European public broadcasters sign multi-year capacity contracts with SES

SES signed multi-year capacity agreements totalling over 66 million euros in backlog with multiple public broadcasters in Europe throughout 2020.

The deals will enable millions of satellite TV households across Europe to continue watching SD and HD content delivered with a high level of 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 a global content connectivity provider.

With almost the entire global population being impacted by COVID-19, 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.

“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, chief executive officer 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.”