In Demand renews C-band capacity agreement with SES

World-leading satellite operator SES announced that content distributor In Demand renewed its capacity deal with the company to continue with the delivery of pay-per-view and Video On Demand sports and entertainment television content to cable headends in North America.

Under the terms of agreement, In Demand will make use of a full transponder of C-band capacity aboard the AMC-1 satellite of SES to provide programming like movies, events and sports packages to cable audiences throughout the United States and beyond. All in all, the content distributor relies on five transponders aboard three SES satellites for its full-time satellite distribution capacity.

“SES represents the foundation of our overall North American satellite distribution capabilities and strategy,” said In Demand CTO John Vartanian in a statement. “Our audiences have come to rely on the availability and quality of In Demand sports and entertainment programming. In turn, we have come to trust in our longstanding partnership with SES for the reliability and flexibility we need in our satellite distribution platform.”

The C-band payload aboard AMC-1 satellite does not only deliver North American coverage, but is also home to national television networks broadcasting to several cable headends. The Ku-band beam also supports national broadcasters and VSAT and broadband services for enterprise clients.

SES, MagtiSat mark new partnership with capacity deal

Satellite Services and MagtiCom -- a mobile and telecommunication company based in Georgia -- signed a deal for a fourth transponder at the ASTRA 31.5 degrees East orbital position after MagtiSat’s first year of operations. MagtiSat is known as Georgia’s first domestic direct-to-home (DTH) satellite platform.

In order to provide high-definition (HD) channels for up to 100 popular Georgian and foreign digital TV channels, as well as 40,000 customers all throughout the country, MagtiSat will make use of four SES transponders. The operator is broadcasting in DVB-S2 standard and MPEG-4 encoding.

The orbital position of the transponders at 31.5 degrees East will deliver superior growth opportunities for Central Eastern Europe broadcasters, and can even accommodate the increasing demand for SD adn HD services in the region.

MagtiCom’s General Director Lars P. Reichelt said that the company’s goal is to provide Georgian customers with world-class satellite TV all over the country, adding that MagtiSat is now firmly established in the TV landscape of Georgia and that the company is happy with the excellent customer feedback. Georgia’s switchover to digital TV broadcasting was successful because of MagtiSat’s help.

Expressing gratitude to their first partnership, Norbert Hölzle, SES Senior Vice President, Commercial, Europe, said in a statement: “We would like to congratulate our partner MagtiCom on setting the benchmark for DTH business in the region in its successful first year of operations. MagtiCom’s expertise in delivering telecom solutions and SES’ wealth of knowledge in providing excellent satellite TV signals have proven to be vital in enabling TV audiences across Georgia to enjoy high-quality satellite television channels. We will capitalise on these strengths and continue to deliver more channels to the region in the coming years.”

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