SES (Euronext Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) has launched two innovative MVPDs (Multi-Channel Video Programming Distributor) as the first commercial linear Ultra HD services in the US to cable and IPTV subscriber homes using SES’s satellite-delivered, pre-packaged, Ultra HD solution.
Marquette-Adams of Oxford, Wisconsin, and Highlands Cable Group of Highlands, North Carolina, have licensed the SES-provided Ultra HD programming through Vivicast Media and have initiated their Ultra HD offerings following successful trials of the SES platform. Additional cable and IPTV operators are also close to launching their own milestone Ultra HD services on SES’s fully-managed, scalable system, which is aimed at accelerating 4K Ultra HD deployments across North America.
More than 20 MVPDs, with a combined audience of nearly 10 million subscribers, are testing SES’s all-in-one Ultra HD solution, which packages the world’s largest 4K Ultra HD channel lineup, satellite distribution services, and reception equipment. Programming on the SES Ultra HD lineup features ten 4K Ultra HD channels, including Fashion One 4K, Travelxp 4K, 4KUNIVERSE, NASA TV UHD, INSIGHT TV, UHD1, C4K360, Funbox 4K, Nature Relaxation 4K as well as SES’s UHD demonstration channel. These channels are hosted on a trio of SES satellites at the centre of the orbital arc (SES-1, SES-3, AMC-18), which covers 100 percent of the cable head-ends in the US.
Vivicast has played an integral role in the launch of commercial linear Ultra HD by securing licensing rights for the Pay TV providers offering the impressive 4K Ultra HD programming lineup provided by SES. SES is showcasing its Ultra HD platform at NABSHOW in Las Vegas this week at booth SU1910.
“These historic commercial linear Ultra HD services are being delivered to subscriber homes by cutting-edge Pay TV providers, who are leveraging SES’s satellite-based Ultra HD platform,” said Steve Corda, Vice President of Business Development in North America for SES. He added that the company has now delivered on their bold plan that was announced at NAB two years ago, that being to enable linear Ultra HD home delivery in half the time it took HD to reach the same television milestone in the US. SES cut through the operational and technical barriers with a scalable solution delivered via satellite, which provides high quality Ultra HD and can reach more than 100 million television households throughout North America.
View the infographic with SES’s key milestones at www.ses.com/newsroom/pushing-ultra-hd-beyond-frontiers