Empresas y finanzas

SES ASTRA Contracts UK`S FIVE For Additional Capacity



    SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), has
    announced today that it has signed a new transponder contract with the
    British commercial TV broadcaster Five. The additional capacity will
    primarily be used for the company's two new channels - Five Life and
    Five US - which will be launched in October. The broadcaster will
    initially take half of a transponder at the orbital position
    28.2(degree) East and ramp up to a full transponder in the second half
    of 2007.

    Five attracts around 30 million viewers a week and generates over
    GBP 300 million in advertising revenue - around 8.6% of the UK total.
    The company is owned by Europe's largest broadcaster, the RTL Group,
    which operates 34 TV and 34 radio stations across Europe.

    "With this additional agreement, we continue to consolidate our
    position as Europe's leading direct-to-home (DTH) satellite company in
    an extremely competitive environment", said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief
    Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. "We are very pleased about our strong
    business relationship with Five and will continue to offer the best
    service possible to all our customers."

    Chris Anning, CTO for Five, said: "Five has come a long way since
    its launch in 1997; we have gone from a standing start to an audience
    share of over 6%. Considering the huge changes in the broadcast
    landscape over the last six or seven years that's quite a feat. To
    meet the challenges of the next few years and further increase our
    overall audience share we will be launching exciting new channels and
    this transponder deal will give us the capacity we need to expand."

    About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com

    The ASTRA Satellite System is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH)
    satellite system in Europe, delivering services to some 107 million
    Direct-to-Home and cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet
    currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1600
    analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as
    multimedia and Internet services. ASTRA's two prime orbital positions
    for DTH services are 19.2(degree) East and 28.2(degree) East.
    Professional services such as Direct-to cable (DTC), Satellite
    Newsgathering (SNG) and Occasional Use are offered from the orbital
    position of 23.5(degree) East.

    SES ASTRA is an SES GLOBAL company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG). SES
    GLOBAL wholly owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA
    in Europe, SES AMERICOM in the US and New Skies Satellites in the rest
    of the world. The Company also holds strategic participations in
    AsiaSat in Asia, Star One in Latin America, SES Sirius in Europe, Ciel
    in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico. Americom Government Services
    provides network solutions and bandwidth to the US government and its
    contractors. SES GLOBAL provides outstanding satellite communications
    solutions via a fleet of 44 satellites across the globe. Additional
    info on SES GLOBAL at: www.ses-global.com.

    About Five www.five.tv

    Five was launched as the fifth and final terrestrial channel on
    March 30th, 1997 and has since built a strong reputation for its broad
    range of quality programmes - the BAFTA award winning children's
    strand Milkshake!, America's Finest dramas with titles such as the CSI
    franchise and the Emmy winning House alongside factual series such as
    The Singing Estate and Extraordinary People, as well as original
    comedy such as Respectable and Swinging. Plus this October Five
    launches its digital channels Five Life and Five US.