(EMAILWIRE.COM, April 28, 2004 ) Betzdorf, Luxembourg -- SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (Luxembourg and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges: SESG) and Stanice O, a media company based in Prague, Czech Republic, are pleased to announce the conclusion of an agreement for the free-to-air digital distribution of Czech channel TV Óèko.

TV Óèko is Czech Republic's first dedicated music and lifestyle channel with a strong emphasis on Czech and Slovak music.

Starting May 1st 2004, TV Óèko will be broadcasting free-to-air via the ASTRA Satellite System at 19.2 degrees East (ASTRA 2C, transponder 57, 10832.25 MHz, Horizontal, 22 Msymb/s, FEC 5/6), currently reaching over 28 millions Direct-To-Home households in 30 European countries.

Alexander Oudendijk, SVP Sales & Marketing at SES ASTRA comments: "We are very pleased to have TV Óèko on board as our first Czech free-to-air TV channel. TV Óèko is an attractive addition to our existing line-up of over 100 digital Free-to-Air TV channels. Furthermore, the agreement with TV Óèko represents a further strengthening of ASTRA's attractiveness and position in the Central and Eastern European market."

TV Óèko´s CEO, Jiri Balvin says: "We decided to enter into an agreement with ASTRA because of its high quality of service and optimal market reach in both the Czech and Slovak Republics. Furthermore, the signing with SES ASTRA will enable our Czech and Slovak artists to showcase their talents across Europe. In this respect, the start of TV Óèko on ASTRA and the Czech and Slovak Republics entering the European Union on the same date is a nice symbolic coincidence."


About SES ASTRA (www.ses-astra.com)
The ASTRA Satellite System is Europe's leading Direct-to-Home satellite system chosen by a wide range of television and radio broadcasters and multimedia service providers for the delivery of free-to-air and pay broadcast and broadband services to more than 94 million Direct-to-Home and cable households in Europe. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting more than 1100 analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as multimedia and Internet services. ASTRA's two prime orbital positions for DTH (Direct-To-Home) services are 19.2° East and 28.2° East. Professional services like SNG (Satellite News Gathering), Occasional Use and Direct to Cable (DTC) are offered from the orbital positions of 23.5°/24.2° East and 5.2° East.

SES ASTRA is an SES GLOBAL company. SES GLOBAL wholly owns two operating companies, SES AMERICOM and SES ASTRA, and has strategic holdings in other leading regional satellite service providers around the world - AsiaSat, NSAB, Nahuelsat and Star One. Through these SES GLOBAL can provide outstanding satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 41 satellites across the globe. Additional info at: www.ses-global.com

For further information please contact:
Yves Feltes
Press Relations SES ASTRA
Tel 352 710 725 311
Yves.Feltes@ses-astra.com
www.ses-astra.com


Heda Polívková
Marketing and PR Manager TV Óèko
Tel. 420 257 222 256
heda.polivkova@ocko.tv
www.ocko.tv

Contact Information:
SES ASTRA
Joseph Nchor
Tel:
Email us


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