[Satellite TODAY Insider 02-17-11] SES Astra and Eutelsat Communications continue to ramp up their capacity market rivalry, as both companies secured long-term deals with major broadcasters in Europe, the FSS operators announced Feb 16.
    Eutelsat signed a 12-year contract with Italian broadcaster Mediaset for a transponder, which will increase Mediaset’s Hot Bird resources to five transponders to support Italy’s nationwide transition into a fully digital broadcasting environment. Eutelsat said the capacity primarily would be used to address Mediaset’s requirement to deliver channels to its network of digital terrestrial television (DTT) transmitters.
    Mediaset has been working to monetize the Italian pay-TV market, where a lack of cable operators has created competition between DTT and IPTV offerings. In August, Mediaset announced it was launching a service, Premium Cam, that includes a device the size of a credit card that can be inserted to televisions with integrated decoders to give viewers access to Mediaset premium content and services without any external connection. At the time of its release, Mediaset claimed Premium Cam was the first device in the Italian market that could be used to access pay-TV in HD without a decoder.
    "With resources secured at the Hot Bird position and on Atlantic Bird to deliver DTT multiplexes to our rebroadcast towers and for live coverage of news, sports and entertainment events, Eutelsat’s satellites are a core component of our network infrastructure, supporting our activities today and into the future," Mediaset Head of TV Transmission Services Antonio Preti said in a statement.
    Separately, SES Astra concluded a multi-transponder, multi-year agreement with German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF to secure satellite capacity for the transmission of HD programs. The long-term agreement is for a total of five transponders at Astra’s orbital position 19.2 degrees East.
    The capacity will be brought into use in two steps starting with three transponders in May 2012 followed by two more transponders in January 2014 immediately after the termination of ARD/ZDF’s analog transmissions. The formal approval of the agreement will follow the still outstanding endorsement by one of the regional broadcasters, which is a member of the ARD.

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