Intelsat gains exclusive PBS distribution over US
April 19, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Intelsat used the NAB show in Las Vegas to announce that it was now the exclusive satellite distributor for the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) transmissions. More than 150 affiliates take Intelsat’s PBS signals.
PBS is a private, non-profit broadcaster, founded in 1969, whose members are America’s public TV stations. It is a multi-platform media organization that serves America through television, mobile and connected devices and in the classroom. Starting earlier this year, Intelsat’s Galaxy 16 Ku-band satellite started delivering iconic PBS content to 156 broadcast affiliates reaching an audience of nearly 50 million primetime viewers.
“As America’s largest public media enterprise, PBS trusts Intelsat to reliably deliver on their crucial mission of providing high-quality programming to their member stations across the continental United States,” said Pascale Fromont, VP/GM of Media for Intelsat. “With the addition of PBS to the Intelsat family, all major broadcasters in the US are utilizing the Intelsat fleet for content delivery.”
Located at 99W, the performance and reach of Galaxy 16 over North America were key factors in PBS’s selection of Intelsat to meet its distribution needs. Intelsat’s Galaxy fleet is the most comprehensive in North America, serving 123 million TV households.