Satellite News

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Eurosport has the secured TV rights for the 2009 US PGA Tour season which were previously owned by collapsed broadcaster Setanta.

All action from the 2009 Tour will now be aired on British Eurosport and British Eurosport 2 on satellite and digital cable, while also being simulcast on the broadcaster's online subscription service Eurosport Player.
"We are delighted to welcome the US PGA Tour to the Eurosport platform in the UK," said Eurosport chairman Laurent Eric Le Lay.

"British golf fans can now see the world’s best players competing live as the 2009 season unfolds. We can give the US PGA Tour's iconic tournaments excellent coverage across our two UK TV channels, and fans can follow regular news and results at Eurosport’s leading sports website."
Dave Kerr, Eurosport UK's director of broadcast, added: "The US PGA Tour is a great sports series and we are delighted that we can bring the live coverage to a wider audience of golf fans than ever before.

"With the retention of Moto GP, the recent acquisition of British Superbikes and now the arrival of US PGA Golf, our channels are becoming more and more attractive and exciting to UK viewers and we look forward to welcoming golf fans to a channel that has long been a destination for passionate fans of our other major sports."

Coverage has already begun with the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, which runs until June 28.

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NBC Universal is set to replace The Hallmark Channel UK with the Universal Channel in the next few months as part of an overall shake up of its pay-TV channels in the UK.

The Universal Channel currently airs across Latin America, Asia and in Europe and the move is expected to be officially announced at the end of July. It is also considering rebranding its Diva TV, Sci Fi and Movies 24 channels to bring them closer to the NBC Universal brand.

The Hollywood studio acquired Sparrowhawk Media last year.

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SES Astra said it had received “ongoing requests from major customers” for capacity which will shortly be vacated by UPC Direct, after UPC’s DTH operation over Europe shifted its from SES Astra and its 19.2 deg East cluster of satellites, to Telenor’s 1 deg West position.

UPC is taking a total of 7 transponders from Telenor, and the deal is a significant ‘win’ for the Oslo-based satellite operator. The UPC contract with Astra expires in 2010, and Astra insiders say they have been anticipating the move for some time, and that they are confident that demand will quickly mop up the – then – spare capacity.

Alexander Oudendijk, COO of SES Astra, said: “Our confidence is based on the considerable demand from Western European key markets and strong dynamics in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The dynamics of the CEE markets are demonstrated by the impressive growth of customers like CS Link and Skylink which gained nearly 1 million subscribers in a very short period of time.”

Oudendijk added that the 5 transponders vacated by UPC Direct would “help us to meet current demand and customer requests for capacity at our prime orbital position”, including for capacity for high definition TV channels.

While most see the UPC decision as a solid long-term business win for Telenor (which will use some of its Thor 6 capacity, due for launch later this year, to fulfil the contract) it is generally accepted that the terms must have been extremely attractive to UPC which must now re-align some 330,000 homes beginning in the late Spring on next year – and this is an expensive process.

Most of UPC Direct’s subscribers live in Hungary, the Czech Republic or Slovakia, and these areas are very much part of the neighbourhood that Telenor is keen to be serving. Telenor now serves some 2m homes in Central and Eastern Europe. Astra’s demand tends to come from Western Europe.

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MTV Networks is taking its high definition channel MTV Networks High Definition (MTVN HD) to Switzerland, where the channel will be available from July 15 on cable network group QuickLine.

“With MTVN HD’s razor sharp images and perfect sound quality we are taking viewers directly to the concert stage,” said Roger Elsener, managing director of MTV Networks Schweiz. “We are pleased that with the innovative cable group QuickLine we have found the first strong partner in Switzerland for the distribution of our high definition channel.”

MTVN HD screens concerts and events such as MTV Unplugged, MTV World Stage and VH1 Storytellers, awards ceremonies like the MTV Video Music Awards or the MTV Europe Music Awards as well as coverage of international music festivals such as the Roskilde Festival and the Oxegen Festival. On weekends a Nickelodeon window with cartoon series is shown, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Avatar and Jimmy Neutron.

In neighbouring Germany the channel is available on Deutsche Telekom’s IPTV platform T-Home Entertain. Distribution in Austria is also planned.

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Fox International’s BabyTV has announced that it will be launching on Ssky Italia, Italy’s largest pay-TV service, as of July 31st 2009, marking it’s entry into the country.

BabyTV is set to launch on Sky Italia’s Kids Pack with a localized Italian channel, adding 4.7 million new subscribers.

Diego Londono, Managing Director of Fox International Channels in Italy and GAS countries, said in a statement: “BabyTV will be joining our 11 channels in Italy and we will be introducing it to audiences via a cross channel campaign as well as on ground marketing activities.”

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National Geographic Channel is going free-to-air for the first time, following a deal with the Abu Dhabi Media Company. National Geographic Channel Abu Dhabi will be the first international factual entertainment channel to be launched in Arabic.

Available on Arabsat and Nilesat, the new channel means National Geographic Channel is now available in 305 million homes in 165 countries in 34 languages.

Abu Dhabi Media Company said that the region is currently “hugely underserved in the international factual entertainment genre, giving the channel a first mover advantage.” The channel is completely dubbed into Arabic.

As well as a straightforward channel, the partnership will also leverage a variety of multimedia channels, including a dedicated website with an internet TV facilitiy.

H.E. Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of ADMC, said: “The launch of National Geographic Channel Abu Dhabi raises the bar of excellence in terms of viewer engagement in the region, both through the fact that the content will be in Arabic and that the channel will be free-to-air. It represents a very significant opportunity for us in Abu Dhabi to capture such a largely underserved market segment; and is the ideal launch for Abu Dhabi to attain its position as the Middle East’s centre for media.”

Ward Platt, President, Asia Pacific & Middle East, National Geographic Channels International said: “The launch of the channel in Arabic marks the first time in the Middle East that high quality National Geographic content will be delivered to the region’s viewers dubbed into their native language, and also the first time that a National Geographic Channel will be available free-to-air. Our work revolves around the protection of the natural world by bringing information and awareness about the planet to viewers - a philosophy and commitment to environmental sustainability shared by ADMC. We are very excited at this opportunity to together showcase unique perspectives on the world that we inhabit in the Arabic language, and play a part in Abu Dhabi’s sustainable growth and transformation into a global media hub.”?

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Sky Italia is now officially Italy’s richest commercial broadcaster, with the News Corp unit overtaking Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset in revenue terms for the first time in 2008.


Hit by the global financial slump and the accompanying fall in advertising take, Mediaset could only manage third place, with both behind public broadcaster RAI.

Agcom, Italy’s communications regulator, released figures showing Sky Italia had revenues of €2.64 billion in 2008, RAI €2.72 billion and Mediaset €2.53 billion.