Digital TV Research released today a  report on "Middle East and North Africa Pay TV Forecasts.'  The report forecasts that legitimate pay TV revenues will reach $4.12 billion for 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa by 2022, up by 17% from $3.52 billion in 2016. Five countries will contribute more than three-quarters of the region’s pay TV revenues in 2022. 

The number of pay TV homes will increase by nearly 5 million between 2015 and 2022 to 19.52 million. About 18.7% of TV households paid for TV signals by end-2016, which will climb to 22.2% by 2022. 

At 01:03 UTC, Arianspace successfully launched the Hispasat 36W-1 (H36W-1), from the European Spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana, aboard Arianespace’s Soyuz launch vehicle.  

Approximately 32 minutes after the rocket took off, the H36W-1 satellite separated from the launch vehicle, at which point the solar panels were started up and deployed. From that moment on, manoeuvres began to position the new satellite at the geostationary orbit point where the test phase will be carried out to make sure it is working properly, and which is scheduled to last several weeks.  

Boeing [NYSE: BA] has delivered ABS-2A, an all-electric propulsion 702 satellite, to ABS which entered into commercial service on January 21st. This is the second of the pair of all-electric satellite Boeing has delivered to ABS. ABS-2A was launched in June 2016 aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 and will provide enhanced satellite communications services, including direct-to-home television services.

Service providers are decreasing marketing on their cable, satellite, and IPTV products that offer managed quality of service in favor of new products that use over the top (OTT) technologies to compete with Amazon and Netflix. With OTT competition significantly increasing in mature pay-TV markets, ABI Research forecasts that live linear OTT video services will grow to approximately $7 billion dollars of worldwide revenue by 2021, from a little more than $1 billion in 2016.

Viaccess-Orca announced today that it has acquired BigHill, a Finland-based software company that specializes in developing mobile apps for TV content. An agreement between the two companies was reached in December 2016. Adding a mobile TV app solution to its rich product and solutions portfolio will allow Viaccess-Orca to offer content providers an end-to-end solution for a rich and immersive content experience on any device.

Denis Arrufat will re-join Signalhorn to drive channel sales specifically with its partner Deutche Telekom.Arrufat, who worked with Signalhorn between 2002 and 2014 in a number of roles, most recently was responsible for the sales to Deutsche Telekom within Signalhorn. 

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT)  today announced it has expanded the company's board of directors with the appointment of Dr. Tom Lookabaugh. Dr. Lookabaugh, 55, has over 30 years of experience in the semiconductor, communications equipment, and service provider industries, as well as in academia.

NETIA, the French Media software solutions company, today announced that its sole shareholder Globecast (part of the Orange group) has sold all its shares in the company to two French media entrepreneurs, Anthony Savelli and Vincent Benveniste.

The acquisition was made via Radio Act SAS, their consulting and services agency.

Both businessmen exceed 25 years of experience in media IT and have an impressive and recognized track record in successfully transforming technology businesses in synergy with customers, partners and staff.

VITEC, a provider of  advanced video encoding and streaming solutions, today announced it has become a shareholder of Anevia, a provider of OTT and IPTV software for the delivery of live TV and video on demand (VOD). VITEC now owns 8 percent of Anevia's share capital through an over-the-counter transaction of a block of shares.

NSR’s High-Altitude Platforms (HAPs)  report, released today, highlights opportunities for growth via current and new airships, balloons, and pseudo-satellites will reach over $2B in cumulative revenue over the next decade. NSR’s industry-first HAPS report forecasts a 44% increase in HAPs units and an 85% increase in associated revenue over the coming ten years.