SES has signed a multi-year capacity agreement with SPI International/Filmbox Channels Group to support the company’s expansion and distribute its HD channels in Latin America.
SPI will extend its reach thanks to the C-band capacity of NSS-806, which is located at 47.5 degrees West and covers the entire region in one single beam, reaching about 90% of all pay-TV subscribers.
It will broadcast its premium content of up to 10 HD channels from the US – FightBox HD, FashionBox HD, DocuBox HD, Fast&FunBox HD, 360TuneBox HD, FilmBox Art House, Gametoon, NatureVision TV, Erox HD and Eroxxx HD – to cable operators and DTH providers in the region.
The SPI channels are eventually expected to move to SES-14, which is scheduled for launch this year and will replace NSS-806.
Commenting on the development, Jurandir Pitsch, VP sales for South Latin America at SES, said: “We are very pleased to start this relationship with SPI, and we are looking forward to bringing its HD content to new audiences.
“SPI will benefit from NSS-806’s high penetration of DTH and cable head-ends in Latin America. This partnership demonstrates that satellite remains the ideal infrastructure to deliver high picture quality content to a large audience, either directly or by feeding cable head-ends”.
Loni Farhi, president of SPI International/Filmbox Channels Group, added: “For over 25 years, we have been a leading supplier of theatrical films and television programming in the international market and, with SES expertise, we will be able to get closer to our target audience in Latin America.
“As one of the largest aggregators of native Ultra HD content in the world, we expect that in the near future our partnership with SES will enable us to expand our HD offering in Latin America with content in the new TV format.”
