Bucharest/Sofia/Luxembourg, 15 December 2010 - SES ASTRA, an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), announced today that it has won CME as anchor customer for its 31.5 degrees East orbital position.
CME is a leading vertically integrated media and entertainment company operating broadcasting, internet and TV content businesses in six Central and Eastern European countries with an aggregate population of approximately 50 million people. CME's television programmes in Romania and Bulgaria include PRO TV, PRO TV International, Acasa, PRO Cinema, Sport.ro and MTV Romania and bTV, bTV Cinema, bTV Comedy, Pro.bg and Ring.bg in Bulgaria.
CME has contracted one transponder on 31.5 degrees East on a long-term basis. It will use the capacity for video distribution to cable head-ends in Romania and Bulgaria, starting in January 2011. SES ASTRA will thereby gain access to millions of cable households in two of the biggest growth markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
31.5 degrees East is SES ASTRA's new orbital position for Central Europe and the Middle East. It complements SES ASTRA's very successful hotspot at the 23.5 degrees East orbital position and allows for further growth in the region.
Norbert Hölzle, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA, said: "With CME, we have won a premium customer for our 31.5 degrees East orbital position. The agreement will help us to significantly increase our reach in Romania and Bulgaria and shows that we have succeeded in establishing 31.5 degrees East as a new orbital hotspot for the region. We look forward to further strengthening our position and to contracting additional customers soon."
Claudiu Paraschiv, Head of TV Technology at CME, commented: "We are very pleased to further intensify our relationship with SES ASTRA. We have chosen SES ASTRA's 31.5 degrees East orbital position because it provides excellent coverage and technical reliability for our target markets."
About SES ASTRA
SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe. The satellite fleet currently comprises 16 satellites. The ASTRA satellite system delivers services to more than 125 million DTH and cable households and transmits more than 2,600 analogue and digital television and radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based multimedia, internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments and their agencies. With more than 180 High Definition (HD) channels on its main orbital positions, ASTRA represents the most important HDTV platform for Europe's leading broadcasters. The prime orbital positions for ASTRA are 19.2 degrees East, 28.2 degrees East, 23.5 degrees East, 5 degrees East and 31.5 degrees East. For further information: www.ses-astra.com
About SES
SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) wholly owns the market-leading satellite operators SES ASTRA and SES WORLD SKIES, and participations in Ciel in Canada, QuetzSat in Mexico as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a global fleet of 44 satellites. For further information: www.ses.com
About CME
CME is a leading vertically integrated media and entertainment company operating broadcasting, internet and TV content businesses in six Central and Eastern European countries with an aggregate population of approximately 50 million people. CME's television stations are located in Bulgaria (bTV, bTV Cinema, bTV Comedy, Pro.bg and Ring.bg), Croatia (Nova TV), Czech Republic (TV Nova, Nova Cinema, Nova Sport and MTV Czech), Romania (PRO TV, PRO TV International, Acasa, PRO Cinema, Sport.ro and MTV Romania), Slovakia (TV Markíza, Doma) and Slovenia (POP TV, Kanal A and POP Brio). CME is traded on the NASDAQ and the Prague Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CETV". www.cetv-net.com
For further information please contact:Markus Payer
SES ASTRA
+352 710 725 500
markus.payer@ses-astra.com
