Cyfrowy Polsat bolsters position at Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD neighbourhood

15 November 2013

Eutelsat Communications and Cyfrowy Polsat announced a new contract for additional capacity at Eutelsat's HOT BIRD video neighbourhood and a multi-year agreement to extend the lease of existing capacity. The announcement was made in Venice on the occasion of Eutelsat’s Broadcast Seminar and the Eutelsat TV Awards.

A total of six HOT BIRD transponders are now leased by Cyfrowy Polsat satellite platform and its wholly-owned broadcasting company, Telewizja Polsat. The additional capacity together with effective model of co-operation with other broadcasters equips Cyfrowy Polsat to further accelerate the availability of HD content to its installed base of 3.5 million subscribers. 80% of Cyfrowy Polsat’s subscribers are already equipped with HD set-top-boxes to access the 37 HD channels included in the 130 Polish channels carried by the platform.

"As Poland's leading media group and the largest satellite pay-TV platform, Cyfrowy Polsat has placed HDTV at the heart of our growth strategy. The new satellite resources at Eutelsat's HOT BIRD environment will enable us to further expand our channel offering", Dariusz Dzialkowski, Cyfrowy Polsat's CTO, said. He added: "The longstanding partnership between Eutelsat and Cyfrowy Polsat and the exceptional quality of the resources at the HOT BIRD environment have enabled us to continue to take our services to a new level of performance."

For Jean-François Leprince-Ringuet, Eutelsat's Chief Commercial Officer: "Cyfrowy Polsat Group has been one of the finest success stories of the European broadcasting market over more than two decades and is once again setting the agenda with creative service packaging and a strong play in HDTV. We are delighted to pursue our partnership with this new multi-year contract at the HOT BIRD neighbourhood.”