Media Broadcast launches DVB-S2 platform with Astra

European broadcast services provider Media Broadcast has launched a DVB-S2 transmission platform on the Astra 3B satellite, located at 23.5° East.

The company said it was targeting markets in central and eastern

Europe, with a focus on the Czech Republic and Slovakia, via the satellite’s Europe Wide Beam.

The first programmes to be broadcast on the DVB-S2 platform will include the Czech TV HD channel as well as media services from the country’s Federal Parliament. The signal will enable the feed-in of Czech TV HD into regional cable networks as well as supplying DTH broadcasting to 1.5 million Czech households.

“The launch of DVB-S2 services on Astra 23.5° East is an important step for Media Broadcast, providing emerging TV markets in Eastern Europe with efficient transmission services for SD-HD migration that best use the bandwidths available on the transponder” said Ute Haimerl, head of broadcast satellite services. “In doing this, we are creating an additional technical foundation for the sustainable promotion of our international activities in these important European markets.”