US TV
Cablevision plans to launch satellite service
Published Saturday, Jul 19 2003, 05:51 BST | By James Welsh
Cablevision Systems Corporation, a cable operator for the tri-state area of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, is planning to launch a digital satellite television service across America to rival DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish Network.
The company, which in addition to its cable operations also has signficant content interests - such as AMC, the regional Fox Sports Net stations, WE and the music channel Fuse, announced the successful launch of its Rainbow 1 telecommunications satellite on July 17. The company plans to outline more details of its service on October 1st.
Cablevision's Chairman, Charles F. Dolan, said: "Today's successful launch of Rainbow 1, the world's most powerful and technologically advanced spot beam satellite, signifies an important advancement in Cablevision's history of state-of-the-art content delivery. Cablevision has always been focused on creating compelling programming and Rainbow 1 will allow targeted, nationwide distribution for that content, helping us to offer our service directly to the home. It is indeed a great day for the company."
The high-power Ku-band satellite, named after Cablevision's content division, Rainbow Media Holdings, will provide its service across the continental United States from its final orbital location at 61.5ºW. Rainbow 1 is flexible such that twenty-two individually configurable beams can provide either total continental US coverage, all spot-beam coverage, or a combination of the two.
The Interpublic Group of Companies will market the service to consumers, while Motorola will be providing the set-top-boxes. The move has drawn some skepticism from analysts who worry about Cablevision's ability to compete on a national platform alongside two more established satellite TV providers. However, Cablevision's chief told reporters that Rainbow 1's capacity for up to 468 SDTV (standard definition television) channels and a deployment of MPEG-4 compression technology by 2004 would allow the company to offer a compelling alternative.
The company, which in addition to its cable operations also has signficant content interests - such as AMC, the regional Fox Sports Net stations, WE and the music channel Fuse, announced the successful launch of its Rainbow 1 telecommunications satellite on July 17. The company plans to outline more details of its service on October 1st.
Cablevision's Chairman, Charles F. Dolan, said: "Today's successful launch of Rainbow 1, the world's most powerful and technologically advanced spot beam satellite, signifies an important advancement in Cablevision's history of state-of-the-art content delivery. Cablevision has always been focused on creating compelling programming and Rainbow 1 will allow targeted, nationwide distribution for that content, helping us to offer our service directly to the home. It is indeed a great day for the company."
The high-power Ku-band satellite, named after Cablevision's content division, Rainbow Media Holdings, will provide its service across the continental United States from its final orbital location at 61.5ºW. Rainbow 1 is flexible such that twenty-two individually configurable beams can provide either total continental US coverage, all spot-beam coverage, or a combination of the two.
The Interpublic Group of Companies will market the service to consumers, while Motorola will be providing the set-top-boxes. The move has drawn some skepticism from analysts who worry about Cablevision's ability to compete on a national platform alongside two more established satellite TV providers. However, Cablevision's chief told reporters that Rainbow 1's capacity for up to 468 SDTV (standard definition television) channels and a deployment of MPEG-4 compression technology by 2004 would allow the company to offer a compelling alternative.
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