Delta Air Lines chose Gogo to upgrade 250 planes from ATG-4 (air-to-ground) in-flight connectivity to 2Ku technology, Gogo said in a news release Wednesday. Gogo will begin the upgrade in 2016, it said. The 2Ku technology will deliver speeds of 70 Mbps, it said.
Dish will offer a $250 savings to customers who switch from DirecTV, the company said in a news release Tuesday. The promotion ends April 8, it said. The company released a series of promotional videos showing what customers are willing to do for $250. Customers will need to make a 24-month commitment with AutoPay and paperless billing, it said. "We deal with promotions like this all the time, and Dish has targeted us directly in the past without much success," a DirecTV spokesman said.
Dish Network customers will be able to use the Reverse AutoHop feature on the Hopper DVR Monday to watch only the commercials from Sunday’s Super Bowl, Dish said in a news release Thursday. This requires customers to have the PrimeTime Anytime feature for NBC, it said.
DirecTV created a Severe Weather Mix channel solely for coverage of winter storm Juno, it said in a news release Tuesday. The channel, available on 205, 362-1 and 600, was to show customers nationwide national storm coverage on one screen from CNN, Fox News, HLN, MSNBC, WeatherNation and The Weather Channel, and was to remain until the storm passed, it said.
In its first move to reach the cord-cutter generation, Dish Network said it began rolling out the Netflix app in a software update, becoming the first major U.S. pay TV provider to integrate the Netflix app into its set-top box. The app is available on Dish’s second-generation Hopper DVR, enabling subscribers to instantly stream Netflix content from the same platform as linear TV channels without having to switch sources, Dish said Wednesday. Users can access the Netflix app via the blue button on the Dish remote or by clicking the Netflix icon on the Hopper’s main menu, it said. Dish will extend the Netflix app rollout to Joey, Super Joey and Wireless Joey set-top boxes in “coming months,” it said. Netflix titles are expected to be integrated into the search function across live, recorded and video on demand programs, Dish said. Meanwhile, Fox could disappear from the Dish guide this week as the two sides haven't come to an agreement on a new contract after the current contract expires Saturday at midnight. Media reports said Fox Sports ran commercials during NFL games last week urging viewers to contact their satellite provider about a pending channel blackout of Fox News and Fox Business Network this weekend. Some 20,000 people called the number provided by Fox and 75,000 visited the website, said reports.
The Linkin Park concert Nov. 19 at the O2 World Berlin arena will be the world’s first live concert to be broadcast via satellite encoded in HEVC with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, 50 frames a second and a 10-bit color depth, said SES and Samsung, which are teaming up for the event. It will be available exclusively on the Astra Ultra HD demo channel and can be received on Samsung 2014 Ultra HD TV screens, they said. SES Platform Services will manage the encoding of the content, they said.
Dish Network subscribers lost channels from Turner Broadcasting Monday night due to a carriage negotiation disagreement. Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN and other channels were pulled from the direct broadcast satellite company's lineup, Dish said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1uBdK0a). Turner "refused to extend the overall agreement," it said. Dish said it's committed to reaching an agreement that returns the content. Turner said it worked for months to reach a fair agreement, "including multiple extensions and compromises," (http://bit.ly/1x5SVMT). It's unfortunate that Dish "is once again operating in a disruptive manner that takes away networks and programming from their customers," Turner said. The blackout shouldn't have an adverse effect on subscriber trends for Dish, a Wells Fargo analyst said in a research note. A deal "is likely to get done at some point," said analyst Marci Ryvicker. Much of Turner's affiliate growth rests with its key TNT and TBS networks, she said.
The Intelsat 30 satellite launched successfully last week. It was launched on an Ariane 5 vehicle, Intelsat said (http://bit.ly/11E79vb). The Ku-band payload is designed to provide distribution services for DirecTV Latin America, and the C-band portion “enhances Intelsat’s existing C-band service infrastructure serving Latin America,” it said Thursday. The satellite will be co-located with Intelsat’s Galaxy 3C satellite at 95 degrees west, it said.