’ boards, is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2025, and will be financed by a combination of cash and debt.

The two rivals have been in merger talks in the past—as recently as 2023—but increasing competition from the likes of Elon Musk’s SpaceLink and Amazon’s efforts to launch its own fleet of satellites has upped the ante.  Intelsat’s emergence from bankruptcy in 2022 also improved the chance of a merger this time around, according to David Wajsgras, CEO of Intelsat.

“Over the past two years, the Intelsat team has executed a remarkable strategic reset,” Wajsgras said. “We have reversed a 10-year negative trend to return to growth, established a new and game-changing technology roadmap, and focused on productivity and execution to deliver competitive capabilities. The team today is providing our customers with network performance at five 9s and is more dedicated than ever to customer engagement and delivering on our commitments. 

SES chief executive Adel Al-Saleh also hailed the announcement, adding, "in a fast-moving and competitive satellite communication industry, this transaction expands our multi-orbit space network, spectrum portfolio, ground infrastructure around the world, go-to-market capabilities, managed service solutions, and financial profile,"

Based in Luxembourg, SES’s media reach in the EMEA region is vast, with its current fleet of 70 birds carrying more than 8,000 TV channels to more than 369 million homes globally—more than 3,000 of those in HD or UHD. Intelsat carries about 6,500 TV and radio channels reaching approximately 2 billion worldwide.

The combined company will have a fleet of more than 100 Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 26 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, giving it enhanced coverage, greater network resiliency, complementary spectrum (C-, Ku-, Ka-, Military Ka-, X-band, and Ultra High Frequency) rights, and improved service delivery, SES said. By end-2026, eight new GEO (including 6 software-defined) satellites and 7 new MEO (O3b mPOWER) satellites are expected to be launched adding further redundancy and additional growth capacity. 

For its media customers, SES says the combined company will add more offerings worldwide for  pay-TV operators, free-to-air/free-to-view platforms, public and private broadcasters, and sports & events, with improved redundancy features “via a competitive range of broadcast solutions, plus additional value-added services.”

Based on the 2024 financial outlook, the combined company is expected to generate approximately $4 billion in annual revenue (after adjusting for intercompany eliminations) and is expected to deliver low- to mid-single digit average annual growth over the medium-term the companies said, adding that they expect the two companies to invest combined CapEx of just over $1 billion in 2024.

ATLANTA and LONDON—Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution.

The broadcast will deploy Synamedia’s Media Edge Gateway (MEG) and PowerVu across its network of 180 stations around Mexico to increase the agility of video distribution, processing and delivery, the company said.

By selecting Synamedia’s MEG, Televisa cut its hardware dependency in half, not only delivering cost benefits but also the modern technologies needed to future-proof its operations, it said. 

During the evaluation phase, Televisa used dozens of MEGs as a part of its strategy to broadcast the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.  Synamedia managed backup channels and frame rate conversion. The success of the project contributed to Televisa’s ultimate decision to select Synamedia as its new software partner, it said.

“Not only did Synamedia build us a truly unique solution – one that doesn’t exist anywhere in the world – but it also demonstrated exactly what we desired in a partner: commitment to both innovation and our long-term success,” said William Aguirre, general manager of satellite operations at Televisa.

“Our internal team sourced our hardware provider Siselectron to provide a powerful SR1 device (2nd Gen AMD EPYC processor) and work on the customization for our specific needs. From there, we knew we wanted software and hardware partners agile enough to meet our present and future needs. Synamedia was quick to sign up and deliver and has been an instrumental part of the team, already demonstrating positive results. We’re thrilled with our choice.”

Synamedia’s MEG is a flexible, software-defined receiver with edge processing functions, such as transcoding, regionalization, time delay and blackout, across satellite, CDN and IP networks. The combination of Synamedia’s PowerVu distribution platform and MEG provides Televisa with secure content distribution, centralized control and edge processing to tailor content handoffs to meet the needs of affiliates and MVPDs. For Televisa, MEG helps ensure content is securely distributed due to Synamedia’s PowerVu conditional access, it said.

Earlier in April, one of Televisa’s largest stations went live with Synamedia MEG and PowerVu across Guadalaraja. The project will continue to roll out through summer 2024 and in stages for the next two years, to cover all stations in Mexico, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

DirecTV said Wednesday that all of its channels have returned to its satellite TV service after an outage caused many of its customers to lose those signals earlier this week. 

Thousands of subscribers began reporting outages on Tuesday, which were monitored by DownDetector. Many customers reported getting “771” error messages on their screens, which means that the receiver could not communicate with the satellite. 

DirecTV says the problem was a satellite out of position and that the problem has since been resolved. “Following a space event, our team of engineers and rocket scientists repositioned the satellite and have successfully restored all channels,” DirecTV told TV Tech sister brand NextTV in an emailed statement Wednesday.

The outage peaked by Tuesday afternoon with DownDetector reporting 1,378 incidents, mostly concentrated in  New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Las Vegas and Miami.

AT&T suffered a similar outage last week and the company is providing rebates to affected customers. No word yet on whether DirecTV will do the same. 

GERMANTOWN, Md.—At a time when cable operators and telcos are using government funds to finally begin wiring rural areas, EchoStars’s Hughes Network Systems is also making notable improvements to its internet offerings with the announcement that it is using the new Hughes Jupiter 3 satellite to roll out new Hughesnet high-speed satellite internet plans. 

The new plans use capacity from the new Hughes Jupiter 3 satellite to offer faster speeds and unlimited data, as well as offering low-latency Hughesnet Fusion and Whole Home Wi-Fi.

In launching the new plans, Hughes reported that the Jupiter 3 satellite brings unprecedented capacity for internet connectivity to the Americas and that the satellite is the world's largest commercial communications satellite. 

This ultra-high-density satellite features more than 300 spot beams, which Hughes said will alleviate congestion and deliver a faster experience. 

"Customers expect to be able to stream, videoconference and play games online," said Peter Gulla, senior vice president, Hughes. "The new Hughesnet is designed to enable these applications with fast speeds, unlimited data and new low-latency Fusion plans. Since inventing satellite internet in the 1990s, Hughes has been dedicated to constantly innovating our service to meet the needs of customers beyond the reach of cable and fiber connectivity. The new Hughesnet is a fundamental reinvention of what satellite internet can be."

In addition, the state-of-the-art ground system for Jupiter 3 has a new dedicated fiber backbone to reduce latency and artificial intelligence (AI) that automatically reroutes traffic around congestion. The Jupiter-powered Hughesnet plans feature download speeds up to 100 Mbps, the company reported. 

With the launch, Hughes also highlighting its Hughesnet Fusion plan for gaming and playing online, which was launched last year as the first consumer-ready multipath technology.  Hughesnet Fusion, which seamlessly blends satellite and wireless technologies into a low-latency, more responsive internet experience, now offers with unlimited data and faster speeds. The Whole Home Wi-Fi lets users connect, stream and play anywhere in their home, Hughes said. 

Rural customers will also have access to new Hughesnet for Business plans.  

More information is available at www.Hughesnet.com. 

BACKNANG, Germany—Hiltron Communications has expanded its product range with the introduction of the new Drive-Away transportable satellite link. 

Designed for use in applications requiring very high precision uplink, downlink or bi-directional connectivity, the new system comprises a 3.7 meter diameter segmented parabolic reflector on a specially developed motorized steering mount. 

The entire unit, including control electronics plus antenna heating and de-icing, is housed on a 2.4 meter wide rigid platform. An onboard crane allows the platform to be loaded easily onto a standard container truck. Other ground fixings are possible on request. All related electronics are housed in a weatherproof steel cabinet, the company reported. 

System supervision is via Hiltron’s HSACU4 compact antenna control unit which is based on the same hardware and software platform as the HACU antenna control unit used for earth station antennas at hundreds of stations worldwide. The HSACU4 can be configured with modules such as a polarization driver, an integrated beacon receiver or power supply modules for the LNBs. Auto-pointing and tracking data are sourced from a beacon receiver. 

An optional HP_HCS4-NET module for the HSACU4 control unit provides LAN/IP connectivity and full remote access via a browser-based user interface. Also included are a sensor box with a fluxgate compass, a GPS receiver and an inclinometer for adjustment of elevation and polarization. Tracking functions like step-track and TLE for NORAD data are supported and can be automatically activated after fine pointing of the antenna. Prediction tracking is included to follow inclined-orbit satellites. 

The Hiltron Drive-Away is built to withstand standard atmospheric pollutants and to operate from zero to 95 per cent humidity over a temperature range of 35°C (optionally 55°C) down to -25°C. It can also be specified to withstand pollutants such as salt encountered in coastal and industrial areas. 

TROY, Mich.—The newest J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study finds that live TV streaming customers are much more loyal than cable and satellite services, with only 12% of virtual MVPD customers planning to switch services in the next year, much lower than the 21% of cable and satellite subs who say they plan to switch. 

The study also found that customer satisfaction with live TV streaming providers is higher across all seven factors considered by J.D. Power. 

YouTube TV had the highest customer satisfaction. 

Most notably, satisfaction with the cost of service is 156 points higher (on a 1,000-point scale) among live TV customers than among cable and satellite customers, given the cost for live TV streaming averages $69 per month vs. $113 per month for cable and satellite.

“Although the cost of running a cable or satellite providing company is innately more expensive given the engineering and execution of such a service, it is hard to ignore the vast difference in cost between them and the live TV streaming companies,” said Carl Lepper, senior director of technology, media and telecom intelligence at J.D. Power. “Despite the varying cost, streaming is succeeding in all areas, especially customer care. Of the mere 30% of all streaming customers contacting customer service this year, 84% feel that it was somewhat or very easy to resolve their problem. This is key to not only maintaining their current customer base, but also for continued growth.”

The study looks at satisfaction across six categories. 

In the live TV streaming segment, customer satisfaction was 781, up from 774 last year.

In the cable/satellite TV–national segment, satisfaction improved to 701, slightly up from 699 last year.

In the cable/satellite TV, east region, customer satisfaction was 697, the same as last year.

In cable/satellite TV, north central region, customer satisfaction was 683 now compared to 688 last year.

In the cable/satellite TV, south region, customer satisfaction was 719, up from 710 last year.

In the cable/satellite TV, west region, customer satisfaction was 694 slightly down from 696 last year.

Rankings for individual providers by sector were as follows:

MCLEAN, Va.—Satellite operator Intelsat recently started delivering Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) educational, music and arts content across the continental United States, as part of an exclusive satellite distribution agreement, the company announced last week at the NAB Show.

Starting earlier this year, Intelsat’s Galaxy 16 Ku-band satellite started delivering iconic PBS content to 156 broadcast affiliates reaching an audience of nearly 50 million primetime viewers.

“As America’s largest public media enterprise, PBS trusts Intelsat to reliably deliver on their crucial mission of providing high-quality programming to their member stations across the continental United States,” said Pascale Fromont, Vice President and General Manager of Media for Intelsat. “With the addition of PBS to the Intelsat family, all major broadcasters in the U.S. are utilizing the Intelsat fleet for content delivery.”

Located at 99W, the performance and reach of Galaxy 16 into North America were key factors in PBS’s selection of Intelsat to meet its distribution needs. Intelsat says its Galaxy fleet is the most comprehensive in North America, serving 123 million TV households.

In addition to satellite, PBS also distributes programming via fiber to some of its member stations, particularly those in urban areas. 

DENVER—EchoStar Corporation has announced an agreement with Astro Digital, a designer, manufacturer and operator of small satellite systems, for the construction of a global S-band mobile satellite service (MSS) network. 

The deal is part of a growing push by a number of companies to build low-orbit satellite networks to provide connectivity that could ultimately compete with broadband offerings from cable and other telecommunications providers. 

Under the deal, Astro Digital will manufacture the satellites for the constellation, which will deliver global Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) and other data services beginning in 2024. EchoStar will operate the constellation from its Australian subsidiary, EchoStar Global.

"This agreement represents another step forward towards our goal of a global non-terrestrial 5G network," said Hamid Akhavan, CEO, EchoStar. "With our engineering ingenuity, our service delivery expertise and our spectrum rights, EchoStar is uniquely positioned to offer worldwide S-band satellite services to help meet the insatiable demand for complete and constant connectivity."

The 28 satellites in this constellation design will feature an advanced software-defined radio with onboard storage and processing to power smart two-way device connectivity. The satellites will be enabled with the LoRa (meaning "Long Range") protocol for connecting very low-cost, long-lived devices. With support for 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) services, the constellation will serve as a foundation for EchoStar to engineer 5G New Radio (NR) based NTN capabilities according to 3GPP release 17 specifications, the companies reported. 

"These new capabilities will fill a gap in the connected ecosystem, greatly expanding worldwide IoT interoperability," said Josh Williams, managing director, EchoStar Global Australia. "Our team, together with Astro Digital, has already begun integration of our Australian-based operations to bring to market a truly global solution with consistent and reliable network performance."

Through its subsidiary EchoStar Mobile Limited, EchoStar also operates an MSS network in Europe using the geostationary EchoStar XXI satellite, which will interoperate seamlessly with the new LEO constellation.

BACKNANG, Germany—Hiltron Communications has introduced the HDCU2 de-icing sensor and heating controller for satellite antennas.

"Optimized for use with small to medium-sized antenna reflectors, VSAT-oriented, the HDCU2 represents a new generation of our established HDCU and HDCU-E which have operated very successfully over the years in many locations around the world," said Jean-Luc George van Eeckhoutte, sales manager at Hiltron. "Enclosed in a 180 x 180 x 90mm [7 x 7 x 3.5-inch] weatherproof housing, the complete unit conforms to IP66 protection against heavy rain or snow."

The HDCU2 incorporates an ambient PT 100 temperature sensor and an optional reflector in addition to a snow precipitation sensor. Up to three 2.9 kW heating circuits in three-phase 400 volt AC configuration can be controlled. The HDCU2 can alternatively be configured for single-phase 230 volt AC operation where the combined output load for all three power feeds does not exceed 2.9 kilowatts, the company said.

Load control can be performed individually for each of the three circuits. Each heater circuit can supply one or more antenna heater pads. The permitted current for the three heater circuits is controlled and monitored independently via LAN or SNMP, it said.

The controller is offered with an intuitive web-based interface and supports automatic as well as manual control operation. In manual mode, the heating function for each circuit can be switched on or off. Detected currents and temperatures can be monitored remotely. Monitor and control parameters displayed include heater circuit current thresholds, safety switchoff limit, heater activation/deactivation temperature thresholds and related timing, it said.

The HDCU2 is rated for operation in -30 to +50 degrees Celsius [-22 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit] temperature environments and 5 to 95 percent non-condensing humidity. It has a standby power consumption of 4 watts and conforms fully to the relevant CE safety, EMC, emissions and immunity standards, it said.

Connectivity ports along the underside of the housing are provided for a rain and snow sensor, dish temperature sensor, ambient temperature sensor, local area network, mains power input and heater output feeds, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

Another TV blackout took place over the weekend as DirecTV removed 25 TV stations owned by Mission Broadcasting from its satellite and U-verse pay-TV platforms in the latest dustup over retrans fees. Mission Broadcasting operates 25 network affiliates spanning Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Indiana, New York and 12 other states. 

The move—which took place Friday night—is the latest kerfuffle in what has become almost a tradition now—removing over the air TV stations from pay-TV lineups during the popular NFL and college football regular season matchups and MLB playoffs.

Another tradition is the blame game statements that follow: 

"Unfortunately, Mission Broadcasting and its 25 stations operated by Nexstar Media Group decided to exercise their right to block access to our customers in 23 cities," DirecTV said in a statement. "By law, Mission can refuse any compromise we offer and has the right to suspend any station from our customers’ local channel lineup – which we had wanted to avoid. We continue to work toward an agreement to deliver the entertainment our customers want at the best possible value. More information is available on TVPromise.com."

Mission was equally outraged:

"WNAC and DirecTV have a contract that allows them to carry our programming to you,” according to NextTV. “That contract has expired and DirecTV removed WNAC from your schedule. WNAC has presented a proposal for fair value, based on the importance and value our programming brings to our viewers.  Despite our tireless efforts, DirecTV has refused our fair offer and is making negotiations very difficult.  You might have seen them do this before. They will tell you it’s for your benefit, but don’t believe it. Our offer is fair. And now they hold you the subscriber hostage. It’s not right."

This most recent blackout follows last week’s incident between Verizon Fios and Nexstar Media Group, in which Fios removed 13 TV stations owned by Nexstar Media in 10 markets including New York City, Philadelphia, Providence, and Buffalo, impacting more than 2.3 million subscribers. Nexstar is also affected by the DirecTV- Mission outage as it manages Mission affiliates. 

This put Nexstar in the crosshairs of the America Television Alliance which issued this press statement on Friday:

“This is now the third ongoing TV blackout in as many weeks from Nexstar,” said ATVA spokesperson Jessica Kendust. “Nexstar’s behind-the-scenes manipulation of three simultaneous negotiations has resulted in a significant loss of stations across the country, including major college and NFL football and postseason baseball games.”

Within the past two weeks, Nexstar has seen all its local stations and NewsNation taken off Verizon Fios, while White Knight Broadcasting, also controlled by Nexstar, pulled its NBC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and FOX affiliate in Tyler, Texas from DirecTV and U-verse.

“When massive conglomerate broadcasters like Nexstar use their power and influence to corner the market through sham management agreements with smaller broadcasters, consumers experience more frequent TV blackouts and see their monthly bills increase," Kendust added. "It’s time for Congress to reform outdated TV laws and put an end to this predatory practice.”

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—DirecTV has introduced a new feature, SignalSaver, that allows satellite customers to begin watching programming via their satellite and then choose to continue live viewing via a internet connection.

While DirecTV says it delivers 99% reliability on satellite, the new feature would provide a backup for viewing if, for example, a storm might threaten the satellite signal during the 4th quarter of the College Football Playoff championship game. 

With SignalSaver, a customer with an internet-connected set-top box can switch over to streaming and pick up right where the satellite signal left off.

DirecTV said the feature is available to satellite customers nationwide at no additional cost. 

The service is available currently for 83 national networks, including but not limited to CNN, ESPN, Fox News and The Weather Channel, with additional networks to come this year.

Full DVR functionality is not available but is expected soon along with some other important features, the provider said. 

More information on setting up the feature is available here.