PanAmSat's fleet of satellites currently is delivering World Cup matches in both SD and HD to most major Latin American broadcasters. Broadcasters are contracting for a variety of services, including fiber and satellite connectivity, encryption, live and recorded highlights, and SNG in all the German venue cities hosting all 64 scheduled matches that began on June 9 and continue through July 9.
This year, PanAmSat has booked about 15,000 hours of video transmission time for more than a dozen global Cup customers. Its Latin American operations consist of multiple paths for its three main distribution satellites for the region -- PAS-9, PAS-3R and PAS-1R. (The company couldn't say how many Latin American broadcasters are now transmitting the World Cup in HD, but it's believed to be only a handful, at most.)
For coverage in Latin America and the growing U.S. Spanish-speaking market, PanAmSat is providing technical support to Televisa, TV Azteca and Univision for their specific requirements. PASport, PanAmSat's international broadcast network, is now using up to 40 paths across nine satellites for the World Cup: PAS-1R, PAS-2, PAS-3R, PAS-4, PAS-8, PAS-9, PAS-12, Galaxy 3C and Galaxy 4R.
