[Satellite TODAY 05-03-11] SES Astra is delivering its German HD Plus broadcasting service to 769,000 households via its on Astra satellite located at the 19.2 degrees East orbital slot, according to a company report issued May 2.
    SES said that about two-thirds of HD Plus’ customers opted for the fee-based continuation of reception between November 2009 and March 2010 after their free trial period expired. At the end of March 2011, SES Astra reported 114,000 paying customers with another 655,000 receiving a free 12-month subscription period. The study follows a collaboration HD Plus recently entered with Sky Deutschland, which allowed the pay-TV operator’s satellite subscribers to sign up for HD Plus using their existing Sky receiver and Sky smartcard.
    “In a country in which the question of whether people are willing to voluntarily pay for television has been controversially discussed for 20 years, the first figures of HD Plus are certainly a small sensation," HD Plus CEO Wilfried Urner said in the report. “A conversion rate of 66 percent is something only the fewest people would have expected.”