The Hague, June 1st, 2010 - Positioned to play a key role in one of sports' biggest spectacles, SES WORLD SKIES, a division of SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), today announced it has signed agreements with Eurovision, a division of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), to distribute the 2010 FIFA World CupTM to football fans around the world.
As part of the agreement, Eurovision has enlisted SES WORLD SKIES' NSS-5, NSS-806 and AMC-9 satellites to enable broadcasters across the globe to provide extensive coverage of the 2010 FIFA World CupTM. The NSS-5 spacecraft is expected to deliver the lion's share of World Cup football to audiences throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The hybrid C/Ku-band satellite was moved in February to its 340 degrees East orbital slot in preparation for the big event in South Africa, following the successful launches of NSS-9 and NSS-12 earlier last year.
NSS-806 will play an instrumental role in support of broadcasters' occasional use and reporting requirements from a variety of cities and towns hosting World Cup football matches. The AMC-9 satellite will deliver football action and analysis for the first time to viewers throughout Mexico. SES' teleport in Betzdorf, Luxembourg, will serve as Eurovision's primary downlink and backup uplink for the world feed ultimately distributed over NSS-5 and Eurovision's global fibre network. Eurovision will utilize the operator's teleport facility in Manassas, Virginia, for onward distribution of the World Cup coverage via NSS-806 for Latin America and AMC-9 for Mexico.
"We work closely with SES WORLD SKIES to bring top quality sports events to the world broadcasting community. SES has demonstrated it is a highly reliable partner in our mission to put the most prestigious sports programming exactly where broadcasters need it in a seamless, reliable and cost-effective way," states Stefan Kuerten, Director of Eurovision Operations. "SES WORLD SKIES consistently anticipates our broadcast and distribution needs and meets our challenges with strategic solutions that work effectively and globally", Kuerten added, referring to SES WORLD SKIES' repositioning of NSS-5 ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
"Our global sales team thoroughly understands what world class broadcasting organizations like Eurovision need to ensure success at the pinnacle of sporting events," said Samantha McCloskey, Vice President of Global Occasional Use and Special Events for SES WORLD SKIES. "The wonderful collaboration and trust which has been developed over many years between Eurovision and SES WORLD SKIES is something that we value deeply and are proud to have helped establish in our organization. It is that trust and mutual reliability that has provided the basis of our many successful special event operations around the world including Beijing, Vancouver, Tokyo, Brazil and Iraq", added McCloskey.
About NSS-5
In February 2010, NSS-5 was relocated to 340 degrees East to provide new capacity over the Atlantic Ocean Region. The deployment of the satellite is part of an overall plan to serve the 2010 World Cup televised coverage and a broad range of ongoing connectivity applications from North and South America to the Middle East and Europe. The satellite was originally designed for the Atlantic Ocean region, offering coverage of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, Latin America and Central Asia.
About Eurovision
Eurovision is a department of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the largest association of national broadcasters in the world. Eurovision operates a global fibre and satellite platform dedicated to the delivery of top sports and news events to the international broadcast and media market. A community of more than 1,000 broadcasters around the world is directly connected to the Eurovision platform.
For further information please contact:
marketing@eurovision.netAbout SES WORLD SKIES
SES WORLD SKIES is the new division of SES, created through the combination of the former SES NEW SKIES and SES AMERICOM. The company operates a fleet of 27 satellites - part of the 44 spacecraft of the SES group - delivering services as diverse as television distribution and broadcast, internet access, data transmission and business and government communications to customers worldwide. SES WORLD SKIES currently has four additional satellites under construction. The company's unique customer-focused approach allows it to offer the best satellite solutions for a host of business and government requirements, with a view toward helping customers meet their short-term challenges and realize their longer-term goals. SES WORLD SKIES comprises a world-class team of customer care and technical professionals located in Princeton (NJ), The Hague, Washington, D.C., Singapore, Beijing, London, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Sydney, Accra and Johannesburg. Visit
www.ses.com for more information.
About SES
SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) wholly owns the market-leading satellite operators SES ASTRA and SES WORLD SKIES and participations in Ciel in Canada, QuetzSat in Mexico as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a global fleet of 44 satellites in 27 orbital locations. For further information:
www.ses.comFor further information please contact:
Yves Feltes
Media Relations
SES WORLD SKIES
Tel: 352 710 725 311
Yves.Feltes@ses.com
