NEWSLETTERS

Rugby World Cup 2007: satellite contributions in HD and SD

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the world's leading association of broadcasters has boosted capacity on Eutelsat satellites to provide its members with High-Definition and Standard Definition coverage of the 48 matches being played during the Rugby World Cup 2007. The EBU is using W3A to contribute HD content filmed by the host broadcaster, from stadiums in France, Scotland and Wales to the IBC (International Broadcasting Centre) outside Paris. Extra capacity has also been taken by the EBU on ATLANTIC BIRD™ 2 for Standard Digital contribution links from stadiums to the IBC.

In a separate contract with Eutelsat, GlobeCast Italy has booked capacity on ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 to ensure live coverage of matches in HD and SD for the Italian pay-TV platform SKY Italia.

For more information: www.ebu.ch, www.globecast.com

Broadcasting from China to Europe with Eutelsat and Telekom Austria

Eutelsat and Telekom Austria Wholesale are partnering to provide a broadcasting solution for live transmissions between Asia and Europe. Combining satellite capacity on Eutelsat's W5 with infrastructure at Telekom Austria's Aflenz teleport, the two companies will collaborate for occasional use video services for sports and events coverage, and for disaster recovery operations. “In view of the tried and tested reliability of Telekom Austria’s satellite solutions, and the ideal location of the Aflenz teleport for connectivity with Asia, this form of cooperation with Eutelsat is a logical step,” said Josef Trimmel, Head of Wholesale at Telekom Austria.

From its 70.5 degrees East location W5 enables video signals to be transmitted in one hop from key broadcasting centres in China, notably Shanghai, into the heart of Europe at the Aflenz teleport. Telekom Austria can subsequently route video signals to TV stations in Europe via a turnaround satellite service with Eutelsat or terrestrially. Eutelsat has a sales branch in Beijing to meet the specific requirements of Chinese customers, and the new service is ideally designed to provide video transport solutions during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

For more information: www.telekom.at

TVN launches in high definition

Polish DTH platform, “n” has launched a HDTV version of the commercial television channel TVN. The channel is now available to Polish satellite homes in both Standard Definition and High Definition versions, via Eutelsat's HOT BIRD™ 7A satellite. TVN HD is the fourth HD channel in the “n” platform, joining nSport, Discovery HD Europe and the film channel MGM HD.

Launched in October 2006, the 'n' platform belongs to ITI Neovision, one of Poland's leading media and entertainment groups. Available exclusively from the HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood the platform today broadcasts 50 channels including the recently launched TVN CNBC Biznes. Further channels are lined up for launch this autumn as well as an expanded Video-On-Demand offer. ITI Neovision says that the platform's subscriber base currently comprises 200,000 homes.

For more information: www.iti.pl

SKY Italia well on the way to 4.5 million subscribers

Recent subscriber figures from SKY Italia, which broadcasts exclusively from the HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood, confirmed that Italy’s leading pay-TV operation had reached 4.2 million subscribers at the end of June 2007. Preparations at SKY Italia are underway to add five new channels to the platform next month. On October 1st, MTV Pulse, MTV Gold and VH1 will enrich the music offer of the pay-TV platform. And from October 15th, two new National Geographic channels will be added to the basic package: Nat Geo Wild, dedicated to wildlife, animals and nature, and Nat Geo Music, dedicated to music, culture and lifestyle. Both channels are produced by Fox International Channels Italy, the subsidiary of the Fox TV group that controls 12 channels on the SKY Italia platform (six branded Fox, five branded National Geographic and the channel Cult TV).

SKY Italia's current line-up comprises over 170 TV and radio channels, offering Italian viewers a wide choice of national and international movies, sports, news, entertainment, and music. The line-up also includes five HDTV channels – SKY Sport HD1 and HD2, Next: HD, SKY Cinema HD, National Geographic Channel HD - which are broadcast from a single HOT BIRD™ transponder using MPEG4 compression.

For more information: www.sky.it

HOT BIRD™ TV Awards: votes open for People's Choice Award

The independent Jury of media experts who consider thematic satellite television channels for a HOT BIRD™ TV Award have announced their shortlist for this year’s event. The HOT BIRD™ TV Awards are an annual competition organised by Eutelsat, with Eurovisioni and Satexpo to reward programming excellence and innovation by thematic television channels broadcasting by satellite across Europe. The jury viewed more than 120 thematic channels from 18 countries that broadcast today across Eutelsat’s video neighbourhoods. The outstanding number of entries was distilled to just 34 who are now shortlisted for the final. The Jury shortlisted channels for each thematic category on the basis of creativity, programme originality and production quality.

Votes open for People’s Choice Award

Following on from the success of the People’s Choice Award in 2006, Eutelsat is repeating this Award for 2007. The Peoples’ Choice Award is given to the channel that receives the most votes from viewers across Europe. Viewers are invited to vote via participating channel websites, as well as the HOT BIRD™ TV Awards, Eutelsat and Eurovisioni websites and via Lyngsat, the most popular website for satellite television data in Europe.

The prize-giving ceremony for the 2007 edition of the HOT BIRD™ TV Awards will be held in Venice on 16 November.

For more information, or to vote for your favourite channel:

> Shortlist of channels for the HOT BIRD™ TV Awards 2007
> People's Choice Award
> www.hotbirdtvawards.com