SES Astra Helps Launch Spanish HD Channel Launch

[Satellite Today – 2-8-08] Digital+, a Spanish direct-to-home platform, has launched its first high-definition (HD) channel on satellite, operators SES Astra announced Feb. 8.
    Canal+ HD, is being broadcast via Astra on 19.2° East. SES Astra announced in October an agreement with Sogecable, which owns Digital+, for the use of an additional transponder for digital TV and HDTV. With that agreement, Sogecable has secured a total of 11 transponders on the Astra Satellite System on a long-term basis.
    SES Astra now transmits 29 HD channels, and by the end of 2010, the satellite operator expects to transmit 100 HD channels.