Bloomberg TV’s German-language service will move to another analogue transponder on the Astra satellite system (19.2 degrees East). From April 10, 0500 CET, the Frankfurt-based financial news channel will be transmitted on transponder 11 (11.362 GHz H), the former home of pay-per-view service Sky Box Office 3 which is abandoning analogue and continues exclusively in BSkyB’s digital package on Astra 2A (28.2 degrees East).

Bloomberg TV can use its new transponder 24 hours a day. So far, DTH homes with analogue receivers were only able to watch part of the schedule because current analogue transponder 56 (10.817 GHz V) is occupied between 1900 and 0600 CET by UK-based TV Travel Shop. The 24-hour programme was only available to digital homes via Astra 1G, transponder 108 (12.552 GHz V, SR 22.000, FEC 5/6) and via Hot Bird 5 (13 degrees East), transponder 157 (11.642 GHz H, SR 27.500, FEC 3/4). The channel is also part of Deutsche Telekom’s digital cable platform as an encrypted service. By moving from the low Astra 1D band frequency into the normal band on Astra 1A, Bloomberg believes it will gain another 1.5 million German DTH homes, reaching 12 million in total. Overall, 53 per cent of the German TV homes are now covered including cable and DTH.

Bloomberg TV’s move is made possible by the growing number of mainly UK-based channels vacating their analogue transponders and continuing in digital only. In April, Sky Box Office will abandon analogue. The pay-per-view service is joined by Film Four, Granada Breeze and .tv. Zee TV intends to close its analogue Astra feed on October 31, followed by Japan Satellite Television (JSTV) on December 31. Zee TV is already present on the BSkyB digital platform on Astra 2A while JSTV has opted for a digital feed on Eutelsat’s Hot Bird position (13 degrees East), using Globecast capacity. The Cryptoworks-encrypted transmission will start in April. It is expected that the vacated transponders will be handed back to SES which will then rent the capacity to broadcasters that intend to target markets in which digital television is not as successful. Berlin-based ARD affiliate SFB has already announced that its regional TV channel B1, so far only transmitted digitally, will become available to analogue homes before the end of this year. Other possible channels interested in analogue space could be VH-1 Germany and Nickelodeon, if plans to relaunch the channel in Germany materialise.