WASHINGTON--Satellite communications provider Intelsat has announced that C-SPAN, the Washington D.C. based suite of public affairs networks, has signed a new, long-term contract for C-band satellite services on Intelsat’s Galaxy 14 satellite.
C-SPAN will join a select group of top tier programmers on Intelsat’s highly penetrated Galaxy 14 neighborhood located at 125° West. Galaxy 14 distributes more than 200 channels in North America, with over 100 channels in HD. Intelsat will transport the signals from C-SPAN’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. via IntelsatOne fiber and provide an uplink to Galaxy 14 for distribution to cable head-ends via the Intelsat teleport in Ellenwood, Ga. Intelsat’s Riverside teleport in California will provide an additional disaster recovery uplink. C-SPAN is expected to transition its programming to Galaxy 30, a next-generation Intelsat satellite, after Galaxy 30’s planned launch in 2020.
“The breadth and depth of Intelsat’s satellite solutions will enable C-SPAN to efficiently provide our affiliates with reliable, high-quality feeds of our standard and high definition television signals,” said Roxane Kerr, vice president of technology, C-SPAN. “We chose Intelsat’s Galaxy 14 satellite because of the strong video neighborhood, robust protection program, cost-effectiveness, and long-term commitment to cable distribution, demonstrated by the Galaxy 30 replacement satellite program, ordered by Intelsat earlier this year.”
“The unprecedented reach of Galaxy 14 enables media customers to cost-effectively reach millions of viewers and, consequently, grow their business,” said Rob Cerbone, vice president and general manager of media, Intelsat. “Our hybrid satellite and fiber network coupled with our disaster recovery program will provide C-SPAN with the availability, resiliency and reliability needed to ensure their high-quality programming is distributed without interruption. C-SPAN’s long-term commitment to Intelsat is an example of the value that our video neighborhoods deliver and the advantage of the end-to-end solutions that we provide.”
