The Hague, The Netherlands, August 20, 2002 – New Skies Satellites N.V. (AEX, NYSE: NSK), the global satellite communications company, today announced that Pramer, a wholly owned unit of Liberty Media and one of Latin America’s largest cable programmers, has expanded its capacity on the NSS-806 video neighborhood.
The additional capacity will be used to support Pramer’s international expansion plans, allowing the Argentine cable programmer to reach new markets and new audiences as well as introduce new channel offerings. The NSS-806 satellite is one of Latin America’s leading video neighborhoods, broadcasting more than 120 video channels to cable systems throughout the region as well as Western Europe.
“As we were identifying opportunities for growth during these difficult times in Argentina, we chose to expand our relationship with New Skies because of their significant expertise in program distribution and because the NSS-806 neighborhood offers excellent penetration into the region’s headends,” said Cristian Soto Arriaga, Pramer’s vice president of technical operations. “We have every confidence in New Skies’ ability to support our expansion efforts and help us achieve a greater regional presence and, as a result, more geographic revenue diversity.”
“This agreement ensures that NSS-806 will continue to be home to all of Pramer’s premier entertainment programming through the next decade,” said Dolores Martos, New Skies’ vice president of sales for Latin America. “Pramer’s expanded presence in the NSS-806 video neighborhood guarantees the satellite will remain one of Latin America’s most attractive platforms for television distribution.”
With the additional capacity, the NSS-806 satellite now distributes more than 30 television signals for Pramer, including: América, Magic Kids, Europa-Europa, P+E, MusicCountry, Hallmark, Plus Satelital, CVN, América Sports, Formar, Utilísima Satelital, Music 21, Canal(á), America repetidora, USA Network, Azul Limítrofe, Azul repetidoras, Azul Head-End, elgourmet.com, Sólo Tango, Eventos, Cosmopolitan Televisión, Cosmopolitan Televisión delay, elgourmet.com, Film&Arts español, Film&Arts portugués, Private Blue, Private Gold, Río de la Plata, Canal (á) (NTSC), Europa-Europa (NTSC) and elgourmet.com (NTSC).
The NSS-806 satellite, launched in February 1998 and located at 319.5 degrees east longitude, is equipped with 28 C-band and three Ku-band transponders, and provides comprehensive coverage of the Americas and Western Europe. NSS-806 currently serves as one of the region’s leading video neighborhoods, carrying most of Latin America’s national broadcasters, as well as many other top video programmers, to thousands of cable systems.
About PRAMER
PRAMER SCA (www.pramer.com.ar) is a company dedicated exclusively to producing, distributing and commercializing content in Spanish and Portuguese for PAY-TV systems. Owned by Liberty Media (www.libertymedia.com) and established in Argentina, PRAMER currently holds the top position in Latin America for the amount of networks wholly owned and distributed, becoming the leading television company in the Spanish-speaking market. PRAMER’s 25 networks are currently distributed in 24 countries, reaching a market of more than 12 million subscribers.
About New Skies Satellites
New Skies Satellites (AEX, NYSE: NSK) is one of only four fixed satellite communications companies with truly global satellite coverage, offering video, voice, data and Internet communications services to a range of telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations and Internet service providers around the world. New Skies has six satellites in geosynchronous orbit and ground facilities around the world. The company also has two spacecraft under construction, which are planned to serve the Americas and Asia from two new orbital locations. In line with its growth strategy, the company has secured certain rights to make use of additional orbital positions, including four serving the Americas. New Skies is headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and has offices in London, Johannesburg, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C. Additional information is available at www.newskies.com.
