Winners of the Eutelsat TV Awards 2013 Spotlight Exceptional Creativity, Innovation and Technical Excellence

VENICE, Italy, November 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --



"Over 50% of the channels awarded at this year's Eutelsat TV Awards are in High Definition and have been launched over the last 12 months," Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat Chairman and CEO announced tonight in Venice at the Awards ceremony of Eutelsat's international broadcasting event. "This result highlights more than ever the vitality and boundless creativity of the television business as well as its commitment to deliver an exceptional viewing experience. Congratulations to all channels for making this year's event our best ever."

The Eutelsat TV Awards is a unique event recognising the quality of thematic satellite TV channels. Over 100 channels from 20 countries participated in this year's competition, their programming formats, innovation and audience relationship judged by an independent panel of media experts representing the world's most dynamic broadcasting markets.

Duilio Giammaria, RAI television presenter and Jury Chairman of the Eutelsat TV Awards added: "From channels with a 20-year legacy to new entrepreneurial ventures in emerging markets, the jury assessed the quality of content creation, innovative programme packaging and how channels are leveraging technology to engage with their audience. It's no understatement to say that the story of television is still being written and that programme-makers are constantly turningnew viewing platforms and changing audience habits to their advantage."

Eutelsat TV Awards Winners 2013

Children's - M2 (Hungary)
Cinema - Moviemax Festival HD (Turkey)
Culture/Documentaries - Sky Arte (Italy)
Fiction/General Entertainment - Chérie 25 (France)
Lifestyle - Auto Plus (Russia)
Music - Gospel Music TV (UK); Mezzo Live HD (France)
News/Information - CCTV News (China)
Sport - L'Equipe 21 (France)
Best Programme - Mussolini - il cadavere vivente, RAI (Italy); The Eurochannel Short-Films Tour, Eurochannel (USA)
People's Choice - PMC (UAE)

In addition to Awards bestowed by the jury, Eutelsat announced two special awards at tonight's ceremony in Venice.

An Award to Sky Group that over the past 10 years has placed innovation at the heart of its growth strategy with initiatives that include:

• Special Event channels - The James Bond 007 Channel to celebrate 50 years of Bond films, The Oscar Channel, The Christmas Channel
• News and sport channels offering multiple camera angles and feeds
• Sky Go and Sky on Demand applications to engage with subscribers through a multiplicity of screens
• Offering the highest quality of image and sound quality with HD and 3D

An Award to Canal 2 Cameroon was also given for its contribution to driving the transition to digital in Africa and for representing a new face of African broadcasting in close touch with its audience in Cameroon and across the continent.

The Eutelsat TV Awards jury: Jerzy Barski from TV-Sat Magazine (Poland), Jacques Braun from Eurodata TV (France), Robert Briel from Broadband TV News, Sergey Buntman from Echo of Moscow (Russia), Alessandra Comazzi from La Stampa (Italy), Paolo Dalla Chiara from Pentastudio (Italy), Christian Blankenberg from ARD (Germany), Giacomo Mazzone from the EBU, Fusun Nebil from Turk Internet (Turkey), Reem Nouss Media Consultant and Executive Producer, Twofour Arabia (UK). Jury chairman: Duilio Giammaria from Rai (Italy). Technical expert: Mauro Roffi from Millecanali (Italy).

Red carpet highlights, clips of the nominated programmes and all the latest images from the night's events will be shortly available at: http://www.eutelsattvawards.com

About Eutelsat Communications

With capacity commercialised on 31 satellites delivering reach of  Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, significant parts of the Americas and the Asia-Pacific, Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world's leading satellite operators. As of 30 September 2013, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 4,700 television channels to over 200 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Group's satellites also provide a wide range of services for TV contribution, corporate networks and fixed and mobile broadband markets. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ over 780 commercial, technical and operational professionals from 30 countries. http://www.eutelsat.com

SOURCE Eutelsat Communications