Cignal (El Kadsre)

Not to be confused with the .

Cignal is a subscription-based direct-to-home digital cable and satellite television service provider in El Kadsre. Founded in 1992, it is also available in other countries in the El Kadsreian Islands. Cignal is owned by Unifytel and formerly Marksat Corporation from 1989-2013. It was founded in 1992 as Marksat, then changed to its current name in 1999. It is one of the most popular digital TV services in the United El Kadsreian Nations and the whole of El Kadsreian Islands.

For subscribers to receive Cignal broadcasts, they must acquire upon subscription the satellite dish antenna or cable, remote control, and the set top box (Integrated Receiver-Decoder). They also need an Interactive Card to receive subscription/pay-TV channels (Cignal first introduced the CGN model and packaged it with both Viewing and Interactive cards in 1999 before the DTV switchover in 2008).

Cignal uses VideoGuard encryption system to protect its content from signal piracy.

Cignal uses the DVB-T digital television broadcast standard to accommodate both Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) TV broadcasts, as well as interactive services offered on their cable/satellite TV service.

As of 2019, Cignal reached the 40 million+ subscribers base target.

History
Cignal was founded on January 23, 1992, as MarkSat by Marcus Lane, Diether Kline, and other teams after they developed a new satellite pay-TV system for six years, beginning in 1986. Its owner, Marksat Corporation, was founded in late November 1989 as a company to promote and sell the new box.

In MarkSat's early years, it offered more than 90 pay-TV channels and 90 analog channels. Its namesake box, officially named the MarkSat Receiver, became available in different designs starting in February 1993. Variations of the box, at the time called the MarkSat Special, were discontinued in October 1999.

In July 1997, digital broadcasting was introduced to MarkSat with the 16:9 aspect ratio. At the same time, more channels were added.

With the advent of digital satellite and terrestrial television in El Kadsre and under new ownership and management, it was relaunched as Cignal Digital TV on June 4, 1999. At the same time the Digibox was introduced to provide better quality, more channels, interactive content, and limited Full HD support. The service became more popular when subscribers reached over time about 500 thousand subscribers and more. Customers who bought the CGN brand receive these instructions.

On May 28th, 2001, internet broadband and radio were introduced after Cignal purchased ThemoNetwork and RadioSat exactly one year before on May 28th, 2000. The service was launched on August 8th, and an app with both internet and radio was released for Nehervia SuperSmart TVs on June 8th, 2001. Cignal released a printable update on their website on May 15th, 2001.

Cignal began offering HD channels on May 31, 2004, starting with HD Entertain, HDEK, Mega Cinema, etc.

On March 31, 2007, Unifytel acquired Cignal.

On February 13, 2009, Cignal launched Cignal Now, a video-on-demand service.

Cignal began offering 4K channels on January 19, 2016 starting with El TV Kadsre 4K, 4KLife and Ent4K.

On September 7th, 2017, Cignal introduced their Ultimate plan and began offering TV Apps, which included localized versions of US services (YouTube, Spotify, etc.) and the Cignal Radio app, which would later be launched one month later on October 7th, 2017.

Channels & TV Apps

 * See here.

Channel Packages
Customers can receive packages that includes a number of channels.

Starter: Customers who bought the Starter plan receive only their local channels in a country + 30 HD channels.

Extra: Customers who bought the Extra plan receive their local channels in the supported countries + 90 HD channels + 30 other-language channels in their selected extra language.

Ultimate: Customers who bought the Ultimate plan receive all the channels in the guide + Cignal TV Apps.

Cignal Pac-Man logo and trademark controversy

 * Main article: Bandai Namco Entertainment v. Cignal

In July 2015, Bandai Namco Entertainment filed litigation against Cignal for trademark infringement over the logo looked similar to Pac-Man. Some people complained to Cignal citing that "they stole Pac-Man" and "please not another Pac-Man ripoff!" Within the following year, Cignal released a new logo to prevent trademark infringement.

Devices
These are made by the parent of Cignal. They include the Cignal DVR and more.

Market share
Cignal is the leader of pay TV providers in the El Kadsreian Islands.