Raft of Serbian channels launching on SES

Satellite operator SES is to carry six TV channels and one radio station for Serbian public broadcaster RTS.

The six channels,  RTS Satelit, RTS Život, RTS Drama, RTS Kolo, RTS Trezor and RTS Muzika, and radio station Radio Beograd, will be transmitted to cable headends across Europe and will be available to Serbian expatriates via a dedicated smartcard that can be integrated into viewers’ set-top boxes.

National telco Telekom Srbija is to provide ground services including uplink, encoding and scrambling, and will use SES capacity on one satellite at 5° East to deliver the channels.

“We have been working together with our partner Telekom Serbia for many years on various projects and this new agreement strengthens not only our presence in the market but also our long-standing cooperation. We are also very pleased that RTS has chosen our Astra satellite for the distribution of its channels to the Serbian audience across Europe,” said Martin Ornass-Kubacki, vice-president, chief regional officer central eastern Europe at SES Video, SES’s newly-created video business unit.

“It is our pleasure to have RTS on board. SES quality and professionalism, as well as our long-lasting partnership, were essential for closing such a deal and we look forward to serving RTS needs, together with SES, in the best possible way,” said Milutin Nikolic, wholesale director, Telekom Srbija.