Advanced Television

Astra wins Ukranian DTH

June 17, 2011

By Chris Forrester

Ukrainian Business Group (UBG) has booked capacity aboard an SES Astra satellite at 5 degrees East to start a new DTH pay-TV offering.

UBG says it plans to use the capacity for the launch of a new digital television offer in the second half of 2011. The digital channel line-up currently includes music channel A-One, business channel UBC, Ukrainian Fashion, Dobro-TV and Z-TV and will be offered free-to-air from ASTRA’s 5 degrees East orbital position.

UBG is an industry conglomerate that operates in finance, medicine, manufacturing, agriculture, information technology and media. In March, the corporation bought 30 per cent of the business channel UBC and later this year 100 per cent of the music channel A-One. The company is currently applying for licences for Dobro-TV, Ukrainian Fashion and Z-TV.

Ferdinand Kayser, CCO at SES, said: “We are very proud that UBG has chosen ASTRA to launch its new digital channel line-up and welcome the new player in the Ukrainian media market. The launch of five new channels will further increase the digital channel choice on our satellites and make our 5 degrees East orbital position even more attractive for broadcasters and TV viewers.”

Artem Tkachev, Corporate VP at UBG, said: “The agreement with SES Astra is of high strategic importance to us, as it will allow us to enter the Ukrainian media market and to further develop our activities in this sector. We are convinced of the high broadcast quality and the perfect coverage of the Astra satellites which represent an ideal choice for our offer. Thanks to the digital broadcasting infrastructure provided by SES Astra we will be able to offer our viewers a state-of-the-art, future-proof and fully digital TV experience.”

Commercial terms were not disclosed.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTH/Satellite