Archive for the ‘RF and Mobile TV’ Category

LightSquared files for bankruptcy

LightSquared, once a promising facilitator of low-cost broadband access for 260 million users, filed for bankruptcy this week after losing a brutal fight with the GPS industry in the U.S.

LightSquared had depended on winning FCC approval to convert airwaves originally designated for satellite service to spectrum for land-based radio towers.

LightSquared had depended on winning FCC approval to convert airwaves originally designated for satellite service to spectrum for land-based radio towers.

Based in Reston, Virginia, LightSquared listed debt and assets of more than $1 billion each in a Chapter 11 filing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York City, Bloomberg News reported. Reports said the court filing came after intense negotiations with creditors, who had requested that the company’s main backer, Philip Falcone, resign. Read the rest of this entry »

Independent KCET completes move to Burbank, but questions loom

KCET-TV, once the powerhouse PBS affiliate in Los Angeles, is now in its second year of independence from PBS with new production studios in Burbank, a new slogan and new promises about the great programming it will produce in the future about Southern California.

Led by KCET technical staff, the station’s move was “a Herculean undertaking” that spanned more than 12 months.

Led by KCET technical staff, the station’s move was “a Herculean undertaking” that spanned more than 12 months.

The moves are all part of the station’s attempt to break away from PBS (announced in January 2011) and go it alone as one of the nation’s largest independent public television stations. Read the rest of this entry »

NAB pushes House group to inventory spectrum

The NAB continues to express its skepticism about a spectrum shortage. Gordon Smith, the group’s president, sent a letter to the new House Federal Spectrum Working Group this week asking it to get “a clear understanding” about how the private sector is using the nation’s wireless spectrum.

In a letter to the co-chairman of the new group, Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky) and Doris Matsui (D-California), Smith said “neither Congress nor the American people have a clear understanding of what spectrum is being used, by whom and for what purpose.” Read the rest of this entry »

ABC News joins forces with Univision to create news platform for Hispanics

ABC News has announced that it plans to join forces with Univision News to create a multiplatform news, lifestyle and information programming service aimed at Hispanics in the United States.

Both organizations promised to provide “uncompromising coverage of current events with a unique perspective” with the around-the-clock, English-language television network and digital platform. Both will cater to the country’s more than 50 million Hispanics with programming focused on news, lifestyle and culture.

Isaac Lee, president of Univision News, called the combined effort “an important moment for journalism in the U.S. and for the U.S. Hispanic community.”

Isaac Lee, president of Univision News, called the combined effort “an important moment for journalism in the U.S. and for the U.S. Hispanic community.”

The new television network, to be owned 50-50 by the two companies, will be staffed by journalists from ABC News and Univision News. A website, mobile and social media content are expected to debut this summer. The yet-to-be-named television channel is expected to launch in 2013.

No financial details were provided. Editorial coverage will focus on the issues most relevant for Hispanics living in the United States. This includes the economy, jobs, health care, immigration, education, politics, entertainment, health and wellness.

“This exciting joint venture represents the latest example of our long-term strategy to broaden the reach of ABC,” said Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group. “Our powerful premier news brand, combined with the world’s leading Hispanic media company, will create the nation’s first news and lifestyle channel targeted to this quickly expanding and important community.”

ABC News president Ben Sherwood said the mission is the new enterprise is clear: “To offer culturally relevant news, information and lifestyle programming to the large and thriving Latino audience in the United States.”

Isaac Lee, president of Univision News, called the combined effort “an important moment for journalism in the U.S. and for the U.S. Hispanic community” that will “provide all audiences with a multiplatform current events perspective on the issues that matter most to Latinos.”

A management team is expected to be announced this summer. The network will have anchors and correspondents in major cities across the United States. Additionally, ABC News and Univision News will share newsgathering and production resources.

The joint venture reflects the growth of Hispanics in the United States. A recent report by Nielsen projected that the buying power of U.S. Hispanics—estimated at $1 trillion in 2010—will grow to $1.5 trillion in 2015.

Broadcasters give up “White Spaces” challenge in court

The NAB has dropped its court challenge of rules that allows the unlicensed use of vacant “white spaces” in spectrum between existing digital broadcast channels.

The FCC approved the use of unlicensed wireless devices in white spaces in 2008.

The FCC approved the use of unlicensed wireless devices in white spaces in 2008.

The spectrum, to be used by new higher speed Wi-Fi systems, allows radio signals to travel faster and penetrate walls more easily. It also covers larger geographical and rural areas than the current spectrum used for Wi-Fi coverage. Read the rest of this entry »

Sprint adds LiveU’s bonded cellular system to its wireless service offerings

Sprint has become the first cellular carrier to offer professional-grade HD video transmission to its enterprise customers nationwide. This means broadcasters will have access to pre-configured data packages that include LiveU’s LU60 backpack system and LU40i handheld live video transmission solution.

With LiveU technology, Sprint said it would soon offer a mobile video transmission solution that delivers HD video quality and combines multiple 3G and 4G air cards for one resilient uplink. The company has signed an agreement with LiveU to include LiveU’s HD live video transmission solutions as part of Sprint’s Machine to Machine (M2M) services portfolio. Read the rest of this entry »

CEA to Broadcasters: give up spectrum for a “better use”

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), has again pressed broadcasters to give up their spectrum for the use of wireless broadband applications.

Gordon Smith of using his NAB platform to discourage broadcasters from participating in the spectrum auction.

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the CEA, has accused the NAB’s Gordon Smith of discouraging broadcasters from participating in the spectrum auction.

In a letter to NAB President Gordon Smith last week, Shapiro accused the NAB chief of using his leadership platform to discourage broadcasters from participating in the spectrum auction. Read the rest of this entry »

Broadcast Alliance urges stations not to sell spectrum

A group of broadcasters that calls itself   The Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance is urging the NAB and others in the television industry
to encourage all broadcasters not to participate in the upcoming broadcast TV spectrum auctions. The Alliance (formerly known as the Coalition for
Free TV and Broadband) is made up of low-power
television stations, translators, full power television broadcasters and
allied industry organizations and companies.

The move was sparked by a letter sent from Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) to Gordon Smith, 
president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). In it, Shapiro congratulated the NAB on
a successful convention (which attracted nearly 92,000 people in April) and asked him to stop expressing skepticism about
TV participation in incentive spectrum auctions. Read the rest of this entry »

DirecTV moves beyond TV screen to develop new types of digital entertainment

DirecTV has launched a Digital Entertainment Products division devoted to creating digital entertainment across all mobile, tablet, web, native apps, third-party devices and video on-demand platforms.

Tony Goncalves, an executive with the company since in 2007, will head up the new division. He was a key player in securing DirecTV’s partnership with AT&T and led the team that closed the CenturyLink partnership. Read the rest of this entry »

Tech vendor successfully transmits full HD over a 4.5 MHz channel

NovelSat Ltd., a provider of modulation technology for satellite communications, has announced that live testing of its NS3 modulation technology has demonstrated that HD channels can be broadcast using minimal bandwidth space, making it ideal for the smaller vehicles be used for digital satellite news gathering (DSNG).

NovelSat has shown that high-quality HTDV and 3DTV video channels can be delivered over standard 4.5 MHz and 9 MHz transponder slots.

NovelSat has shown that high-quality HTDV and 3DTV video channels can be delivered over standard 4.5 MHz and 9 MHz transponder slots.

The Israeli company said that its lab tests could result in significant ROI for the industry, including cost savings due to 47 percent less bandwidth consumption; HD-quality transmission over standard-definition infrastructure; simultaneous streaming of video and data enabled by dynamic bandwidth allocation to prioritize the video; and he use of 35 percent smaller antennas (DSNG and flyaway kits). Read the rest of this entry »