Czech music channel Ocko to cease off 19E

[Analoguesat]

Betzdorf (Luxembourg), 31 October 2007. – SES ASTRA, an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), announced today that it has signed a contract with the Czech music channel Óčko based in Prague to be broadcast from ASTRA’s orbital position 23.5° East. The transmission has started on 30 October. The current free-to-air transmission from ASTRA’s orbital slot 19.2° East will end on 28 February 2008.

“The switch of Óčko from 19.2° East to 23.5° East is further evidence that we are successfully building this orbital slot into an important position for Direct-to-Home (DTH) reception in Europe, especially for the Benelux and Central and Eastern Europe markets,” said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. “With Sky Link from Slovakia and CS Link from the Czech Republic, we already have two very successful regional bouquets on this orbital position. We are certain that the increasingly attractive neighbourhood at 23.5° East will attract other program operators and channels and create a very positive dynamic.”
“Óčko was the first Czech free-to-air channel broadcasting on ASTRA. With the switch to 23.5° East it is now part of the most important satellite platform in Czech Republic. We are very pleased to support the further development of this orbital position and look forward to seeing our audience grow,” Jirí Balvín, General Director of Óčko, said.
SES ASTRA had recently announced that it has moved its satellite ASTRA 1E from 19.2° East to 23.5° East. Specific satellite dish devices – DUO LNBs – allow the simultaneous reception from both orbital positions. The new uplink facilities of Óčko can also serve other local TV and radio channels for a satellite transmission.
The new transmission parameters of Óčko on 23.5° East are
Satellite: ASTRA 1E
Transponder: 3.111
Download signal frequency: 10861.75 MHz
Pol: Horizontal
Symbol rate: 22 Ms/s
Fec: 5/6


SES press release