SM2 To Do Sports On NSS?7



    SES NEW SKIES, an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), announces that SM2 Sports Media Solutions has contracted 18 MHz of bandwidth on the NSS–7 satellite at the orbital location of 338 degrees East. Under the contract, SM2 will use NSS–7 to deliver North American sports events in High Definition (HD) to Europe for a period of five years.

    SM2´s main business is the negotiation of sports rights and the satellite delivery of sports events for broadcasters worldwide. Incepted in 2004 in Greenwich, Connecticut, SM2 has already delivered over 3000 hours of programming to clients in Europe and Asia including BSkyB, NTV Plus, Bravo, Premiere, RAI, Sky Italia, Sogecable, Sports TV Portugal, CCTV, YES and PCCWC. Additional clients include: NFL International, TNA Wrestling, ESPN International, USGA, Fox Sports International, Augusta and U.S. Figure Skating. SM2 is also a technological innovator: In February 2007, SM2, through TV2GO in Canada, assisted the NFL in delivering its first ever HD World Feed broadcast of the Super Bowl to its European broadcast partners.

    Susanna Mandel–Mantello, President of SM2 Sports Media Solutions, said: "Since our inception, we have always worked with leaders in the industry to satisfy our clients increase in appetite for HD transmission. Our move to partner with SES NEW SKIES was just our next natural step to ensure that we had the best possible solution, both in coverage and value, for all of our clients. We are very excited about our new partnership and what it will offer our current clients as well as future ones."

    Andrew Ruszkowski, Vice President North American Sales at SES NEW SKIES, said: "As the world´s leading video contribution satellite, NSS–7 at 338 degrees East is a logical choice for SM2. The high–performance spacecraft is ideally located to bring programming from the U.S to media hubs in Europe, the Middle East, Africa or Latin America. We look forward to SM2 "˜doing sports´ on NSS–7 and bringing popular U.S. sports events in HD quality to European audiences."

    About NSS–7

    NSS–7 is a state–of–the–art, hybrid Ku– and C–band satellite located at 338 degrees East over the Atlantic Ocean, providing coverage of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. The satellite is located at one of the hottest orbital locations for trans–Atlantic connectivity as well as internet connectivity from North America into Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The powerful, state–of–the–art spacecraft features 49 C–band transponders and 48 ku–band transponders.

    About SES NEW SKIES

    SES NEW SKIES is an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) offering satellite communication services to a range of customers including telecommunications providers, broadcasters, corporations and governments around the world. SES NEW SKIES has a global fleet of seven satellites in orbit, with three additional spacecraft under construction (NSS–9, NSS–12 and NSS–14) and ground facilities around the world.

    Headquartered in The Hague, the company has offices in Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C. In addition to SES NEW SKIES, SES wholly owns the market–leading satellite operators SES ASTRA in Europe and SES AMERICOM in North America, 90% of SES SIRIUS in Europe, and strategic participations in Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a global fleet of 38 satellites in 25 orbital locations. Further information on the company is available at www.ses–newskies.com and on SES at www.ses.com