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Satnews Daily
October 8th, 2014

SES' ASTRA 5B + Setanta Sports' (World) Cup Overfloweth... Two HD Channels For 13 Countries


[SatNews] Two sports channels will be broadcast in 13 countries in HD, and it couldn't have come a moment too soon with all of the upcoming competitions.

SES (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that international sports broadcaster Setanta Sports will be broadcasting two sports channels in high-definition (HD) to 13 countries; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, via SES’s ASTRA 5B satellite at the 31.5 degrees East orbital position.

Exclusive La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, European and World Cup Qualifiers, FA Cup, Capital One Cup, NHL, UFC, Formula 1, French Top 14 Rugby and World Championship Boxing are among the live premium sports content that will be broadcast on the two channels, Setanta Sports and Setanta Sports+.

Setanta Sports and Setanta Sports+ are now available on all key cable, DTH and IPTV platforms within the countries of the region.

"At Setanta Sports, we aim to bring TV viewers closer to the action on the ground through live broadcast of matches and races," said Dwyer McCaughley, Chief Executive Officer at Setanta Sports Eurasia. "SES’s track record in delivering high-quality satellite television, coupled with ASTRA 5B's extensive reach, is exactly what we need, and we look forward to establishing a long-term partnership with them." Learn more about Setanta Sports here http://www.setanta.com.

“Setanta’s ambition is to increase their worldwide viewership and bring exciting content to sports enthusiasts in this part of the world. We are pleased that they have chosen to work with SES,” said Norbert Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Commercial Europe, for SES.

The recently-launched ASTRA 5B at 31.5 degrees East strengthens SES's newest video neighborhood in Europe by extending geographic reach over Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The satellite is ideal for direct-to-home, direct-to-cable and contribution feeds to digital terrestrial television networks.