It is fair to say that YahLive, the DTH portion of Abu Dhabi’s YahSat craft, struggled over the first year or two of its life to convince broadcasters to come aboard. YahLive was launched back in 2011 with the mission to be the Middle East’s first all-HDTV satellite.

The sales concept didn’t work out, but today’s position is significantly improved thanks to its Eastern beam which broadcasts over the Eastern Gulf and – more importantly – to Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, and the surrounding countries.

YahLive announced September 14th that it has secured two impressive endorsements to add to its current portfolio of more than 110 channels. BBC Persian and BBC Arabic will join YahLive from October, and add to the 140 per cent growth in channels over the past year.

The BBC will also add its World Service radio channels including content in Farsi, Pasto and Dari languages, and drawn from the BBC’s Arabic and Afghan services.

YahLive is a joint-venture between YahSat itself and SES of Luxembourg.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTH/Satellite