News

Nearly 1 million homes in the Benelux countries receive channels from ASTRA 23.5°E, now established for six years as a DTH satellite position, according to the annual market research study "Satellite Monitor" from SES, the operator of the ASTRA satellites.

Entertainment and celebrity channel, E! is now available in high definition to viewers in Germany and Austria from the Sky Deutschland pay-TV platform. The female-skewed channel mixes locally produced shows, such as Fulminant, reporting on German events and celebrities, with international shows such as Live from the Red Carpet, Fashion Police, and The Saturdays – The Way Up.

Research by SES (operator of the ASTRA satellites) has shown that the switch-off of analogue satellite TV for Germany in April 2012 sent dish owners flocking to digital satellite TV, and there are now more German satellite viewers than ever.

Non Stop People, a new channel broadcasting as part of the French CanalSat platform, promises to apply the model of CNN to the world of celebrities and entertainment.

German pop and rock video channel, Deluxe Music has launched a high definition version as part of the HD+ platform of German HD channels on ASTRA 19.2°E. Deluxe Music HD is the 15th channel to join HD+, alongside Comedy Central HD, DMAX HD, kabel eins HD, N24 HD, Nickelodeon HD, ProSieben HD, RTL HD, RTL II HD, SUPER RTL HD, Sat.1 HD, sixx HD, SPORT1 HD, Tele 5 HD, and Vox HD.

A new free-to-air entertainment channel from private German TV group, ProSeibenSat.1 Media is launching in the New Year. Spun off from the broadcaster’s flagship channel, Sat.1 and building on the success of women’s channel sixx, Sat.1 Gold is aimed at women, particularly those in their ‘golden years’ of 49-64, and will show exclusively German productions including classic series, talk shows, documentaries and films. Sat.1 Gold will start on January 17.

Canal Digitaal Satelliet, the DTH satellite platform for the Netherlands, is now promoting channels from three different ASTRA satellite positions, including channels from the UK’s BBC, ITV and others. Subscribers to Canal Digitaal’s Top Brits and TopHD Brits packages receive a special TripleSat dish which, as well as providing simultaneous reception of Canal Digitaal’s encrypted channels from ASTRA 19.2°E and ASTRA 23.5°E, also offers reception of over 80 additional channels, including five HDTV channels, broadcast free-to-air from ASTRA 28.2°E for the UK and Ireland.

Visit www.canaldigitaal.nl for more information

German home shopping channel Pearl TV is now available in high definition by satellite. Broadcasting 24/7 from studios in Buggingen, Pearl TV offers diverse products from jewellery to gadgets, and joins QVC, HSE24 and Juwelo TV in free-to-air HDTV home shopping on ASTRA 19.2°E.

Visit www.pearl.de for more information

The first French-language channel for fans of fighting sports has launched as part of the CanalSat France satellite pay TV platform. Kombat Sport provides coverage of live events, documentaries and magazine shows on boxing, Muay Thai, kick-boxing, sumo, judo, karate, Capoeira and other martial arts. Kombat Sport broadcasts 24 hours a day in high definition in the CanalSat Panorama basic package, from the ASTRA 19.2°E satellite position.

 Visit www.kombatsport.lu for more information

Sony will launch the first mass market ultra-high definition TV set in the US within the next two months. The massive 84in XBR-84X900 can display pictures of up to 3,840 x 2,160 pixels (known as the ‘4k’ format) or about four times the resolution of current 1080p HD TVs, and is expected to cost about US$25,000 (€19,000).