German home-shopping broadcaster QVC Deutschland will distribute its main channel in Ultra HD on Astra (19.2 degrees East from the turn of the year.
Under the 10-year agreement announced by Astra satellite operator SES, QVC will utilise additional capacity for its upgrade to Ultra HD and rely on SES’s wholly-owned subsidiary MX1 for encoding in HEVC format and uplink services.
QVC is also renewing capacity for distribution of the channel in SD and HD format on Astra for several years.
QVC UHD marks the seventh channel broadcasting in ultra-high definition in Germany on Astra.
“As we carry the largest line-up of HD and UHD channels worldwide, it is part of our DNA to help our customers bring the best possible picture quality to their audience. We are very excited to continue working with QVC for its transmission not only in SD and in HD, but now also in Ultra HD,” said Ferdinand Kayser, CEO of SES Video. “This agreement clearly underlines the ability of SES Video, augmented by MX1, to offer its customers a full suite of video solutions.”
Mathias Bork, CEO of QVC Germany, added: “We want to offer our customers the best possible shopping experience through our various sales channels. Our goal is for viewers to receive our TV programming in the best possible picture quality – and broadcasting in Ultra HD confirms this claim.”
