Eutelsat visAvision and Arena Cooperate in Bringing Live Matches of German Soccer League to German Cable Homes

Eutelsat visAvision and Arena Cooperate in Bringing Live Matches of German Soccer League to German Cable Homes

MUNICH, Cologne, June 26/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arena Sport Rechte und Marketing GmbH and Eutelsat visAvision
GmbH, the German subsidiary of Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL),
today announced the signature of a three-year agreement to bring all matches
of the Fussball-Bundesliga (German Soccer League) live to cable network
operators in Germany. The agreement opens the opportunity for Arena to reach
cable homes served by network operators who are already partners of
Eutelsat's Kabelkiosk digital programme and service platform which offers 50
German and foreign-language channels.

The more than 100 small to medium-sized cable networks in
Germany who are partners of the Kabelkiosk, and who serve two million
households, will now be able to offer live access to all 612 matches of the
next season of the national Fussball-Bundesliga which kicks off in August. In
addition to the Bundesliga package, homes will be able to subscribe to an
additional offer of nine entertainment channels which will be proposed in a
package called TIVIDI. Eutelsat visAvision's objective is to add further
German-language entertainment channels in the TIVIDI package in order to take
the offer to 20 channels. The Bundesliga and TIVIDI packages will be
delivered through Eutelsat from its 8 degrees West location which already
delivers the Kabelkiosk service.

"We are pleased, that with this partnership with Eutelsat
visAvision we are in a position to serve the high demand from independent
cable network operators and access additional cable customers," said
Christoph Bellmer, Managing Director Technical and Sales of Arena.

"Today's agreement is an important milestone for Eutelsat
visAvision and our KabelKiosk product in Germany. By leveraging its existing
business model, which allows cable operators to retain their end-customer
relationships, Eutelsat visAvision can now serve compelling Arena programming
to its cable partners," emphasises Volker Steiner, Managing Director of
Eutelsat visAvision.

"We are very pleased that Eutelsat's German subsidiary has won
the confidence of Arena to offer live German Soccer League matches to German
cable homes from our 8 degrees West position," said Giuliano Berretta,
Eutelsat CEO. "This new contract is fully in line with our strategy to
develop new premium video neighbourhoods, including at 7/8 degrees West, in
addition to our existing premium HOT BIRD(TM) and EUROBIRD(TM) 1
neighbourhoods."

More than 100 cable network operators already partner with Eutelsat's
KabelKiosk, to offer their own digital packages to their customers. All
KabelKiosk channels are encrypted in Conax. The TIVIDI package will also be
encrypted in Conax so that existing Kabelkiosk customers will not need to
change their existing decoders.

About Arena

Arena Sport Rechte und Marketing GmbH were transfered the
rights to broadcast live all games of the Bundesliga (German Premium Soccer
League) and 2nd Bundesliga in December 2005 by DFL (Deutsche Fussball Liga)
after a tender. Since then, Arena has established a TV broadcasting station,
provided the necessary technical infrastructure for cable and satellite
distribution and has fixed attractive programme packages for reasonable
prices. Starting August 11, Arena will bring the atmosphere of Bundesliga
live into German homes. The Arena team brings together experienced sport
managers and TV specialists. Arena is a 100 percent subsidiary of the leading
cable network operator Unity Media.

http://www.arena.tv

About Eutelsat visAvision GmbH

Eutelsat visAvision GmbH, a fully-owned Eutelsat subsidiary,
offers the Kabelkiosk digital programme and service platform for cable
network operators.

http://www.visavision.tv/

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is
the holding company of Eutelsat S.A. The Group is a leading satellite
operator with capacity commercialised on 23 satellites providing coverage
over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India
and significant parts of Asia and the Americas. The Group is one of the
world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. Its
satellites are used for broadcasting nearly 1,800 TV and 900 radio stations
to more than 120 million cable and satellite homes. The Group also provides
TV contribution services, corporate networks, mobile positioning and
communications, Internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for
terrestrial, maritime and inflight applications. Eutelsat Communications is
headquartered in Paris, and the Group's workforce comprises over 480 from 27
countries.

www.eutelsat.com

For further information:

Eutelsat:

Press:
Vanessa O'Connor
Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88
voconnor@eutelsat.fr

Frederique Gautier
Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88
fgautier@eutelsat.fr

Investors:
Gilles Janvier
Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-35
investors@eutelsat-communications.com

Arena:

Press:
Susanne Jahrreiss
+49-89-96-99-86-222
susanne.jahrreiss@arena.tv

Rolf Dittrich
+49-221-37-79-23-94
rolf.dittrich@arena.tv

Source: Eutelsat Communications

For further information: Eutelsat: Press: Vanessa O'Connor, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, voconnor@eutelsat.fr. Frederique Gautier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, fgautier@eutelsat.fr. Investors: Gilles Janvier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-35, investors@eutelsat-communications.com. Arena: Press: Susanne Jahrreiss, +49-89-96-99-86-222, susanne.jahrreiss@arena.tv. Rolf Dittrich, +49-221-37-79-23-94, rolf.dittrich@arena.tv

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