Advanced Television

Eutelsat wins Canal+ DTH pay-bundle for Ethiopia

July 28, 2020

By Chris Forrester

Canal+ has contracted with Eutelsat to launch a premium bundle of about 50 pay-TV channels.

Canal+ will use Eutelsat’s 7C East craft on what Eutelsat describes as a “long-term multi-transponder” deal with the satellite’s dedicated Ethiopian Ku-band spot beam.

Eutelsat 7C is a high-power broadcast satellite which entered into service in January 2020 and is co-positioned with Eutelsat 7B at the 7° East position to form a two-satellite constellation with what Eutelsat describe as “unparalleled flexibility and connectivity”. Eutelsat is already a major carrier of Ethiopian channels through its 7/8° West video neighborhood.

The channels will be in a mix of Standard and HD and will go live early in 2021.

A note from Sami Kassab (equity analyst at Exane/BNPP) says that the revenue impact has not been disclosed but the investment bank suggests that it could mean €4 million-€8 million annually.

“SES is in head-on competition to Eutelsat on the Ethiopian market and had won business there last year. Transponder prices over Ethiopia are hence likely to be under strong competitive pressure,” says Kassab and implying that Canal Plus might be enjoying some sort of discount if only for a year or two as an introductory period.

Kassab adds: “This is the second multi-million Euro contract announced in a few days. Last week Eutelsat signed a contract with Orange in its Fixed Broadband division. Eutelsat is to report on July 31st. We are cautious ahead of the numbers on higher investment requirements in Fixed Broadband marketing. But we expect the deal with Canal + to trigger a small short term positive share price reaction today as such a deal underpins the idea that satellite TV is likely to remain key in low infrastructure countries for many years.”

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTH/Satellite, Pay TV

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