Sky Deutschland adding more HD channels
March 6, 2012
By Chris Forrester
Sky Deutschland is readying another batch of HD channels to its portfolio. It has leased an additional satellite transponder from SES (which transmits from 19.2 degrees East) and which takes Sky Deutschland’s total transponder count to eleven. The contract kicks in from June 1st.
Wolfgang Elsässer, MD of Astra in Germany, said: “Sky Deutschland has been a pioneer in HD in Germany and we are very pleased to further extend our partnership with them. We currently broadcast 39 German-speaking HD channels on Astra, and we expect to increase this to more than 50 by the end of this year. The German public broadcasters have announced plans to launch ten HD channels in May 2012; furthermore, Super RTL has announced plans to start an HD channel on our platform HD+. With this impressive growth, we further drive the digitalisation in Germany and confirm SES as a leader in digital broadcasting and HD.”