Satellite Industry News

Four networks.  One screen. Zero flipping. DIRECTV, the pioneer of multi-channel viewing technology for nearly 20 years, is once again elevating how consumers watch television with the launch of seven new multiview Mix Channels on their streaming platform. Starting today, these new mixes allow Signature Package and Genre Pack customers to watch up to four live programs at the same time, on a single screen.

CARLSBAD, Calif., Aug. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today announced a $252 million AUD award from Geoscience Australia (GA) and Toit? Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to deliver additional satellite services for the region’s world-class Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SouthPAN). This expands on a previous SouthPAN award for the company and the estimated net incremental value for Viasat from this agreement is $214M AUD.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sling TV, the most flexible live streaming platform, announced the launch of its newest offering, Select, available nationwide starting today. This expands Sling's lineup of flexible services, delivering more entertainment for less.

TAMPA, Fla. (August 19, 2025) – DOW Technologies, the leading independently owned technology distributor, announced today that Casey McManus has joined the company as an Account Manager for the Custom Integration channel. McManus brings extensive experience as an installer and integration business owner. 

If anyone knows how to take an event from good to spectacular, it’s Bravolebrities! Tuesday night they proved exactly that, as DIRECTV rolled out the red carpet for Plot Twist – Featuring Bravo, held at The Perch by Skylight atop PENN 2 in New York City. This star-studded affair brought together Bravo stars and reality TV sensations for an evening buzzing with music, dancing and unrestrained celebration.

DIRECTV today announced a multi-year, strategic and year-round collaboration with six university athletic departments ahead of the highly-anticipated 2025 college football season.

The benefit concert, Buc-ee’s Presents Robert Earl Keen & Friends: Applause for the Cause, sold out faster than we could say “Yeehaw!” But don’t despair! You haven’t missed your chance to support Texas flood recovery while enjoying live music. DIRECTV is making the livestream available to consumers nationwide at no cost through MyFree DIRECTV as well as distributing to consumers and businesses through DIRECTV streaming and satellite.

Good news for anyone who loves free entertainment! Starting tomorrow, DIRECTV’s MyFree DIRECTV service is enhancing its ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) linear content offerings by adding new channels from NBCUniversal, Fox Corp., and Warner Bros. Discovery.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sling TV, the most flexible live streaming service, is flipping the script on traditional streaming bundles with the launch of the first of its kind, new $4.99 Day Pass, $9.99 Weekend Pass and $14.99 Week Pass. Sling TV shook up how we watch TV in 2015. Now it's breaking the mold again, just in time for football season with fresh, flexible ways to tune in, giving customers even more control over how they watch television.

CARLSBAD, Calif., Aug. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today unveiled its HaloNet™ portfolio, a modular set of capabilities with a next-generation connectivity architecture that unifies space and terrestrial connectivity into a cohesive service offering. Developed across global teams within Viasat Government and the Defense and Advanced Technologies segment, HaloNet is designed to transform near-Earth communications with flexible, multi-orbit network and data services that can be tailored to a customer’s specific mission requirements.

“What are you watching?” That’s the top question in dinner conversations, catching up with friends, and corporate icebreakers. This leads us down an exciting path to discovering gripping dramas, side-splitting comedies, can’t-miss sports and news unfolding in real time. Unfortunately, it’s become unnecessarily complicated to figure out where to watch all the content that matters without breaking the bank.

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS), a global communications and connectivity provider, selected MDA Space Ltd. (TSX:MDA), a trusted mission partner to the rapidly expanding global space industry, as the prime contractor for EchoStar's new non-terrestrial network (NTN) low Earth orbit (LEO) direct-to-device (D2D) satellite constellation. The initial contract, valued at approximately $1.3 billion (approx. C$1.8 billion) includes the design, manufacturing and testing of the first tranche of over 100 software-defined MDA AURORA™ D2D satellites.ⁱ The full initial configuration of the system consists of 200 satellites with future growth to thousands, as demand requires. EchoStar's LEO constellation will provide global talk, text and broadband services directly to standard 5G NTN handheld devices.

DIRECTV today announced that millions of streaming, satellite and U-verse customers will gain access to ESPN’s forthcoming streaming service (unlimited plan) at no additional cost. All DIRECTV streaming and MySports customers will receive access to this ESPN plan following its launch, with satellite and U-verse customers gaining access later this fall.

DIRECTV today announced a wide array of new free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) linear content offerings from the Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) portfolio. Four new channels will debut on July 30, and the remaining 12 channels will be added in the coming months.

CARLSBAD, Calif., July 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today announced it was selected by the U.S. Government to build a next-generation Ethernet Data Encryptor (EDE) solution as part of a sole-source multi-million dollar Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) award. Under this award, Viasat will design and develop this new high-assurance (formerly Type 1), high-speed EDE to meet the most stringent government security standards for protecting classified data up to Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) levels. Viasat has a long history of developing and delivering National Security Agency (NSA) certified encryption solutions to help protect sensitive government data – from ground-to-space, ship-to-shore, and the tactical edge-to-cloud data centers. Viasat received this IDIQ award during the first half of its 2025 fiscal year.

Germantown, MD – July 29 2025 – Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), an EchoStar company, today announced it has achieved the AS9100 standard, a globally recognized quality management system (QMS) for organizations serving the aviation, space, and defense industries. Developed by the International Aerospace Quality Group, AS9100 sets rigorous standards for consistency, safety, and regulatory compliance. 

DIRECTV is showing off how it’s bulking up on features and flexibility in its latest steaming hot national advertising campaign – DIRECTV Like You’ve Never Seen It. Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, and starring A-list Hollywood celebrities Kumail Nanjiani and Rob Mac (the actor formally known as McElhenney), both known for their significant eye-catching glow-up transformations, DIRECTV’s newest campaign showcases a transformation of its own. The campaign highlights product advancements and upgraded user-experience innovations that elevate the brand to new heights in the world of streaming.

TAMPA, Fla. (July 28, 2025) – DOW Technologies, the leading independently owned technology distributor, recently wrapped up the first quarter of its Rewards+ program with a bang! Customers who participated are receiving their well-earned rebate checks this week. One lucky winner got a surprise delivery when DOW’s president and ceo, John Yodzis, hand-delivered the first quarterly lottery check on Tuesday, July 22.

DIRECTV is teaming up with the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF), a leading non-profit organization dedicated to supporting veterans, service members and their families. This collaboration represents a shared commitment with the military and veteran community, leveraging the BWF’s national Got Your 6 Network of local organizations delivering support to veterans and service members.

While advertisers have long focused on placing ads during traditional commercial breaks, a new opportunity is continuing to gain momentum: pause ads. These are ads that appear when viewers hit the pause button while watching TV. Pausing isn’t just a momentary stop in the content – it’s often an intentional act that signals ongoing viewer engagement.