SES Astra has announced that its 100% owned subsidiary Astra Platform Services (APS) has opened a new playout centre in Unterföhring near Munich.
With the new centre, one of the most important and modern technical hubs of its kind in Europe, APS will significantly expand its capabilities to provide broadcasters and production houses around the world with state-of-the-art playout and platform services.
Within the past years, APS has significantly extended its portfolio with additional services such as Digital Asset Management and has expanded outside Europe. The company today serves the operation of 290 TV programmes, with 37 in HD, 42 radio channels and 59 data services. The new playout centre will complement the existing premises which continue to operate as a physical back-up.
Wilfried Urner, CEO of Astra Platform Services, said in a statement: ”In the past years our customer base has doubled. We have entered new markets such as South Africa and added new services such as Digital Asset Management. The new playout centre will open up further growth opportunities for our fast growing company, and allow us to further develop our product portfolio and expand geographically. It therefore represents a very important milestone for our international growth strategy.”