News Broadcasting
PanAmSat to distribute content to Africa, Indian Ocean region for EWTN
MUMBAI: PanAmSat, a major provider of global video and data broadcasting services via satellite has announced a 10-year transponder lease agreement with the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), the world’s largest religious media organisation.
The agreement, the second EWTN has signed with PanAmSat in the past four months, is for content distribution throughout Africa and the Indian Ocean Region on the PAS-10 Indian Ocean Region satellite. In its 21st year, EWTN has become the largest religious media network in the world, transmitting programming to more than 75 million homes in 100 countries and territories on cable systems, wireless cable, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), low power TV and individual satellite users, says an official release. EWTN currently uses capacity on PanAmSat’s Galaxy IR, Galaxy XI, Galaxy XR, PAS-3R, PAS-8 and PAS-9 satellites. According to the release, PanAmSat announced in April that EWTN had entered into a new lease agreement for one 36 MHz c-band transponder for follow-on capacity on the Galaxy IRR satellite for US domestic distribution.
With this agreement, PanAmSat now transmits EWTN to more than 98 per cent of the world’s population, the release says. The PAS-10 satellite, located at 68.5 degrees east longitude, is a Boeing-built 601 HP model satellite with 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders. The satellite’s expansive footprint covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Asia. PAS-10’s C-band customers include the BBC, CNN, CCTV, Discovery, Doordarshan, ESPN, MTV, NHK, Nickelodeon and Sony. PAS-10’s Ku-band payload contains multiple high-powered beams focused on Africa, Europe, India, the Middle East, Central and Western Asia as well as Northeast Asia.
News Broadcasting
Mihir Bhatt appointed as chief content officer at News18 Studios
The media veteran brings two decades of experience across television, digital and radio to one of India’s biggest broadcast networks, Disney+ Hotstar, Discovery+
NEW DELHI: Network18 has a new strategist in the building. Mihir Bhatt, one of Indian media’s more versatile operators, has joined News18 Studios as chief content officer, stepping into a role that will see him shape content strategy, build multi-platform properties and drive brand partnerships across the network.
Bhatt brings more than two decades of experience spanning television, digital and radio, with a track record of doing something rare in Indian media: combining editorial ambition with hard commercial results. At Times Network, where he served as managing editor and chief business officer of Times Influence, he built one of the industry’s more respected content studios, launching marquee properties such as the India Economic Conclave, the Times Now Summit and Leaders of Tomorrow. He also pushed the network into premium OTT territory through tie-ups with Disney+ Hotstar and Discovery+.
His resume stretches well beyond the studio. Bhatt has led Global Investor Summits for multiple state governments, worked alongside the World Economic Forum and played a pivotal role in launching the Indian Pickleball League. Earlier, as editor of Zee Business, he pioneered investor education initiatives that are still cited as industry benchmarks.
At News18 Studios, Bhatt will report to chief executive S Shivakumar and will oversee the studios execution vertical alongside revenue verticals covering emerging markets and campaigns. Sidharth Saini, Hemanth Kumar and Nimar Sarkaria will work under him.
Rahul Joshi, managing director and editor-in-chief of Network18 Group, made the announcement in an internal communication. “Mihir’s ability to build enduring brands, foster strategic partnerships and navigate a rapidly evolving media landscape will be instrumental as we continue to strengthen our position and explore new avenues of growth in the Studios business,” Joshi said.
In a media industry lurching between disruption and reinvention, Network18 has bet on a man who has spent two decades thriving in exactly that chaos. Whether he can do it again, at greater scale, is the question worth watching.
