QVC studios. Photo: QVC.

QVC is launching its Ultra-High Definition (HD) channel in Germany, the seventh channel in Ultra-HD in the country, via SES’ orbital slot at 19.2 degrees east. Under the 10-year agreement announced by SES, QVC will use additional capacity for its upgrade to Ultra-HD and rely on SES’ wholly owned subsidiary MX1 for encoding in High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) format and uplink services. QVC is also renewing capacity for distribution of the channel in Standard Definition (SD) and HD.

SES intends to expand its HD and Ultra-HD offerings in North America especially with the recent launch of its SES 11 satellite. The satellite’s C-band capacity is optimized for digital television delivery, and will join SES 1 and SES 3 at the center of SES’ North American orbital arc, which the company states reaches more than 100 million TV homes in the United States.