Kachan was previously regional sales director at Rotal Networks. At ATX Networks he will be responsible for promoting and executing sales for its existing digital video products and solutions, as well as finding new business opportunities.

The deal brings together Israel-based SintecMedia’s OnAir  broadcast management solution for media companies and its line of related products with Argo Systems’  management solutions  designed for pay TV channels and multichannel video distributors. This is SintecMedia’s second acquisition in the North American market, complementing its recent purchase of StorerTV.

“SintecMedia’s acquisition of Argo Systems will further augment our local activities in the North American cable television and MSO markets,” said SintecMedia CEO Amotz Yarden. “Its team and suite of products have gained the respect of every television executive in the industry. Argo Systems will increase SintecMedia’s footprint and capabilities, boost our US presence in terms of local support including software engineers, technicians as well as other professionals and delivery resources that will enable us to supply a greater array of broadcast and digital media solutions.”

SM2’s clients include the US National Football League (NFL), USGA, LPGA, ESPN International, IMG Media, BSkyB and Viasat. The company recently assisted the NFL in delivering its initial high definition broadcast of the Super Bowl to its European broadcast partners.

SM2’s operations will be integrated into RRsat America and Susanna Mandel-Mantello, the founder of SM2, will join RRsat America.

Avi Cohen, CEO of RRsat said, “RRsat has taken a bold step and has entered into a lucrative new activity of occasional use broadcast and distribution of live sports in the United States. We see tremendous long-term potential in a fast growing market, and the acquisition of SM2 places us in a very strong position to actualise on that opportunity. In the past, we have worked closely with SM2 and we expect to benefit from strong synergies by bringing SM2 under the RRsat umbrella. We are very happy to welcome SM2 and Susanna to the RRsat family, and we look forward to expanding our US activities and winning new clients for our global digital broadcasting services.”

The new service will enable broadcasters to distribute HD and SD channels from EMEA to the Latin American pay TV operators and to North American east coast media ports.

“The launch of this DVB-S2 platform on Telstar 12 is an exciting development for our customers and an example of the types of innovative approaches Telesat is using to serve the Latin American market,” said Nigel Gibson, vice-president international sales for Telesat. “The partnership between SatLink and Telesat offers broadcasters a number of key advantages for delivering SD and HD content to the region’s rapidly growing pay TV markets. We are very pleased to have completed this agreement with SatLink and look forward to establishing our new platform as a premiere solution for Latin America.”

Quarterly revenues were NIS409 million (€82.8 million), a 1.2% increase year-on-year and operating profit was NIS74 million, a 14% uptick.

Yes CEO Ron Elion said that the regulatory landscape in Israel was adversely impacting Yes’s performance. He said:  “The regulatory imbalance in the multichannel television market as it relates to yes is reflected once again in our financial results. I hope and believe that these imbalances will be corrected by means of fair and equitable legislation applicable to all the players, both existing and new, and will enable our customers to enjoy a free and competitive market.”

SatLink has purchased the new facility from MTVS Studios, a television production facilities provider.  It delivers playout and content management services to Israeli and international customers including Disney, NTV-MIR, ESPN and others.

The HD playout centre is connected to SatLink’s teleport facilities via redundant SDH-based fibre lines from two different suppliers using different routes to offer global content distribution over satellite, fibre or IP communication channels.  
According to SatLink, the new facility will offer a gateway to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas for worldwide broadcasters looking to extend their international audience reach.

The deals mark the debuts of Outdoor Channel and Fine Living in the region. They will be joined by a Russian language version of Chello’s kids channel JimJam.

Hot has added biography and history channel Vremya and culinary channel Telekafe to its Russian-language package. The channels were previously only available on mobile TV in Israel. Hot already carries Channel One’s movie channel Dom Kino and kids channel Karusel.

The Actus installation is used by Chello Multicanal staff including the programming department to monitor all distributed channels, advertising for proof of delivery of commercials, senior managers for reporting, and two technical teams who proactively monitor broadcast performance.

The Actus installation at Chello Multicanal features monitoring of up to 16 audio tracks per TV channel, closed captions and subtitles from several tracks as well as recording and archiving at near-HD data rates and screen size, according to Actus Digital.

Viacom International Media Networks has launched its pre-school channel Nick Jr in Israel.

The Hebrew-language channel is a joint-venture with local media company Ananey Communications. It has launched on Hot’s cable network, airing a mix of local and international programming, including Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues, Go! Diego, Go!, Bubble Guppies, The WonderPets! and Team Umizoomi.

“Nick Jr. Israel is yet another example of how the Nickelodeon brand continues to be an integral part of kids’ lives all over the world,” said Andy Goodhand, senior vice-president, Nickelodeon; Russia, Israel and CEE. “Having debuted in 2003, Nickelodeon is now the number one children’s channel in Israel and as part of the network’s natural evolution I’m delighted that hit shows such as Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go!, whose characters are beloved by Israeli children, will have a dedicated new home.”