SES Platform Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES SA (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), today announced it has entered into a long-term partnership with India’s leading media conglomerate, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel), to launch a new free-to-air (FTA) television channel in Germany in both SD and HD by mid-year via SES satellites at Astra 19,2 degrees East. Once launched, Zee One can be received by 18 million households in Germany, as well as 2,5 million German-speaking households in Austria and Switzerland.

This new channel for the German market will bring high-quality Bollywood films produced by the Indian film industry, as well as popular Indian television series, to German screens for the first time, 24 hours a day.

Under the agreement, SES Platform Services, a leading technical media service provider for the innovative distribution of video content, will be providing satellite capacity and ground services, including encoding, multiplexing and uplinking from its site in Munich-Unterfoehring.

Christoph Muehleib, vice president Sales Europe at SES Platform Services, said: "We are very pleased to be part of this exciting endeavour. Germany is the largest FTA market in Europe. With a reach of 18 million in Germany, we serve the majority of TV homes, plus millions of German-speaking viewers throughout Europe."

Neeraj Dhingra, CEO Europe at Asia TV Ltd (Zee TV), said: "We are looking forward to the launch of Zee One into one of the world’s most important television markets. As yet, the Bollywood genre is still barely represented, so enhancing Germany’s entertainment offerings by introducing an entirely new genre will transform the viewers’ TV experience.»