[Satellite TODAY Insider 11-24-10] In an effort to expand it’s 3-D content offering and viewership, SES Astra launched Dutch TV channel Brava3D on the Astra satellite at 23.5 degrees East. However, Brava3D CEO Jur Bron told Satellite TODAY Insider said he is not sure how many households would be able to access the channel.
    “I have really no idea how many people will be able to access the channel. All I know is that there are approximately 800.000 households in Europe with a 3-D TV. I would hope at least one million households in Western Europe could be able to see the channel over the next year,” said Bron.
    Brava3D is one of the first pan-European 3-D channels to launch, providing a mix of classical music, opera and ballet in 3-D quality. Bron said that while the Dutch broadcaster has no plans to launch any further channels in 3-D, he believes the overall move to the 3-D format makes financial sense. “Approximately 90 percent of our programs are converted HD and 10 percent are native 3-D. All these titles, except the 3-D titles, we are already using for broadcasting via BravaHDTV, so our additional costs are relatively low.”
    In September, SES Astra announced a 3-D TV initiative, which aims to support the introduction of 3-D television in Europe. As part of the initiative, SES Astra said the industry reached a common understanding of the minimum technical specifications for the introduction of 3-D television and broadcasting. The initiative is backed by SES Astra and major European broadcasters including public and private TV channels as well as representatives from the consumer electronics industry.
    SES Astra CEO Ferdinand Kayser told Satellite News earlier this year that the operator likely will be carrying 10 3-D TV channels on its satellites in 2011, and all previous indicators in HD point this to be a conservative estimate. “At the end of the year, we will have four to five 3-D TV channels,” he said. “The point is with HD, we have always underestimated the numbers of channels in the years to come. We have always done that. The target for 2010 was 120 HD channels. We’re already at a number of 150 HD channels. Next year, we will have 10 3-D TV channels. By the end of 2012, we could easily have 20 3-D TV channels.”

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