Liquid Telecom steps up resources on Eutelsat’s Africa coverage satellites for immediate and fast Internet connectivity

New capacity at Eutelsat’s 7° East position now delivering increased performance over Africa
Paris, 18 July 2014 – Liquid Telecom, a leading data, voice and IP provider in Africa, is stepping up resources leased from Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) to meet increasing demand for IP connectivity from a broad portfolio of clients that include national parks, out of town offices and remote mining and exploration companies.

Liquid Telecom and Eutelsat have extended their relationship to 2019 with a new multi-transponder contract for satellite capacity delivering premium coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa. The additional capacity is on the EUTELSAT 7B satellite that joined EUTELSAT 7A at 7° East on July 16. Liquid Telecom has also transferred existing traffic at 7° East onto EUTELSAT 7B to takeadvantage of the performance of its African footprint and has plans to ramp-up further capacity over the coming 12 months.

The new resources support Liquid Telecom’s objectives to expand satellite operations in Africa. As part of a multi-million dollar (US) investment in its satellite business, the company recently became the first operator to build a satellite hub at Teraco’s vendor-neutral earth station in South Africa. The hub enables Liquid Telecom to route African traffic in Africa rather than backhauling it via Europe as many operators need to do. By keeping African data in Africa, it can measurably increase connectivity speeds for its customers.

Nic Rudnick, CEO of Liquid Telecom, commented on the new contract: “The strong features of EUTELSAT 7B, combined with our new teleport facilities in South Africa, equip us to meet growing demand from businesses for satellite-based IP connections. Our fibre and satellite networks complement each other, enabling our company to provide high-speed, cost-effective broadband services to remote areas where it is neither commercially viable nor practical to lay fibre.”

Rodney Benn, Eutelsat Regional Vice President for Africa, added: “As a longstanding partner of Liquid Telecom we are delighted to take our collaboration to a new level with this multi-year agreement that highlights the value of our enhanced resources at 7° East as they contribute to building a digital infrastructure across Africa. Liquid Telecom has integrated satellite as core to their vision of quickly and efficiently taking Internet connectivity to the parts of Africa that other infrastructure has forgotten, and we are proud to accompany them on this journey.”

About The Liquid Telecom Group

Liquid Telecom is the leading independent data, voice and IP provider in eastern, central and southern Africa. It supplies fibre optic, satellite and international carrier services to Africa’s largest mobile network operators, ISPs, financial institutions and businesses of all sizes. Liquid Telecom has built Africa’s largest single fibre network which runs from the north of Uganda to Cape Town, currently spanning more than 17,000km across borders and covering Africa’s fastest-growing economies, where no fixed network has existed before. Liquid Telecom’s network provides connectivity onto the five main subsea cable systems landing in Africa; WACS, EASSY, SEACOM, SAT3 and TEAMs. Working under various brands, the Liquid Telecom Group has operating entities in Botswana, DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The company was named Best African Wholesale Carrier in both 2012 and 2013 at the annual Global Carrier Awards. www.liquidtelecom.com

About Eutelsat Communications

Established in 1977, Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world’s leading and most experienced operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 37 satellites to clients that include broadcasters and broadcasting associations, pay-TV operators, video, data and Internet service providers, enterprises and government agencies. Eutelsat’s satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user’s location. Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat represents a workforce of 1,000 men and women from 32 countries who are experts in their fields and work with clients to deliver the highest quality of service.

For more about Eutelsat please visit www.eutelsat.com

For further information

Press
Vanessa O’Connor Tel: + 33 1 53 98 37 91 voconnor@eutelsat.com
Frédérique Gautier Tel: + 33 1 53 98 37 91 fgautier@eutelsat.com
Marie-Sophie Ecuer Tel: + 33 1 53 98 37 91 mecuer@eutelsat.com

Investors and analysts
Léonard Wapler Tel: +33 1 53 98 35 30 lwapler@eutelsat.com
Cédric Pugni Tel: +33 1 53 98 35 30 cpugni@eutelsat.com

(July 18, 2014) Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has reported its fiscal first quarter results. Advertising revenue grew 17.4% while subscription income stayed muted.

Read more at Television Post

DC Comics’ origin story fast-tracked to Asia after US premiere

HONG KONG (July 18, 2014) – Before there was Batman, there was Gotham. And before any other broadcaster in Asia, WarnerTV will offer audiences the chance to see Season One of Gotham, this year’s most-talked about drama. The series will premiere this autumn in the US and then fast-tracked to Asian screens exclusively on WarnerTV.

Produced by Warner Bros. Television, Gotham is the origins story of the great DC Comics super-villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer-writer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome), this one-hour drama follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil. It also chronicles the genesis of Batman, the most popular superhero of our time. The series focuses on an urban environment that is the spawning ground of the world’s most iconic villains: Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler and The Joker.

Marianne Lee, Vice President – Network, General Entertainment, Turner International Asia Pacific, said: “Gotham offers audiences excitement, intrigue and action, and will be an ideal addition to our programming line-up. This drama series is exactly the kind of compelling content that makes WarnerTV so popular, and showcases the high-production values and great storytelling that we’ve come to expect from the world’s number one television and movie studio. We know that audiences in Asia will love it, and we’re really pleased to be offering Gotham so soon after it airs in the US.”

In the story, the newly-minted detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue). The two stumble upon the city’s highest-profile case ever – the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. At the scene of the crime Gordon meets the sole survivor; the Waynes’ hauntingly intense 12-year-old son, Bruce (David Mazouz), toward whom the young detective feels an inexplicable kinship.

Moved by the boy’s profound loss, Gordon vows to catch the killer. As he navigates the often-underhanded politics of Gotham’s criminal justice system, Gordon encounters imposing gang boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), and many of the characters who will become DC Comics’ most renowned, enduring villains, including a teenaged Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman (Camren Bicondova) and Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor).

Although the crime drama follows Gordon’s turbulent and singular rise through the Gotham City police department, it also focuses on the unlikely friendship Gordon forms with the young heir to the Wayne fortune, who is being raised by his unflappable butler, Alfred (Sean Pertwee) – a friendship that will last them all of their lives and will play a crucial role in helping the young boy eventually become the caped crusader he’s destined to be. Full programming details will be announced shortly.

WarnerTV is currently available across Asia Pacific and is the No. 1 entertainment channel in Singapore for the first six months of 2014#.

– Ends –

Note to editors:

Promotional images available on request.

Video link to Gotham trailer: http://youtu.be/rzxqQflCbY0

#Data source: Kantar Media Singapore. All Time Mon-Sun 03:00-26:59. Individuals aged 4+ and 18-49 for January-June 2014. Entertainment package channels on Starhub reported with ratings: Animax, AXN, beTV, Comedy Central Asia, Diva, Fox Channel, Fox Crime, HITS, MTV Asia, Star World, SyFy, Universal Channel, WarnerTV.

About WarnerTV
WarnerTV offers viewers in Asia Pacific an unprecedented mix of hit TV series and blockbuster movies. Its line-up boasts the world’s biggest franchises, first-run exclusives for the region and fan favorites across a wide range of genres from action, adventure, comedy to crime, sci-fi and drama. WarnerTV is also home to feature films from the legendary studios of Warner Bros. Entertainment. The channel is available across Asia Pacific including distribution in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Palau, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. In Asia Pacific, WarnerTV is owned and operated by Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc., a Time Warner company. Visit warnertvasia.com and facebook.com/WarnerTVAsia for more information.

About Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific
Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. creates and distributes award-winning brands throughout the Asia Pacific region and beyond. A leader in the television and media business, it runs pay- and free-TV channels, as well as Internet-based services, including 46 channels in 13 languages in 38 countries throughout Asia Pacific. Turner’s leading brands in the region include CNN International, CNNj, CNN, HLN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Cartoonito, Boomerang, POGO, Toonami, WarnerTV, TCM Turner Classic Movies, truTV, WB, MondoTV and TABI Channel. In addition, Turner is also the exclusive distributor of HBO, HBO Hits HD and HBO Defined HD in South Asia. Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. is a Time Warner company.

For media enquiries, contact:

James Moore
Turner International Asia Pacific (in Hong Kong)
James.Moore@turner.com
(+852) 3128-3720

~The shows – MTV Fanaah and MTV Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan – to go on-air starting July 21st 2014~

Mumbai, Thursday, 16th July 2014: BBC Worldwide India has been commissioned by MTV India to produce two new fiction programmes – MTV Fanaah and MTV Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan for the channel. These shows add to the increasing portfolio of youth-targeted programming that BBC Worldwide has undertaken in India.

Both programmes – MTV Fanaah and MTV Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan will run daily, from Monday to Friday starting July 21, 2014. They will go out to approximately 35 million households in India that MTV reaches.

MTV Fanaah – An Impossible Love Story is a story of power and love. It is based on the lives of five teenagers, living in the modern age. It has a supernatural theme and a passionate love triangle at the helm of the story. It is the first fictional paranormal drama on the channel and features vampires and werewolves. The show will air at 6 pm. (with three re-runs in a single day)

MTV Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan is a show that focuses on the relationship between young adults who have come together as they embark on a new chapter in their lives – attending college. The show will air at 6:30 pm (with three re-runs in a single day).

“More than half of India’s population is now below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. To meet the demand for programmes targeted at this growing population, many of our clients have come to us requesting for more localized youth-oriented productions,” said Akhauri Sinha, COO of Content and Production for BBC Worldwide in India. He added “We are very excited to be collaborating with MTV India for the first time on these two new programmes. Both BBC Worldwide and MTV share the same ethos in producing great programmes – to continually innovate to present viewers with exciting new concepts and formats.”

“We cater to an audience that is constantly in the search of the next ‘cool’ thing. Our programming thus needs to keep up with their thirst for the new and the exciting. Thus, it is extremely important for our shows to have the perfect amalgamation of local influence along with high quality international production qualities. With BBC Worldwide’s reputation for producing high quality programmes, we are sure that MTV Fanaah and MTV Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan will find favour with our young viewers,” said Vikas Gupta, Programming Head, MTV India.

Some of the other programmes BBC Worldwide in India currently produces include Yeh Hai Ashiqui, a one hour weekly drama aimed at the 18-24 age group. The series airs on Bindass (part of the Disney group of channels). It also produces Ek Boond Ishq, a weekday drama strip that just passed the 185 episode mark. In addition, it produces Jhalak Dikhla Jaa for Colors. The adaption of BBC format, dancing with the Stars just launched its seventh season on Monday, 2 June. The sixth series was watched by over 200 million people.

For more information:

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

Cassandra Wong
Email: Cassandra.Wong@bbc.com
Tel: +65 6849 5295

About BBC Worldwide
About BBC Worldwide Ltd. BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). BBC Worldwide exists to support the BBC public service mission and to maximise profits on its behalf. It does this through investing in, commercialising and showcasing content from the BBC around the world, in a way that is consistent with BBC standards and values. The business also builds the reach and reputation of the BBC brand overseas and champions British creativity.

In 2012/13, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £156m and headline sales of £1,116m and returned £156m to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website: http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview

bbcworldwide.com
twitter.com/bbcwpress

(July 17, 2014) The Sports Hub said the partnership will help it to build a platform to grow the local sports ecosystem, and allow it to host both local and global sporting events.

Read more at Channel News Asia

(July 16, 2014) Christina Miller has been appointed president and general manager for Turner Broadcasting System’s Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang, as well as their digital brand extensions, following the departure of Stuart Snyder in March.

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(Jul 16, 2014) Ericsson has released its second Game Changer paper, ‘The IP Imperative’, the latest installment in a six-part series that details the fundamental factors that are driving change across the TV and Media industry.

Read more at Advanced Television