AsiaSat 5 is part of the EBU’s global content delivery network which distributes entertainment, culture and music content, and live sports and news events such as the Olympics, World Cup, and the UEFA Champions League from Europe and across Asia. The EBU will continue to use AsiaSat 5 to serve its members and media organizations with broadcast services, while the capacity expansion is set to boost its ability to meet the growing demand for content distribution in the Asia region.

“Our relationship with AsiaSat has been a long and fruitful one, and we are pleased to further strengthen this valued partnership through these renewed and new contracts. AsiaSat has been and remains a steadfast partner for EBU. We look forward to continuing to work with AsiaSat to provide professional and high-quality services to the media community in a reliable and cost-effective way,” EBU Network Director Graham Warren said in a statement.

The deal was much needed considering AsiaSat’s recent performance in terms of leased transponders has struggled. While the company has signed a slew of deals with broadcasters this year, it has still been a tough year. In its half year results to the end of June earlier this year, the company said the total number of transponders leased or sold as of June 30 decreased to 102 from 108 as at the end of last year, primarily due to the early termination of a contract with a customer.

But, the operator can be encouraged by a number of capacity deals with broadcasters signed since June, particularly in the August/September timeframe. In September, AsiaSat signed a deal with Raajje Television of the Republic of Maldives, which signed a lease agreement for C-band capacity on AsiaSat 5 to distribute a Dhivehi language news channel across the country and the Asia-Pacific region. August was a particularly busy month for the operator, as it signed a contract to broadcast two free-to-air satellite channels, ‘Dubai TV’ and ‘Dubai Sports’ throughout the Asia-Pacific region on AsiaSat 5. Also, AsiaSat hooked up a new deal with regional broadcaster, Channel NewsAsia, is continuing its distribution carriage on AsiaSat 3S. MCN International, which operates Channel NewsAsia, has renewed its contract to beam its signals in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company is also planning to bring a lot of new capacity online in the next 18 months. AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 are scheduled for launch in the first half of 2014 and will bring additional capacity to its fleet once in operation.