Audio Video News

Would-be merger mates DirecTV and EchoStar Communications may not be the only television action in the Western sky if European satellite operator SES Global can win approval to beam its signals to American dishes.

The company announced on Thursday, April 25 that it intends to offer satellite television to American viewers as early as 2004. The announcement, made at the Satellite Entertainment 2002 conference in Monterey, CA, could help pave the way for EchoStar's acquisition of DirecTV's parent company Hughes Electronics from General Motors. Federal regulators have questioned the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) merger on the grounds that a combined service would amount to a monopoly. Competition from SES Americom, the American unit of SES Global, would eliminate that concern.

The proposed American service would be called "Americom2Home" and would offer satellite subscribers a wider range of services than they now enjoy—among them, high-speed Internet access and interactive TV capabilities. Some Americom2Home channels might be provided at no charge, while others would be made available as part of a subscription package. Still others would be accessible only on a pay-per-view basis, according to Dean Olmstead, CEO of SES Americom.

Olmstead told reporters that his company wants to encourage "niche channels and special-interest programming." SES Global is trying to create business models that will allow the creation and distribution of such programming profitably without the involvement of giant media conglomerates and their unrealistically high expectations for returns on investments. "We're trying to remove some of the barriers to entry," he stated.

Within the next few years, SES Global hopes to launch a satellite over the US at the 105.5° west longitude orbital position, between DirecTV's 101° W and EchoStar's at 110° W locations. Engineers were uncertain whether such close proximity might cause interference between the "birds." Olmstead dismissed such fears. "As a once-upon-a-time spectrum manager," he stated, "there is no valid interference problem." DirecTV and EchoStar executives expressed support for the venture, saying they welcome the competition. SES Global reaches 87 million homes in Europe.