SES Renews Contract with Sony Entertainment Television Asia

SES has signed a renewal of its contract with Sony Entertainment Television (SET) Asia. The new agreement will enable SET Asia to serve its subscribers in the United Kingdom and Ireland at SES’ prime orbital arc of 28.2/28.5 degrees east, as well as distribute its platform to affiliates across Europe.

SES serves almost 13 million satellite households across the United Kingdom and Ireland from its constellation of four satellites positioned at this orbital arc. The company is in the process of a full fleet renewal: Astra 2F was launched September 2012 while Astra 2E has just launched successfully on Sept. 30, 2013. Astra 2G will be launched in the first quarter or 2014.

Todd Miller and William Wade to Join CASBAA’s Board of Directors

CASBAA, the Asia Pacific multichannel TV association, has elected Todd Miller, the CEO of Celestial Tiger Entertainment, and William Wade, the president and CEO of AsiaSat, as the new members of its board of directors. Reelected as chairman of CASBAA was Marcel Fenez, global leader of entertainment and media practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and reelected for additional terms on the board were Janice Lee, managing director of TV and new media at PCCW, and Mark Patterson, CEO Asia Pacific at GroupM.

Todd Miller
Photo: CTE

Miller is responsible for driving Celestial Tiger Entertainment’s core businesses of branded pay-TV channels, content creation and content distribution across Asia and beyond. Prior to joining Celestial Tiger Entertainment, he spent 17 years at Sony Pictures Television, where he last served as executive vice president, networks, Asia-Pacific, overseeing and managing more than 25 television networks and channel investments in the region. Miller has previously served two terms on the board of directors of CASBAA.

William Wade
Photo: AsiaSat

William Wade was appointed as CEO on Aug. 1 2010 to lead AsiaSat, with his title changed to president and CEO from Jan. 1 2011.  Prior to assuming his role as CEO, he had served as AsiaSat’s Deputy CEO for 16 years. He has more than 26 years’ experience in the satellite and cable television industry. Prior to joining AsiaSat in April 1994, he was with Hutchison Whampoa, as director of business development for Pan Asian Systems, and was in charge of all sales and regional operations.

Miller and Wade will be replacing retiring members Robert Gilby, SVP & MD, Disney-ABC International Television (Asia Pacific) and Steve Marcopoto, president and managing director, Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific.

NewSat Receives Development Plan Consent for Adelaide Teleport Expansion

Adelaide Teleport
Photo: NewSat

The City of Salisbury Council has granted development plan consent for the expansion of NewSat’s Adelaide teleport facility in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. A larger teleport facility will advance global innovation, assist technology development and increase high tech job availability.

“NewSat’s development application highlights how Salisbury is well placed to provide economic growth and support to industries and businesses, our staff have worked closely with NewSat to provide the company with significant insight and support and we are delighted that they have chosen to expand their operations in Mawson Lakes,” Gillian Aldridge, City of Salisbury Mayor said. “This facility expansion is a great example of local business growth and will provide the community with high-tech innovative jobs into the future.”

The teleport expansion is integral to the growth of NewSat and its plans to launch a fleet of satellites. Jabiru 1, Australia’s first commercial Ka-band satellite, is expected to generate more than $3 billion of revenue over 15 years.

The City of Salisbury’s economic and development team, operating from the Polaris Centre in Technology Park, has worked closely with the company to support the application process.

AsiaSat 8 on Track for Launch in 1H 2014

AsiaSat 8 undergoing testing at the SSL facility
Photo: AsiaSat

Following good progress made in the manufacturing and testing, AsiaSat has targeted the AsiaSat 8 launch for April 2014.

With the successful completion of all the reference performance testing of the spacecraft’s payload and bus subsystems, AsiaSat 8 commenced Spacecraft Thermal Vacuum (SCTV) testing, which is expected to be completed in November. SCTV testing is a major program milestone that validates a spacecraft’s performance in a simulated space vacuum environment and extreme temperatures.

AsiaSat 8 will be co-located with AsiaSat 3S/AsiaSat 7 at the orbital location of 105.5 degrees east, a slot where AsiaSat has established networks providing service to the Asia-Pacific region since 1990. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch AsiaSat 8 from Cape Canaveral, Fla.