SES ASTRA expands to the Middle East

SES Astra has signed a contract to bring its interactive TV service Blucom to the Arab world.

MBC, the leading free-to-air multi-channel media group in the Middle East and North Africa region, will use Blucom for voting, greeting, downloading, and other enhanced TV applications for its flagship channel MBC1, its news channel Al Arabiya, and its Saudi Arabian radio channel MBC FM.

 

The rollout of the service will start in end-October, and it is technically implemented by APS Astra Platform Services and its affiliated company 5Cast, both based in Munich, Germany.

 

Blucom is an interactive TV service that combines broadcast technologies with the mobile phone environment. It synchronizes classic TV content with additional information in real-time by displaying additional content and value-added services on the mobile phones of the viewers.