New Capacity from ViewSat Allows MENA Channels to Target 7 Million Plus Viewers in North America

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, 5 November, 2013: ViewSat, a global satellite transmission company, is poised to continue a highly successful period of growth with capacity secured across North America, reaching 7 million people.

ViewSat is now able to offer its growing client base, situated principally in the MENA region and Sub-Saharan Africa, the opportunity to broadcast to this audience of millions.

The new capabilities have been made possible through the company's arrangement with Intelisat, a leading global provider of satellite services which owns and operates the Galaxy 19 satellite.

This satellite enjoys particularly good penetration in Arab and Farsi households across North America, meaning that transmitting channels via ViewSat's capacity would be particularly effective in these markets.

A recent study1 conducted by IBOPE Zogby International and commissioned by Intelsat revealed that Galaxy 19 provides content to 79% of Farsi speakers receiving Farsi channels and 43% of Arabic speakers receiving Arab channels; this translates to 33% of all U.S. Farsi speakers and 28% of all U.S. Arab speakers. The same survey went on to show that preferred programming included news, movies, entertainment, religious and cultural content and sports and that viewers would welcome expanded channel offerings and HD content.

Awaes Jaswal, CEO of Viewsat, comments, “To capitalise on the growth we've enjoyed throughout the world over the last six years, it is now the right time to move into this popular area and to offer our clients the opportunity to communicate directly with a considerable percentage of ethnic speakers in the U.S.”

Awaes continues, “Our partnership with Intelsat means that we can offer our clients the opportunity to broadcast to over 7 million people via the Galaxy 19 satellite. We expect to attract both new and existing clients with this additional capacity.”

ViewSat's bouquet of channels will be transmitted via Galaxy 19 and broadcast to a viewership group of millions with compatible receiver boxes. ViewSat's FTA (free to air) channel selection will further open this market and facilitate the growing audience in the USA choosing this option over the established Pay-TV setup.

About ViewSatViewSat is one of the fastest-growing operators within the global broadcast and transmission services industry for television and radio channels. Launched in 2006 to provide digital satellite services to private broadcasters in Sub-Saharan Africa, the company is now active across the global marketplace with operations in the Middle East and North Africa, Asia, Europe and North America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Headquartered in the UK, ViewSat operates a series of satellite broadcasting platforms, supplemented with a dedicated fiber network, teleports and playout centre to provide a high-quality infrastructure for customers' digital satellite broadcasting. Our outstanding reputation for quality and reliability has been built on consistently excellent network delivery and on the high-calibre of expertise and advice that we share with our customers. For additional information, please visit www.viewsat.eu