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SES ASTRA satellite experiences technical anomaly, enters retirement

by Darren Murph posted Jan 19th 2009 at 4:22AM


Satellite failures aren't completely unheard of or anything, but it's always a sad day when a dutiful bird loses its wings. SES ASTRA's ASTRA 5A -- the former SIRIUS 2 operating at 31.5 degrees East -- has experienced a "technical anomaly" which has led to the end of the spacecraft's mission. The outfit has already switched a significant part of its traffic to another ASTRA satellite, with German cable operators specifically mentioned as businesses affected. It's tough to tell at this point what the eventual results from all of this will be, but here's hoping it doesn't set back any potential HD expansion.

Satellite TV turns 20 in the UK

by Darren Murph posted Dec 11th 2008 at 11:19PM


You know, we could just aimlessly fire off unnecessary congratulatory remarks about the 20th birthday of satellite TV in the UK, but instead, we'll use this as a launching point for somewhat of a rant. A score ago, the ASTRA A1 lifted off in order to eventually provide direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV service to "small" dishes across Europe. Today, we're simply baffled and appalled by the lack of progress. 20 years later, Americans can tune into well over 100 linear high-def channels via satellite, yet Europeans are still wondering if HD is just a figment of someone's imagination. What gives, Europe? Why the refusal to provide your people with the next level in quality programming? The source content is already out there, and we're sure DISH Network and DirecTV would be happy to share contact information if need be. We're happy for your 20 year party and all, but who throws a shindig in 2008 without at least a few dozen high-def stations on tap?

MTVNHD headed to France via SES ASTRA

by Richard Lawler posted Dec 2nd 2008 at 8:38AM

MTVNHD -- the international variant of MHD Palladia -- promised to continue its quest for European domination, and France is next to go, but not on Numericable. Hooking up with SES ASTRA's satellite capacity, the network's bringing music and children's programming to HD CanalSat subscribers at some unspecified future date. so it could be today, tomorrow, next week or later but yes, France, you will soon be ignoring the same extremely limited content loop others have been experiencing for some time now.

TNTSAT expands reach in France, going HD in February 2009

by Darren Murph posted Nov 22nd 2008 at 3:07PM

TNTSAT, a digital terrestrial free-TV offer via the ASTRA satellite system, has just found its way into 750,000 domiciles across the beautiful French countryside. For those unaware, the service targets regions where TVs cannot receive signals from terrestrial transmitters, and it offers viewers the "full range of French digital terrestrial free-TV channels over the ASTRA satellites, allowing a 100% coverage of France." But that's not all that's being announced today: TNTSAT HD is being launched on February 15, 2009 alongside the launch of free DTT channels in high-def being available on ASTRA; those eager to get a jump on things can expect around ten more SD / HD TNTSAT receivers to become available before the year's end. And to think, we heard that France wasn't exactly rushing to adopt HD back in May -- guess there's nothing like a little kick in the pants to get things going.

ASTRA sees 30% increase in HD channels over three months

by Darren Murph posted Oct 20th 2008 at 9:47PM


We usually try to skim right over meaningless gloating from companies, but ASTRA's latest back-patting is actually something worth a round of golf claps. As you all well know, Europe suffers from a comparative dearth of HD options when eyed beside the USA, but it seems as if that disparity is fading. Over the past three months, the ASTRA satellite system has increased the amount of HD channels it carries to 55 -- a 30% boost. The bird beams out offerings for carriers like Sky (UK), CanalSat (France), Premiere (Germany), Digital+ (Spain), Viasat (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland), Canal Digitaal (Netherlands), etc. According to Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA, the "rapid growth in the number of HD channels clearly shows that HDTV is taking off in Europe." We hope you're right, sir.

SES ASTRA tardily trumpets 12 channels of HD Olympics across Europe

by Darren Murph posted Aug 19th 2008 at 9:58AM


There's nothing here that wasn't apparent already, but SES ASTRA is just now getting around to boasting about a dozen HD channels that it's hosting to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Ready for an exhaustive list? The channels broadcasting the Olympics in HD include for the UK, BBC HD, for France, France 2 HD and CANAL+ HD, for Germany, ANIXE HD, for Poland, TVP HD, for the Slovak Republic, STV3, for the Netherlands, 1 HD, for Belgium een HD, for Spain, TELEDEPORTE HD, for Sweden, Viasat HD and SVT HD and for Austria, ORF HD. So yeah, if you somehow missed this for the first week of the Games, at least you're clued in now.

[Image courtesy of Beijing 2008]

ARTE HD launching on SES Astra July 1

by Richard Lawler posted Jun 26th 2008 at 3:31PM

SES ASTRA's at it again, this time adding ARTE HD's German programming starting July 1. Francophones can look forward to their edition in HD at a later date, but for now this brings the total number of HD channels on ASTRA up to 35. Unfortunately there's not a cool sports event tie-in like Euro 2008 for this launch but fans of culture and the arts (yeah, sure) should have plenty to check out in HD.

ORF HD launches on SES Astra May 1

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 21st 2008 at 7:46AM

SES Astra doesn't seem to have trouble filling Sat.1 and ProSieben HD's transponder, its latest HD channel is German speaking broadcaster ORF HD. Scheduled to kick off May 1, it should offer all of ORF1's HD content including all 31 UEFA EURO 2008 matches.That's a good number, since SES Astra and SES Sirius now offer a total of 31 HD channels via satellite including BSkyB, BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, Canal+, M6 and others, with plans to reach 100 channels by 2010. Astra and ORF will team up on marketing the new channel and could possibly add more HD programming in the future, which should hopefully bring the end to any more HD contraction stories out of Europe.

Canal Digitaal gears up to launch its first HD channels in Dutch market

by Darren Murph posted Mar 11th 2008 at 6:03PM


As the European HD changes continue to roll out, along comes news that Canal Digitaal is getting set to launch its first HD channels in the Dutch market. Details are fairly scarce at the moment, but we are hearing that National Geographic HD and Discovery Channel HD will indeed be landing in April, and negotiations are still ongoing to throw Dutch Classic Music Channel BravaHDTV into that mix. Reportedly, the HD tier will cost a stiff €9.95 ($15) per month after the first free month that's provided to all that wish to accept, but here's to hoping that becomes a bargain as more channels are added in.

[Thanks, Richard]

Spain gets first HD channel on ASTRA: Sogecable's Canal+ HD

by Darren Murph posted Feb 10th 2008 at 6:19AM


Nearly 15 months after ASTRA first promised to bring HD to Spain, the nation's first high-definition channel has gone live. Canal+ HD -- which is part of Sogecable's digital pay-TV package Digital+ -- has launched on ASTRA and promises to deliver "premium movies, series and sports events such as the 2008 European Soccer Championship whose 31 matches will be broadcast all in HD." To promote (and likely celebrate) the occasion, SES ASTRA and Sogecable have entered into a partnership to trumpet its new offer, which will include "joint commercial and marketing activities for retailers, customers and the TV viewers." Counting the addition of Canal+ HD, ASTRA now broadcasts some 29 HD channels across Europe, and of course, it couldn't close out a press release without boldly proclaiming that it "expects to transmit 100 HD channels" by the end of 2010. Trying to keep up with the Joneses, we presume?

Astra touts boost in HD channel offerings, expects more to follow

by Darren Murph posted Feb 18th 2007 at 3:03PM

It wasn't too awfully long ago that Astra was tooting its own horn about 20 extra HD channels hitting the European front, but not only did the company maintain its word, it exceeded expectations as well. In a recent announcement, the satellite provider boasted that it is now broadcasting 26 high-definition channels across Europe, including BSkyB, Discovery, National Geographic, and The History Channel from the UK, CANAL+, M6, and TF1 from France and Premiere, and ProSieben, Sat1, and Anixe from Germany. As if this weren't good enough (it never is), Astra is also planning to match DirecTV's recent claim and offer up 100 HD channels -- but it'll likely be closer to 2010 before Europe reaches the coveted milestone.

Astra promises 20 additional HD channels for Europe, Spain

by Darren Murph posted Nov 27th 2006 at 6:03PM

While receiving new HD channels on American soil is certainly exciting news, we get extra giddy each time an overseas destination gets struck by HD goodness. While Poland just received another boost to its HD lineup, Europe and Spain are now set to receive 20 additional HD channels of their own. According to Ferdinand Kayser, president and general manager of Astra, Europeans will receive a bevy of new HD channels such as "Discovery, ProSieben, BBC, Sky, SAT 1, Premiere, Canal Sat and Anixe" before the year's end. While dates aren't as certain on the Spanish front, Astra still plans to deliver these same channels to Spain in the near future, and also stated that the Spanish High Definition Forum is alive and well within their country. Now, when can we North American chaps expect a similar announcement?




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