Eutelsat has announced the successful launch of Sat.tv, the satellite operator’s enhanced electronic programme guide for free-to air channels.
Sat.tv is already live at the 7/8° West position, where it’s serving over 56 million Arabic-speaking homes across the Middle East and North Africa and is being progressively rolled out across some of Eutelsat’s other video neighbourhoods.
Commenting on the launch, Philippe Oliva, Chief Commercial Officer of Eutelsat Communications said: “We are delighted at the successful launch of Sat.tv and the considerable success it is already having amongst leading broadcasters at our 7/8° West position, where it is increasing audience engagement for our broadcast customers and significantly enhancing the free-to-air user experience for the millions of viewers at this position.”
The EPG is available through a selection of free-to-air satellite receivers and gives visibility of the complete channel line up, along with a preview of all the programmes to be aired, filtered by genre. In a first for the FTA market the guide also includes programme thumbnails and there is now a fixed channel numbering.
Serge Schick, International Development Director and Commercial Resources at France Media Monde, commented for France 24: “Sat.tv is the perfect tool for us to fully leverage our massive audience at Eutelsat’s 7/8°W orbital position. The channel numbering system logically positions us with other news content and enables us to communicate on a single channel number so that our viewers can easily find us.”
Channels are presented with their name, logo, and channel genre, written in the local language (including Arabic script), giving viewers an easy, graphic-based navigation.
