StarSat (formerly TopTV until 31 October 2013
) is a South African
direct broadcast satellite
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
television service that began broadcasting on 1 May 2010.
StarSat is operated by On Digital Media,
who were granted a pay-TV license by
ICASA
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the ICASA Act to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the publ ...
in September 2007.
On Digital Media is currently 20% owned by Luxembourgish satellite operator
SES
SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to:
Business and economics
* Socioeconomic status
* Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland
* SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia)
* SES S.A., ...
and 20% owned by Chinese company
StarTimes.
StarSat's service is aimed at the LSM 6-9 demographic, targeting middle class viewers.
History
On Digital Media (Pty) Ltd launched TopTV on 1 May 2010.
On 30 April 2013, shareholders of On Digital Media voted to approve China-based company
StarTimes taking over a 20% share of ODM. By doing so, StarTimes effectively acquired a 65% economic interest in ODM.
The vote also included adoption of a business rescue plan.
TopTV was officially rebranded as StarSat on 31 October 2013.
The new packages and channels associated with the new brand were made available on 1 December 2013.
Broadcast and Reception
StarSat services are broadcast via satellite, using the
SES-5
SES-5 (also known as Astra 4B and Sirius 5) is a commercial geostationary communication satellite operated by SES S.A. It was launched on 9 July 2012. The launch was arranged by International Launch Services (ILS).
History
In October 2008, S ...
satellite at the
5° east orbital position, and 3 of the six 36 MHz transponders in the "Sub Saharan Africa Ku-band" beam providing coverage of the whole sub-Saharan Africa region.
Transmissions are in the
DVB-S2 MPEG-4 digital TV format with reception using a simple
set-top box
A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of sign ...
and with the Combo3
PVR decoder launched in 2011.
Conax
Conax develops television encryption, conditional access and content security for digital television. Conax provide CAS technology to pay TV operators in 85 countries. The company has offices in Norway (headquarters), Russia, Germany, Brazil, t ...
is used as
conditional access system.
See also
*
Astra 4A
Astra 4A is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES at the Astra 5°E orbital slot providing digital television and radio broadcasts, data, and interactive services to Nordic countries, eastern Europe and sub-Saharan ...
broadcasting satellite
*
Astra 5°E orbital position
*
SES
SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to:
Business and economics
* Socioeconomic status
* Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland
* SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia)
* SES S.A., ...
satellite operator
*
Astra satellite family
*
MX1
References
External links
*
On Digital Media websiteStarTimes website
{{DEFAULTSORT:StarSat
Mass media companies established in 2010
2010 establishments in South Africa
Television stations in South Africa
Television in South Africa
Direct broadcast satellite services
Mass media in Johannesburg