Intelsat has announced that NHK Global Media Services (G-Media), a subsidiary of NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation, has signed a multi-transponder, multi-year renewal and expansion contract with Intelsat. NHK will use G-Media’s backbone capacity on three Intelsat satellites, program turnaround services at three Intelsat teleports and Intelsat’s video fibre network to transmit the first global HD) news channel NHK World TV.
NHK World TV is an English-language channel broadcasting HD and Standard-Definition (SD) news and Asian lifestyle programming. The content will be gathered from NHK’s 30 HD-equipped news bureaux located around the world and Japan International Broadcasting Inc., a company 60% owned by NHK, will distribute the programming to millions of viewers in more than 80 countries.
G-Media will deliver the 24-hour free-to-air HD news and lifestyle channel from NHK’s new HD studio in Tokyo to cable headends and Direct-to-Home (DTH) service providers throughout the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia, utilizing Intelsat’s infrastructure, including its video neighbourhoods that provide access to thousands of cable and DTH communities throughout the world.
The same infrastructure will be used by G-Media to transmit NHK’s international Japanese language premium channel, NHK World Premium. For Asia-Pacific and the Americas, the programming will be distributed via the Intelsat 8 and the Intelsat 9 satellites located at 166º degrees East and 302 degrees East, respectively. For Europe, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the programming will be distributed via the Intelsat 10 satellite located at 68.5 degrees East. Turnaround services will occur at Intelsat’s Napa, California, Fuchsstadt, Germany and Ellenwood, Georgia teleports.
