News Broadcasting
Eutelsat launches India-focused satellite – W5
MUMBAI: Satellite service provider Eutelsat has successfully launched its W5 satellite and it is being positioned at 70.5 degrees East, an orbital position that allows Eutelsat to cover the whole of Asia in complement to the company’s SESAT satellite.
W5 will be operational by mid-December, according to an official release.
Equipped with 24 Ku-band transponders with 72 MHz bandwidth, W5 is configured with one fixed Widebeam covering western Europe, central Asia and the Indian sub-continent and two steerable spotbeams. The steerable spotbeams can cover north-east Asia including the whole of China and Mongolia as far as Korea and southern Japan, and south-east Asia as far as northern parts of Australia.
W5 will be capable of delivering a full range of digital communications services: video distribution and contribution links, occasional-use video and particularly Satellite News Gathering (SNG), as well as Internet backbone connections. Through a new bundled turnaround onto Eutelsat’s Digital Platforms on its HOT BIRD ?broadcasting satellites that reach an estimated 96 million cable and satellite homes, Eutelsat will also be able to offer Indian broadcasters seamless connectivity directly into Europe.
Eutelsat is also perhaps the only Satellite Company offering dedicated Ku-band connectivity to its Indian customers for India to Europe, Europe to India, and India to India through SESAT Satellite, an official release says. Eutelsat already has substantial capacity dedicated to the South Asian market with its SESAT satellite. SESAT (36oE) features a fixed widebeam that extends over the Atlantic Islands to eastern Russia. In addition, it has a spotbeam centered over India to offer single hop connectivity between east and west.
W5 Vital Characteristics
Orbital position: 70.5 degrees East
Payload: 24 Ku-band transponders
Downlink frequencies: 10.95-11.70 GHz, 12.50-12.75 GHz
Transponder bandwidth: 72 MHz
Coverages : 1 fixed Widebeam up to 46 dBW and 2 steerable spotbeams up to 48 dBW.
Lifetime: minimum 12 years
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
