SES Platform Services

The SES Platform Services GmbH (formerly ASTRA Platform Services GmbH) is a technical services company of SES Astra, based in Unterföhring near Munich. The activities include the uplink of television and radio programs to satellites which broadcast the programs in Europe, as well as the data encoding ( eg, MPEG -2, MPEG -4) and encryption. Customers include the television channel Sky, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, Sport 1, HSE24, N24, Tele 5 and The Fourth. The sales amount to about 32 million euros ( 2005).

The playout center was created in 1996 by order of the Kirch Group which it founded its subsidiary Beta Digital, LLC. It took on 28 July 1996 to the operation, as the Kirch group their digital platform launched DF1, which was merged with Premiere 1999. The entire broadcasting process ran across this technique department, by inserting the Betacam master tapes with the archived broadcast material by robots, the playing of the materials from the hard disks of the servers ( especially the PPV services CINEDOM or Premiere Direkt ), the encryption of the broadcast material (at that time still in Irdeto ) to controlling and uplink of the Astra satellite group.

As part of the liquidation in bankruptcy of the Kirch Group and Kirch Pay TV 2002 Premiere acquired the broadcasting center and established for the operating company DPC Digital Playout Center GmbH. In January 2005, Premiere sold the company to SES Astra. The purchase price amounted to 55 million euros. The opposition Eutelsat against the takeover on antitrust grounds rejected the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court back in October 2006.

Pictures of SES Platform Services

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