Sky Brazil wants to boost HDTV
May 9, 2013
By Chris Forrester
Pay-TV is doing extremely well in South America, especially for DirecTV. Sky Brazil is DirectTV’s platform for Brazil (and TV Globo has a 7 per cent stake) with more than 5 million subscribers.
However, there are grumbles from a growing list of would-be HD broadcasters which want to add high-def channels to the existing 45 channels already on air. Channels such as MTV and ESPN have reportedly complained that they want extra capacity for HD.
The answer is a new satellite, in addition to Intelsat 11 at 43 degrees West. There’s no information just yet whether the new craft will be funded by Intelsat or DirecTV itself.