France 24 taps Arqiva for UK HD launch

News channel France 24 HD has launched in the UK, supplementing the standard definition version of the channel.

France 24 has tapped its existing media services provider Arqiva to upgrade its five-year contract with the news broadcaster to incorporate the launch of the HD channel. France 24 has been available in standard definition in the UK since 2012. The new launch means that Sky and Freesat customers will be able to view the channel’s content in HD.

Arqivawill provide its satellite services to deliver the France 24 service to Sky and Freesat through its media facility in Paris. Using state-of-the-art encoding, Arqiva is also helping France 24 optimise the use of satellite capacity for HD delivery.

Alex Pannell, managing director, satellite and media at Arqiva, said: “The most satisfying wins are undoubtedly those that result from a long-standing, successful relationship with a partner – we are delighted that we can help France 24 with the next phase of its growth. Arqiva prides itself on delivering high quality services that are flexible to the specific needs of our customers, and as France 24 reaches more and more audiences in the coming years, we look forward to evolving our proposition with them.”

David Couret, director of technical distributions at France 24 said: “The launch of France 24 HD represents an important step in our journey to bring instant, high quality news and events coverage to UK viewers, and it is crucial to have a trusted partner like Arqiva working alongside us on this project.

“Arqiva helped us launch our first UK SD channel back in 2012, and its reliable service and technical expertise has been critical in helping us to grow in this essential market.”