News Broadcasting
New Skies’ NSS-7 satellite enters commercial service
New Skies’ NSS-7 Atlantic Ocean region satellite entered into commercial service for premiere broadcast, Internet and telecom customers on 30 May.
The milestone, says the global satellite communications company, was capped by a multi-year agreement with BT Broadcast Services, one of the world’s leading broadcast solutions providers, to launch a new African direct-to-home (DTH) television service for Media Overseas, a unit of Vivendi Universal’s group.
The two companies will deliver a fully integrated, end-to-end service, using BT’s owned and operated Pont de Sevres Teleport in Paris and New Skies’ high-powered NSS-7 Ku-band capacity, says an official release. BT will uplink Media Overseas’ digital programming packages in Paris to a full transponder on NSS-7’s Ku-band Africa spot beam for direct broadcast to consumer households throughout Cameroon, Cte d’Ivoire and Senegal.
NSS-7 successfully completed in-orbit testing and entered commercial service on May 30. The satellite, which was built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems and launched on 16 April 2002, operates from 338.5 degrees east longitude over the Atlantic Ocean. NSS-7 features nearly 3,500 MHz of capacity spread over 36 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders. In addition, capacity can be flexibly assigned to eleven high-powered coverage beams, blanketing the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to a company release.
NSS-7 was designed to replace the NSS-K and NSS-803 satellites at 338.5 degrees east, combining the extensive television and Internet traffic from the two satellites to debut as a premier video and IP neighborhood in the Atlantic Ocean region. With NSS-7 now operational, New Skies is currently transitioning customers from NSS-K and NSS-803. The company expects to complete the process by late August.
Media Overseas deputy managing director Arnaud de Villeneuve says:”We are especially pleased that the service was up and running on NSS-7 in time for the first match of the World Cup between France and Senegal on May 31, enabling subscribers to watch Senegal’s victory in digital-quality video and audio.”
New Skies’ senior vice president of sales and marketing, Rudo Jockin says NSS-7 will serve as a major transmission platform for broadcasters, cable programmers, news agencies, ISPs, corporate enterprises, rural telecommunication networks, and direct-to-home television operators.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
