Winners Announced of the Hot Bird(TM) TV Awards 2009!

Winners Announced of the Hot Bird(TM) TV Awards 2009!

Thematic Channels From Across Europe and Africa Awarded for Highest Quality of Content and Innovation

PARIS, November 23/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The winners of this year's prestigious HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards, the only
international event recognizing the highest quality of content creation and
innovation by thematic satellite television channels, were honored on
November 20 at a gala ceremony in Venice.

The Awards are bestowed by a jury of media experts and organized annually
by Eutelsat in partnership with Eurovisioni and Satexpo. In addition to
channels participating from across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, this
year's event was the first to include broadcasters from across Africa,
further broadening the range and diversity of content considered by the jury
in each thematic category.

Almost 150 channels from 20 countries entered this year's event, making
it the most significant since the HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards were established in
1998. The winning channels selected by the jury for 2009 are:

HOT BIRD(TM) TV AWARDS

CATEGORY CHANNEL LANGUAGE
HDTV HD Suisse French, German, Italian,
Rhaeto-Romanic
Children's Tv-nanny Russian
Cinema Wojna i Pokoi Polish
Culture/Education Zakon Tv Russian
Documentaries Vremya Russian
Fiction M-Net Action English
Lifestyle Body in balance German
Music Trace Tropical French
News BBC Persian Farsi
Excellence Award SKY News 24 Italian
Sport SKY Sport 24 Italian
National Window Yes Italia Italian

Following the success over previous years of the People's
Choice, viewers had the possibility to once again enter their favourite
channel for this popular Award. This year's winner, Duna TV from Hungary, was
the channel receiving most viewer votes via leading TV websites.

To honour particular achievements in broadcasting, Eutelsat
gave a Special Award to China's CCTV9 that has consistently striven to
generate diverse and quality content abroad. An Award was also given to
TivuSat, the new Italian platform using satellite to extend access to
national Digital Terrestrial Television channels to homes beyond range of
terrestrial reception.

In recognition of a new prize for thematic channels in Russia
called 'Golden Ray', an Award was also bestowed on Vesti, the 24-hour news
channel. Finally, in honour of their pioneering work in Europe on
broadcasting and screening prestigious 3D events, an Award was given by
Satexpo to Ciel Ecran, Opensky, dbw Communication and Eutelsat.

The Jury

The members of the international jury for the HOT BIRD(TM) TV
AWARDS are:

Jerzy Barski, TV-Sat Magazine (Poland), Jacques Braun,
Eurodata TV (France), Paolo Dalla Chiara, Sat Expo (Italy), Giovanna
Maggioni, Upa (Italy), Asu Maro, Milliyet Sanat e Milliyet Daily (Turkey),
Giacomo Mazzone, Eurovisioni (Europe), Mimi Turner, Hollywood Reporter
(Europe), Stephanie Boeczy, EGTA (Europe)

Jury coordinator: Duilio Giammaria, Rai (Itay). Technical
expert: Mauro Roffi, Mille Canali (Italy).

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code:
FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity
commercialised on 27 satellites that provide coverage over the entire
European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant
parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading
satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 30 September 2009, Eutelsat's
satellites were broadcasting 3,300 television channels and 1,100 radio
stations. More than 1,000 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD(TM) video
neighbourhood at 13 degrees East which serves over 123 million cable and
satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group's
satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications
services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets
for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight
markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates
services through teleports in France and Italy that serve enterprises, local
communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa,
Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries
employ 615 commercial, technical and operational employees from 28 countries.

http://www.eutelsat.com

Eurovisioni

Eurovisioni, International Festival of Cinema and Television,
was created in 1987 and now in its 23rd edition. Eurovisioni 2009 (from 11 to
14 of October) was dedicated to creativity and innovation in the audiovisual
market, is part of the European events for the Year of Creativity, and
received the patronage of the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, the
European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, the Council of
Europe, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Presidency of the
Senate, the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, the Lazio Region, the
Province and Municipality of Rome, and others. Among others, the initiative
is supported by ARD, BBC, Canal +, Eutelsat, France Télévision, RAI, RTVE,
TVP, ZDF.

The 2009 edition took place during the fourth International
Film Festival of Rome.

http://www.eurovisioni.it

Press Contacts
Eutelsat
Vanessa O'Connor
HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards
Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88
voconnor@eutelsat.fr

Press Office in Italy:
Eurovisioni
Alessandra Lombardi
Tel: +39-06-5960637
Cell: +39-347-7589385
http://www.hotbirdtvawards.com
alexlomb@gmail.com

Sat Expo
Matteo Sassano
Tel: +39-0444-543133
matteo.sassano@pentastudio.it

Source: Eutelsat Communications

Press Contacts: Eutelsat: Vanessa O'Connor, HOT BIRD(TM) TV Awards, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, voconnor@eutelsat.fr; Press Office in Italy: Eurovisioni, Alessandra Lombardi, Tel: +39-06-5960637, Cell: +39-347-7589385, http://www.hotbirdtvawards.com, alexlomb@gmail.com; Sat Expo: Matteo Sassano, Tel: +39-0444-543133, matteo.sassano@pentastudio.it

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