European Public Broadcasters Sign Multi-Year Capacity Contracts on SES’s Prime TV Neighbourhoods

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- SES announced today that it has signed multi-year capacity agreements totaling over EUR 66 million in backlog with multiple public broadcasters in Europe throughout 2020, enabling millions of satellite TV households across Europe to continue watching SD and HD content delivered with world-class reliability.

The public broadcasters who have signed contracts directly with SES include ARD and ZDF in Germany, BBC in the UK, BVN in the Netherlands, as well as TV5Monde and France 24 from France via its partner Globecast, strengthening SES’s position as the world’s leading global content connectivity provider.

With almost the entire global population being impacted by some form of COVID-19 containment measures throughout 2020, public broadcasters have seen a surge in viewers across all age groups relying on linear television programmes to get the latest, official and well-researched news about the pandemic. The increase in linear content in 2020 also reinforces satellite as the most reliable way to broadcast to the widest possible audience and in the best quality desired by the viewer.

The latest agreements signed between public broadcasters and SES illustrate how European broadcasters are leveraging SES’s satellites at the prime orbital slots of 19.2 degrees East and 28.2 degrees East to reach more than 89 million satellite TV homes, surpassing other satellite or terrestrial operators.

“Delivering TV programmes with reliable information and quality entertainment is important, especially in times of crisis. We are very pleased to help ARD, ZDF, BBC, TV5Monde, France 24 and BVN — some of the biggest names in European broadcasting — reach as many people as possible with their public service offering,” said Steve Collar, CEO at SES. “Satellite is an invaluable distribution resource today and it will remain so in the future, providing broadcasters with the largest reach, unmatched reliability, bandwidth efficiency and the ability to deliver superior content quality to millions of TV households in Europe.”

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About SES

SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the world’s only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the world’s leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SES’s video network carries over 8,300 channels and has an unparalleled reach of 367 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com.

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