Orbital Sciences Corporation today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Alliant Techsystems (ATK), which will combine Orbital and ATK’s Aerospace and Defense (A&D) Groups to create a US$ 4.5 billion (combined calendar year 2013 annual revenue), 13,000-person space, defense and aviation systems developer and manufacturer.

A new report by Research and Markets entitled "Global Set Top Box Market 2014-2018"  forecasts the global Set Top Box (STB)  market to grow at a CAGR of 2.14 percent over the period 2014-2018. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increase adoption of HD STB. The Global STB market has also been witnessing the growth in the number of pay TV subscribers. However, the high cost of advanced set top boxes could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

Orbital Sciences Corporation today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2014.  First quarter 2014 revenues were US$ 323.3 million, compared to US$ 334.8 million in the first quarter of 2013.  First quarter 2014 operating income was US$ 23.0 million, or 7.1% operating margin, compared to US$ 31.1 million, or 9.3% operating margin, in the first quarter of 2013.

Spain-based operator HISPASAT launched its new 4KTV channel for te Americas at the NAB in Las Vegas.  HISPASAT, The channel dubbed  “HISPASAT 4K”  will be aired unencrypted from the Amazonas satellite 3 to its coverage area of Central and North America.

Imagine Communications, today announced at the NAB in Las Vegas, the acquisition of Digital Rapids, an IP and file-based media processing solutions company.

All Mobile Video (AMV) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with AEG to purchase AEG Digital Media (AEGDM), an end to end digital broadcast services business based in Los Angeles, CA. The new combined company will be called AMV Digital Media.

Ross Video announced at the NAB show in Las Vegas that it has acquired Massachusetts-based Unreel LLC, an augmented reality (AR) and virtual set (VS) solutions provider. The acquisition makes Ross Video the only company in the broadcast industry that’s able to offer a single-vendor turnkey AR/VS studio solution, accoridng to the company.

Dalet Digital Media Systems, a provider of Media Asset Management (MAM) solutions, software and services for broadcasters and content providers, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Advent Venture Partners to acquire AmberFin, a UK-based company that specializes in video ingest, complex media manipulation, transcoding and quality control (QC) solutions.

Israel-based SintecMedia today announced that the company has acquired Pilat Media, both providers of media business management software. According to the Wall Street Journal, Pilat shareholders registered as of 6.00 p.m. (London) on April 2, 2014, shall receive 95 pence (US$1.60) in cash for per share, save where they have validly requested to receive such cash payment in NIS.

The GVF Oil & Gas Communications Brazil 2014: Big Oil, Big Data: The Deepwater Ocean Expanse conference (O&GCommsBrazil 2014, www.uk-emp.co.uk/current-events/o-g-comms-brazil-2014/) will take place at the Windsor Plaza Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro on 15th & 16th April 2014.