The Altice group is on the brink of launching a new DTH platform for France, using the Eutelsat 5 West A satellite.
A year ago, Altice/SFR signed exclusive distribution contracts with Discovery and NBC Universal with the view to launch a DTH platform alongside its cable TV and IPTV business in France to compete with the CanalSat offer from the Canal+ Group.
According to Telesatellite, a number of channels from Altice, NBC Universal and Discovery France have now started broadcasting on satellite including Altice Studio, 13ème Rue, Syfy Universal France, E!Entertainment, BFM sport, BFM Paris, BFM Business, i24 News (in French), My Cuisine, and four Discovery channels, Discovery Channel, Discovery Family, Discovery Science and Discovery Investigation.
There are already a large number of French channels available from this orbital position, including the free-to-view Fransat offer, as well as paid-for option such as OCS, Bein Sports, SFR Sports and Groupe AB’s BIS TV offer. With Fransat, viewers in France have access to all terrestrial channels from the TNT network.
