PanAmSat Launches Platform for Distribution of International Television<br /><br /><br />From http://news.tmcnet.com/news/2006/02/07/1351110.htm<br /><br /><br />If you offer consumers "something new" in television for $5 less, they won't switch. But if you offer them "something new" and show how much better it is than what's already out there - such as IPTV - well, then you're golden.<br /><br />One example of "something new" which IPTV can deliver is international programming. Although the U.S. is expected to be slow on the delivery of IPTV on a global scale, one thing which analysts agree will speed up consumer adoption of IPTV in the U.S. is international programming. For example, there are millions of people in the U.S. who would regularly watch European football (a.k.a. soccer) if only they could get all the games for free through their cable providers. Service providers which migrate to IPTV will not only be able to deliver content better, they will be able to deliver better content. In other words, they'll be able to deliver more of what their customers want.<br /><br />That, no doubt, is part of the reason why PanAmSat is now offering an "a la carte" portfolio of international programming to U.S. cable operators, DTH, IPTV and broadband network distributors. Dubbed "Vis-a-TV," the new business will acquire the rights to programming and then distribute it to cable MSOs, IPTV platforms and broadband Internet service providers - either for linear subscription or video-on-demand (VOD) service via PanAmSat's Galaxy 13 spacecraft, which reaches virtually every cable system in the U.S.<br /><br />PanAmSat claims that the power of this satellite ensures that broadcasters will have maximum exposure to households seeking ?home country? television programming. The company has reportedly assembled a team to handle content acquisitions, affiliate relations and back-office support for the new business.<br /><br />"PanAmSat is leveraging its relationships with its international programming customers to bring the best of the more than 400 channels currently on our satellite fleet to the U.S. market for distribution," said Joe Wright, CEO of PanAmSat, in a news release. "We will use our satellite capacity to bring our channels to the U.S. and to deliver the content to the last-mile operators who sign with us."<br /><br />Wright said PamAmSat will deliver the U.S. market to its content providers for a share of subscription revenues. He said the programming will first be rolled out to the Internet, then to cable TV and IPTV platforms "in the near future."<br /><br />"We believe the richly multi-cultural U.S. market has a strong appetite for this video content," Wright said. "This move is consistent with PanAmSat's view of how FSS providers must evolve from bandwidth-only providers into more fully integrated service providers that are more closely tied to content and the terrestrial networks that they serve."<br /><br />In other news, PanAmSat has reportedly inked a broadband distribution agreement with Move Networks, a subscription-based broadband VOD platform. The technical hub for the service is located at PanAmSat?s Atlanta teleport.<br /><br />For more information, visit http://www.panamsat.com/.