Nigeria's first indigenous pay-TV operator to begin delivering 20 premium channels direct to consumers over New Skies’ high-powered NSS-7 satellite
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, May 3, 2004 – New Skies Satellites N.V. (AEX, NYSE: NSK), the global satellite communications company, today announced that Nigeria’s first indigenous pay-TV operator, Frontage Satellite Television (FSTV), has selected New Skies’ powerful NSS-7 satellite to launch a new direct-to-home (DTH) television service.
The service will launch commercially this month, initially broadcasting 20 channels of premium news, sports and entertainment programming from Africa, Asia, Europe and America. Content will be aggregated by Kingston inmedia in the United Kingdom, which will uplink the programming to NSS-7 for deliver direct to more than 20,000 current subscribers via a 54 MHz transponder on the satellite’s high-powered West Africa Ku-band beam.
Jean-Pierre Kabanda, New Skies’ director of sales for Africa, said: “As a 100 percent Nigerian-owned broadcaster, FSTV knows what kind of programming Nigerians want to watch and New Skies is delighted to have been chosen to deliver it to them. Our NSS-7 satellite offers some of the most powerful coverage of West Africa available today and has already launched a number of DTH platforms in the region. NSS-7 will allow FSTV to deliver top-quality international and domestic programming to the most economical and smallest-possible reception equipment.”
Reuben Famuyibo, CEO of FSTV, said: “New Skies has a solid reputation and strong presence in Nigeria, having committed the most advanced satellite resources to the country as well as to the entire African continent. With NSS-7’s Ku-beam highly focused on West Africa and Nigeria specifically, FSTV has the most state-of-the-art satellite platform to launch what will be Nigeria’s leading pay-TV service.”
FSTV’s channel lineup includes programming from BBC World, Big Screen Africa, CNBC, CNN, Discovery Civilization, E Entertainment, EWTN, Fox News, FS Africa, FS Entertainment, FS Miracle Channel, FS Movies, FS Sports 1, God Channel, HGTV, MTA, MTV Base, Nickelodeon and Sony AXN.
About NSS-7
NSS-7 operates from 338 degrees east longitude and features 49 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz-equivalent). Eleven high-powered coverage beams broadcast video, Internet and data traffic throughout Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.
About FSTV
FSTV is a new television service, providing direct-to-home DVB television programming for the Nigerian market. It is the brainchild of Reuben Famuyibo, chief executive of FSTV, and a leading figure in Nigerian business and politics. The initial launch of the service will comprise 20 channels, of which four will be dedicated FSTV productions - news, sports and general entertainment - with the remainder being premium-quality pass-through channels. The service will initially be supported by subscription, using a novel pay-as-you-go scratch card system, with limited advertiser support planned as the service penetration grows. Ultimately, up to 30 channels are planned to complete the service.
About New Skies Satellites (AEX, NYSE: NSK)
New Skies Satellites is one of only four fixed satellite communications companies with truly global satellite coverage, offering video, data voice and Internet communications services to a range of telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations, Internet service providers and government entities around the world. New Skies has five satellites in orbit, ground facilities around the world and one additional spacecraft under construction. The company also has secured certain rights to make use of additional orbital positions for future growth. New Skies is headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C.
