SES, Eurovision ink multi-year deal for sports events
SES and Eurovision ink multi-year capacity expansion deal to broadcast London 2012 Paralympic Games and other major sporting events globally SES announced today a multi-year capacity deal with Eurovision the leading distributor of premium sports and news events and department of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to provide live transmission of international sporting events originating in, or broadcast to, North America, Latin America and Europe.
Eurovision, a longstanding SES customer, is increasing capacity to 54 MHz and using the SES teleport and the NSS-806 satellite to broadcast the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (which begin August 29) to TV audiences across Latin America.
Located at 40.5 degrees West, NSS-806 is among several SES satellites providing the EBU, BBC and other broadcasters, extensive coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games into North America, Latin America and throughout Europe.
The capacity will also be utilised for the contribution and distribution of major 2013-2014 sporting events in high-definition (HD) such as Tour de France, Formula One, European and Latin American Football including 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. This will enable sports fans in three continents to watch all races and matches live.
NSS-806 s tailored, high-powered hemispheric beam provides simultaneous coverage of both Europe and the Americas, with virtually complete coverage of North, Central and South America, ensuring the maximum reach throughout Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets. The satellite has a line-up of over 270 channels and reaches almost 19 million homes across Latin America.
Eurovision’s Head of Procurement Paolo Pusterla expressed the EBU’s pleasure. “Eurovision has more than 60 years experience in delivering premium live content in a seamless, reliable and cost-effective way. We are delighted to extend our relationship with SES to allow us to provide our broadcast customers with the high-quality and flexible service they demand.” Pusterla continued: “The prime orbital location of NSS-806, with its comprehensive coverage over Latin America and Western Europe, is an ideal fit when it comes to broadcasting international sporting events in both SD and HD to enthusiastic sport fans in the region. We have full confidence that our trusted partner SES will enable us to solidify our ability to continuously broadcast sporting events around the world, year after year.
Vice President of Global Occasional Use for SES, Samantha McCloskey, added: “It is thrilling to see how our partnership with Eurovision has grown since the early days of 1999 when we provided the occasional 15 minute news feeds in North America. Today we can support them with fulltime and occasional use capacity for both contribution and distribution of sports and news across our global fleet of 51 satellites, and extensive teleport and fibre network.