distribution

Sony Pictures Television has signed a distribution agreement with African pay TV companyMultiChoice. The deal gives entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television carriage in more than 2 million Sub-Saharan homes, executive vp international networks Ross Hair said Tuesday.

SET gets distribution on the MultiChoice digital pay TV satellite platform DStv in more than 40 countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania as well as on a second DStv bouquet in South Africa.

- Filmax International and Orbita Max has acquired the international sales rights of Magic Journey to Africa, one of the first European stereoscopic 3D live-action movies. With a 10 million euro budget, it combines real images with computer generated imagery (CGI) to create magical creatures and amazing visual effects.

- A short Xhosa film called Intonga that was shot in Mdantsane will be released in South Africa’s Nu Metro Cinemas on 12 June.

SatLink Communications Ltd. announced on 14 April that it has acquired its own capacity covering sub-Saharan Africa on ASTRA’s Astra 4A (Sirius 4) satellite located at 5° East. SatLink’s new MCPC (Multi-Channel Per Carrier) is a powerful platform for broadcasters aiming to reach Direct to Home (DTH) viewing for sub-Saharan African customers.

GlobeCast spokesman Matthew Rosenstein sais that GlobeCast has started transmissions on SES ASTRA’s Astra 4A (Sirius 4) satellite since March 2009. African broadcaster VoxAfrica is one of the first channels to sign up for the new platform which provides sub-Saharan Africa’s widest and most powerful coverage. This will allow Sub-Saharan African homes to receive quality free-to-air programming, including VoxAfrica, the first Panafrican, bilingual (English/French) and independent TV channel broadcasting throughout the continent via satellite.

- CNBC Africa concluded a satellite distribution agreement with Multichoice Africa on 16 April, 2009. The agreement makes the channel available to DStv viewers in 41 countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

Broadcast, Film and Convergence interviewed Guy Knafo, General Manager at 10francs, one of the largest independent documentary and art film distributors with a library of more than 1700 films.

Q: Are you distributing films made by African directors:

Pay TV CANAL OVERSEAS AFRICA (part of CANAL OVERSEAS, Groupe CANAL+) has announced the launch of Africa 24 and African channel Africable. Africa 24 is an international news channel on Africa. Africable touches on a wide variety of topics. These programmes will be accessible to Canal+'s “ACCESS” subscribers of CanalSat Horizons. AFRICA 24 will be available on canal 36 and AFRICABLE on canal 17. CANALSAT HORIZONS' bouquet is broadcasted in more than 20 African countries.

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=18780&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&U...

RIM is planning to announce a full-episode television service for BlackBerry users as early as next week at CTIA.

According to NewTeevee.com:

* It will be an unlimited monthly subscription service for a fee

* Once a user orders a program, the content will be downloaded in the background over Wi-Fi

* Multiple broadcast and cable networks have licensed content for the service

Ericsson continues to increase HSPA speeds for an even better user experience and sustainable development of mobile broadband. Higher data rates give users an instantaneous connection. A click on a web link brings up the corresponding page immediately, even when many users are online at the same time.