The new pan-European pay-TV platform bobbles.tv has contracted SES capacity and MX1 services to launch a new global TV platform for expats in Europe.
Viewers will be able to subscribe to DTH, OTT or both packages. The entertainment service will offer linear content via DTH broadcasting and/or the option for users to watch content at their own time using time-shifting and catch-up features via an OTT platform.
Under the terms of the agreement, SES and MX1, its newly created media services company, will provide DTH and OTT back-end services, as well as distribution services via satellites and content delivery networks.
Bobbles.tv will start by launching two content packages – Chinese and Indonesian – via Astra 19.2 degrees East, and expects to launch more Asian packages during the second half of this year.
Commenting on the agreement, Arnold C Kulbatzki, CEO of Bobbles, said: “We are delighted to be working with a global player like SES. Not only will SES’s prime orbital position of 19.2 degrees East and MX1’s reliable and high-quality services enable bobbles to reach the 14 million non-European expats and communities living in Europe, but also a continued relationship will allow us to expand our reach globally”.
Ferdinand Kayser, CCO at SES, added: “Through our global fleet of over 50 satellites, we can support bobbles.tv’s plan to connect expats around the world via entertainment. Today, many expats have to resort to watching poor quality video content on the Internet. With SES’s extensive technical reach, this new TV service will allow more expats to watch better quality picture content anytime they want”.
