SES Platform Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), today announced it has entered into a long-term partnership with India’s leading media conglomerate, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), to launch a new free-to-air (FTA) television channel in Germany in both SD and HD by mid-year via SES satellites at Astra 19.2 degrees East. Once launched, Zee One can be received by 18 million households in Germany, as well as 2.5 million German-speaking households in Austria and Switzerland.
This new channel for the German market will bring high-quality Bollywood films produced by the Indian film industry, as well as popular Indian television series, to German screens for the first time, 24 hours a day.
Under the agreement, SES Platform Services, a leading technical media service provider for the innovative distribution of video content, will be providing satellite capacity and ground services, including encoding, multiplexing and uplinking from its site in Munich-Unterfoehring.
Christoph Muehleib, Vice President Sales Europe at SES Platform Services, said, “We are very pleased to be part of this exciting endeavour. Germany is the largest FTA market in Europe. With a reach of 18 million in Germany, we serve the majority of TV homes, plus millions of German-speaking viewers throughout Europe.”
Neeraj Dhingra, CEO Europe at Asia TV Ltd. (Zee TV), said, “We are looking forward to the launch of Zee One into one of the world’s most important television markets. As yet, the Bollywood genre is still barely represented, so enhancing Germany’s entertainment offerings by introducing an entirely new genre will transform the viewers’ TV experience.”
For further information please contact:
Markus Payer
Corporate Communications
Tel. +352 710 725 500
Markus.Payer@ses.com
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About SES
SES (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of more than 50 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.
SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the satellite industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements.
SES holds a participation in O3b Networks, a next generation satellite network combining the reach of satellite with the speed of fibre. Further information available at: www.ses.com.
About SES Platform Services
SES Platform Services GmbH brings the highest quality audiovisual content – linear and non – linear- on any device, in any format, through any distribution channel. SES Platform Services supports television stations, production companies and platform operators with a comprehensive portfolio of services in the implementation of their business models.
All services are focused on the digital value chains of its customers. With more than 500 satellite, cable or Internet channels and thousands of hours of video content that is delivered to video on demand platforms monthly, SES Platform Services is a leading technical media service provider in Europe.
The company serves more than 150 customers, including public and private broadcasting groups, pay-TV providers, rights owners, cable operators and large enterprises. Further information available at: www.ses-ps.com.
About The Essel Group
ZEEL is part of India’s diversified conglomerate The Essel Group, founded by the internationally known Dr. Subhash Chandra who is the Group´s Chairman. For many years, this conglomerate has been extremely successful in a number of sectors, the Essel Group being India´s largest TV network and the largest direct-to-home enterprise in Asia. The company, which is headquartered in Mumbai, is among the top 10 Indian infrastructure providers. Kidzee, the largest pre-school network in India, also belongs to the Essel Group. The company was started in 1976 as a trading and export firm. Since then, the Group has grown continuously in all fields of activity and meanwhile employs 10,000 people.
About Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL)
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) is one of India’s leading television media and entertainment companies. It is amongst the largest producers and aggregators of Hindi programming in the world, with an extensive library housing over 210,000 hours of television content. With rights to more than 3,500 movie titles from foremost studios and of iconic film stars, ZEE houses the world’s largest Hindi film library. Through its strong presence worldwide, ZEE entertains over 959 million viewers across 169 countries.
Pioneer of television entertainment industry in India, ZEE’s well-known brands include Zee TV, &tv, Zee Cinema, Zee Action, Zee Classic, &pictures, Zee Anmol, Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action, Zee Cafe, Zee Studio, Zee Salaam, Zing, ETC Bollywood, Zee Q and Zindagi. The company also has a strong offering in the regional language domain with channels such as Zee Marathi, Zee Talkies, Zee Bangla, Zee Bangla Cinema, Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada and Zee Tamil. The company’s HD offerings include Zee TV HD, Zee Cinema HD, &tv HD, Zee Café HD, Zee Studio HD, &pictures HD, Ten HD and Ten Golf HD. ZEE and its affiliate companies have leading presence across the media value chain including television broadcasting, cable distribution, direct-to-home satellite services, digital media and print media amongst others. ZEEL also operates its own digital platforms with OTT offerings on Ditto TV and india.com. More information about ZEE and its businesses is available on www.zeetelevision.com
