United Group consolidates broadcasting with Eutelsat
August 8, 2024
Eutelsat has been selected by United Group, the South-East European provider of telecommunications and media services, to consolidate its broadcasting activities at two of Eutelsat’s flagship video hotspots.
Following an RFI to satellite operators to optimise the efficiency of its operations, United Group awarded Eutelsat the contract for its entire DTH portfolio. Under the multi-year, multi-transponder deal, which will consolidate the totality of its broadcast activities on Eutelsat assets, United Group is renewing its commitment with incremental capacity to accommodate both existing and new television platforms that will be joining the Eutelsat video neighbourhood.
Eutelsat reaches 70 per cent of satellite households in Central and Eastern Europe from its European video hotspots. By combining EUTELSAT HOTBIRD at the 13° East position, and EUTELSAT 16A at 16° East, United Group’s Total TV, Nova and Vivacom platforms can reach regional audiences at home and further afield in Greece, Bulgaria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.
Zeljko Batistić, VP Technology of United Group, stated: “We are proud to be taking the high quality of our TV offering to a new level. This transition is crucial to maximise our audience reach across our market footprint, deliver an unrivalled content line-up and continue to develop our next generation services. We are delighted to partner with Eutelsat, who offers us the best and most compliant technical solution to meet our needs.”
Laurence Delpy, President of the Video Business Unit of Eutelsat Group, added: “We are honoured that United Group, has placed its confidence in Eutelsat for this important strategic initiative, leveraging two of our leading video neighbourhoods, 16° East and HOTBIRD. As well as reinforcing our long-standing collaboration with one of our key customers in the region, this agreement showcases the ongoing relevance of satellite in addressing the evolving needs of our broadcast clients and confirms Eutelsat as the premier operator covering the region, reaching 7 out of 10 satellite homes.”
16° East is a leading video neighbourhood for CEE, delivering around 600 TV channels, over 200 exclusively, and over 200 in HD, to over 25 million homes.
The HOTBIRD satellites at 13° East form EMEA’s prime broadcast neighbourhood for TV channels wanting to reach large audiences. Delivering over 900 TV channels, 50 per cent in HD, in Europe alone it reaches 130 million homes, including almost all cable networks in the region.