REELZCHANNEL Selects Ascent Media Group to Manage High Definition Television (HDTV) Conversion and Transmission Services for New HD Program Service

Aug 03, 2010

Ascent Media Group announced that it is now providing REELZCHANNEL with high definition (HD) transport and transmission services for the network's new HD program service, as well as a new satellite distribution platform via the Galaxy 17 (C-band) satellite. REELZCHANNEL is now available in 50 million homes, and offers studio shows, interviews and movie features, all of which can now be enjoyed in HD clarity.

Ascent Media provides diverse and redundant fiber optic network transport from REELZCHANNEL's master control in Albuquerque, NM to Ascent's satellite earth station (Glenbrook Earth Station) in Stamford, CT. Ascent then delivers a compressed uplink of REELZCHANNEL's programming, using Cisco PowerVu MPEG-4 compression technology, to Ascent Galaxy 17 satellite space segment platform.

"As the global programming transition to the HD format continues to accelerate, we are well positioned to provide HD conversion and transmission support services to our clients like REELZCHANNEL to deliver the highest quality viewing experience to the end user," said Brendan Corrigan, SVP Content Distribution and Transport of Ascent Media Group. "This partnership further illustrates our commitment to leverage our extended connectivity capabilities in order to provide end-to-end solutions to content creators and distributors."

"With our migration to HD, having a reliable company like Ascent Media supporting our technical needs ensures our viewers will see the movie content they love in the highest quality possible," said Roger Eman, senior vice president of operations at REELZCHANNEL. "With the recent launch of our new show "Maltin on Movies" and with new shows being added to our programming in the coming weeks and months, we are pleased to have Ascent Media providing a world-class delivery service to showcase our HD produced shows and content."