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The Weather Channel Signs With GE Americom for Next-Generation Satellite Services
August 8, 2001 (Princeton, NJ) -- GE American Communications (GE Americom) announced today that Atlanta-based The Weather Channel has signed a multi-year, multi-transponder agreement for satellite capacity on GE-10 and GE-11, the successor satellites to Satcom C-3 and C-4. GE-10 and GE-11 will be home to The Weather Channel痴 programming dedicated to meteorological information currently delivered into 80 million TV households in the U.S.
Carl Capista, Vice President, Satellite Services-North America said, "The Weather Channel is the premier service providing in-depth coverage of weather information within the U.S. and around the world enabling their viewers to be well-informed and better prepared for day-to-day weather changes at home and wherever they might travel." He continued, "It is innovative programming such as this which helps to attract and build a leading cable neighborhood; we are delighted that The Weather Channel has chosen to remain with Americom through the next generation of cable satellites."
Becky Powhatan, EVP, Business Affairs & General Counsel, The Weather Channel, commented, "We chose to remain with GE Americom not only because of the strong cable neighborhood, of which we have been a part, but also because of Americom痴 dedication to providing their customers with a high level of service reliability."
GE-10 and 11, the all C-band next generation satellites planned for operation in 2004, will each have 24 transponders and will be located at 135ｰ and 131ｰW.L., respectively. To further ensure the delivery of customers programming, each satellite features a higher level of on-board redundancy than the previous generation. Plus, an in-orbit protection satellite, GE-7, which operates at 137ｰW.L., is available if necessary for full satellite restoration. Programmers can use either or both satellites operating at 131ｰ and 135ｰ W.L. to distribute content to more than 80 million American homes.
About The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel, Inc., based in Atlanta, is the nation痴 premier provider of weather information, reaching more than 80 million TV households in the U.S. The Weather Channel Latin America reaches over 8.2 million households in Latin America. The Weather Channel is owned by Landmark Communications, Inc., a Norfolk, VA-based, privately-held media company with global interests. The Weather Channel is the leading provider of weather information for emerging distribution technologies with services for broadband and interactive TV (ITV) applications. The Weather Channel痴 Web site, weather.com, is the world痴 leading source of weather on the Web, averaging more than 350 million page views and 14 million unique users per month. The site delivers comprehensive forecasts for more than 77,000 locations worldwide providing relevant content to help users plan for everyday life.
About Americom
With over 25 years' experience, GE American Communications, Inc. is recognized as a pioneer and leading provider of global satellite communications solutions. GE Americom is able to provide end-to-end telecommunications solutions to any region in the world through a fleet of 20 satellites. GE Americom's key customers include ABC Radio Networks, AT&T Alascom, British Telecom, Cidera, Deutsche Welle, Discovery, Fox, TV Guide/Gemstar, Gannett, ICG, Merlin, NBC, The New York Times, NHK, PaxNet, PBS, TELE Greenland, TV Europa, Viacom and TimeWarner/Turner Broadcasting.
On March 28, 2001, GE Capital announced with SES Astra that they plan to combine the assets of GE Americom and SES Astra to form a new premier global satellite company, SES Global. The new company will have a fleet of 29 wholly-owned satellites and be able to deliver broadband satellite services to more than 90% of the world's population. In addition, SES Global痴 strategic partnerships and participations in AsiaSat, NSAB, Star One, Americom Asia-Pacific and Nahuelsat will combine to give entertainment, Internet, news and enterprise customers access to a fleet of 42 satellites. When the transaction is finalized, GE Capital will hold a 25.1% economic interest and 20.1% voting interest in SES Global S.A.
GE Americom is a GE Capital company. GE Capital, with assets of more than US$370 billion, is a global, diversified financial services company grouped into six key operating segments comprised of 24 businesses. A wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric Company, GE Capital, based in Stamford, Connecticut, provides a variety of consumer services, such as credit cards and life and auto insurance; mid-market financing; specialized financing; specialty insurance; equipment management, and specialized services, to businesses and individuals in 47 countries around the world. GE is a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.
Contact: Monica Morgan
+1-609-987-4143
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