[Satellite Today – 6-12-08] China Central Television (CCTV), the national broadcaster of the People’o;s Republic of China, renewed a multi-year contract on Intelsat’s Galaxy 3C satellite, Intelsat Ltd. announced June 12.
    CCTV, which has used Intelsat services since 1995, will use the Ku-band capacity to distribute its regional direct-to-home (DTH) services in the United States.
    “We have witnessed an increased demand for Chinese content among U.S. viewership,” Zongjiu He, vice president of CCTV, said in a statement. “Intelsat’s industry-leading Galaxy 3C satellite is the ideal platform for CCTV, enabling us to seamlessly reach that targeted DTH customer base.”
    Separately, Intelsat signed a mutli-transponder deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for the video carriage of the 2008 Summer Games to Europe. The EBU will use C-/Ku-band cross-strap capacity on Intelsat 706 to distribute the all high-definition event to its members.