AB Sat
Encyclopedia
AB Sat is a package of digital channels (encrypted with Viaccess
and Mediaguard
) offered by the satellite companies Hot Bird
and Astra and marketed in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. The channels are all (or partly) run by the cable operators and certain networks ADSL. ABSAT has a stake in pay channel TNT
(AB1) and of two services in free TNT (TMC
and NT1
). The company is chaired by Michele Cotta
.
was launched in 1995 as the second satellite package in France (after the launch of CanalSat
in 1992), as part of the shift from analogue to digital television. The package creates some big names in media, such as Claude Berda (current president of AB), who hired Christian Dutoit (member of CSA, former head of TF1
, the production of Antenne 2, founder of many channels such as La Cinq
, LCI
and I>Télévision), Ghislain Achard (former head of the France Télévisions group until 2005) and Marc Sillam (former big name in cinema). The society only had a small market share in satellite television
compared to CanalSat a few months before the innovation of many points, such as:
Vice-President :
Programme director:
Marketing and Business Development director:
----
----
AB Sat Belgique :
----
AB3, AB4, AB1, RTL9, TMC, NT1, MANGAS, ANIMAUX, AB MOTEURS, XXL (22h30/05h), ESCALES, ENCYCLOPEDIA, FIT-TV, TOUTE L'HISTOIRE, DORCEL TV (24/24h), CINE FX, CINE FIRST, CINE POP, CINE POLAR, ACTION and CHASSE ET PECHE
----
ABSat Europe et Moyen-Orient :
----
AB1, RTL9, TMC, NT1, MANGAS, ANIMAUX, AB MOTEURS, XXL (22h30/05h), ESCALES, ENCYCLOPEDIA, FIT-TV, TOUTE L'HISTOIRE, DORCEL TV (24/24h), CINE FX, CINE FIRST, CINE POP, CINE POLAR, ACTION and CHASSE ET PECHE
and TPS
. The most part of the cinema channels was shared equally on cable in France and Belgium.
Viaccess
Viaccess is a conditional access system developed by France Télécom. There are six versions in use today, Viaccess PC2.3, Viaccess PC2.4, Viaccess PC2.5, Viaccess PC2.6, Viaccess PC3.0 and Viaccess PC4.0....
and Mediaguard
Mediaguard
Mediaguard is a conditional access system for digital television developed by SECA , company renamed to Canal+ Technologies SA , a subsidiary of Canal+ Group, sold to Thomson...
) offered by the satellite companies Hot Bird
Hot Bird
Hot Bird is the name of a popular family of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13°E over the Equator and with a transmitting footprint over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....
and Astra and marketed in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. The channels are all (or partly) run by the cable operators and certain networks ADSL. ABSAT has a stake in pay channel TNT
Télévision Numérique Terrestre
TNT is the national digital terrestrial service for France. It formally arrived on 31 March 2005 after a short testing period. Like Freeview in the United Kingdom it will support many new channels as well as the current terrestrial television stations...
(AB1) and of two services in free TNT (TMC
Télé Monte Carlo
Télé Monte Carlo or TMC Monte Carlo, traditionally known as TMC is a Monégasque general entertainment television channel.-History:The oldest private channel in Europe, TMC dates back to 1954, inaugurated by Rainier III, Prince of Monaco...
and NT1
NT1 (television)
NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group....
). The company is chaired by Michele Cotta
Michèle Cotta
-Biography:Her father was the Mayor of Nice. She started her career as a journalist for Combat. She move on to interviewing politicians for L'Express, under the tutelage of Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber and Françoise Giroud...
.
History
The company AB GroupeAB Groupe
The AB Groupe is a French business group in the field of broadcasting. It was founded in 1977 by Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda as a music production company, and in 1987 went into the world of television.- Television :-External links:* *...
was launched in 1995 as the second satellite package in France (after the launch of CanalSat
CanalSat
CanalSat is a French digital satellite and DSL pay television service. It is owned by Vivendi with a 65% share, minority shareholders are Lagardère , TF1 and M6...
in 1992), as part of the shift from analogue to digital television. The package creates some big names in media, such as Claude Berda (current president of AB), who hired Christian Dutoit (member of CSA, former head of TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
, the production of Antenne 2, founder of many channels such as La Cinq
La Cinq
La Cinq was France's first privately owned free terrestrial television network. Created by politician Jérôme Seydoux and Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, the network broadcasted from 1985 to 1992....
, LCI
La Chaîne Info
La Chaîne Info, or LCI is a French cable news channel. The network provides 24-hour national and global news coverage.-History:LCI was created on June 24, 1994, by Christian Dutoit on behalf of the media group TF1....
and I>Télévision), Ghislain Achard (former head of the France Télévisions group until 2005) and Marc Sillam (former big name in cinema). The society only had a small market share in satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
compared to CanalSat a few months before the innovation of many points, such as:
- First digital broadcast by satellite on a French package in March 1995 (beating giant Canal+'s broadcast two months later)
- First and only satellite television package offering two choices simultaneously on satellite and cable. This made it possible to put in place digital receivers compatible with access controls (encryption) for all the French packages (AB Sat and CanalSat and/or TPS are available). In 1999, the AB group reviewed the policy, and officially abandoned the sale of these decoders in France. This was reviewed again in 2003, notably with a receiver with an installation disc which permitted the registration functions.
- "Best price" offers for a contract offering one-fifth of the channels (from 49 francsFrench francThe franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
/ 7.5 Euros per month) in 1996. - Launch of 18 digital channels in three months (technical process launched and equipped under technical director Jean-Marc Fonseca).
- Creation of the first themed channels : "life", "animals", "manga", "motors", "FIT TV", etc.
- First encrypted channel reserved for adults to be approved by the CSA (XXL).
- Launch of digital satellite "zapper box" for a very low price in 1996: less than 2 000 francs (around 300 euros).
- In 1999, an agreement was reached allowing the incorporation of AB channels into packages from other companies and allowing the customer to pay for more channels to be incorporated into the basic package, an option still available today.
- Launch in May 2005 of prepaid cards allowing access to contract channels for a period of three to six months (not available with the rental of TPS decoders, but available for other companies).
- In June 2006, AB Sat had 30000 contracts direct to satellite.
- September 2007: the group looks at allowing all satellite customers access to TNT channels via Hot Bird and Atlantic Bird 3 satellites.
- On 22 September 2007 a decision was reached obliging the AB SAT package to provide the public service channels France 2, France 3, France 4 and France 5 as well as Arte, LCP and TV5 Monde. On 24 October 2007, the channels France3 sat, France4, France5, France O and LCP arrived in the Absat package. At the end of November TF1 also arrived.
- Since December 2007, Absat have offered the Bis Télévisions package, allowing all TNT channels in the ABSat package in their basic offer. The price is 4.90 Euros per month, without the Cinérama and Night options at an extra 4.90 Euros.
Staff
President :- Jean-Michel Fava
Vice-President :
- Claude Berda
Programme director:
- Richard Maroko
Marketing and Business Development director:
- Gregg Bywalski
Satellite package
Bis Télévisions FRANCE :----
----
AB Sat Belgique :
----
AB3, AB4, AB1, RTL9, TMC, NT1, MANGAS, ANIMAUX, AB MOTEURS, XXL (22h30/05h), ESCALES, ENCYCLOPEDIA, FIT-TV, TOUTE L'HISTOIRE, DORCEL TV (24/24h), CINE FX, CINE FIRST, CINE POP, CINE POLAR, ACTION and CHASSE ET PECHE
----
ABSat Europe et Moyen-Orient :
----
AB1, RTL9, TMC, NT1, MANGAS, ANIMAUX, AB MOTEURS, XXL (22h30/05h), ESCALES, ENCYCLOPEDIA, FIT-TV, TOUTE L'HISTOIRE, DORCEL TV (24/24h), CINE FX, CINE FIRST, CINE POP, CINE POLAR, ACTION and CHASSE ET PECHE
General
For a long time, the increase in general channels has not translated to a similar acquisition of programmes, with the arrival of the command of Michèle Cotta in the board of AB Sat (In May 2006, Michèle Cotta rejoined the JLA group, the A in AB) and of the digitalisation of programmes which allowed the growth of the portfolio in programmes, the channels have operated a little with a level of coherence and the presence of the same series, films, and telefilms on all three channels.- AB1AB1AB1 is a French television channel aimed at young adults.- History :AB1 was launched in December 1995 under the name AB Channel 1. One year after the launch of satellite provider AB Sat, the channel was the premier channel of the satellite service...
- NT1NT1 (television)NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group....
- RTL9RTL9RTL9 is a Luxembourger television channel shown internationally to viewers in Luxembourg, France, Belgium and francophone Switzerland.- Télé-Luxembourg :...
, acquired 65 % in 1998 - TMC Monte Carlo, acquired 40 % in 2004 (40% owned by TF1)
- AB3AB3AB3 is a private commercial television channel of the French Community of Belgium.-History:The company YTV, jointly owned by AB Groupe, TF1 Group and WB holding, in 1995 filed an application for a broadcasting licence in the French Community of Belgium with Laurette Onkelinx, Minister-President of...
for contracts in Belgium - AB4AB4-External links:*...
For contracts in Belgium
Cinema
The AB Sat package is the first package to theme their cinema channels, an idea copied today by all other French packages. The original five channels offered were : Action, Crime, Cinema Palace, Life and Romance. Action didn't survive, and was replaced by the option of Passions on TPS in 1999, the other channels were also reformatted. In September 2002, AB Sat launched the Ciné Box package with Ciné FX, Ciné Polar, Ciné Comic and Ciné Box. The package was not successful, and two channels disappeared in 2004 : Ciné Comic and Ciné Box. The two other channels, Ciné FX and Ciné Polar were taken in by the cinema package of CanalsatCanalSat
CanalSat is a French digital satellite and DSL pay television service. It is owned by Vivendi with a 65% share, minority shareholders are Lagardère , TF1 and M6...
and TPS
Télévision Par Satellite
Télévision Par Satellite was a French company that offered subscription television packages via satellite.It was created in 1996 by France Télévisions, the TF1 Group and the M6 Group...
. The most part of the cinema channels was shared equally on cable in France and Belgium.
- Action
- Ciné FxCiné FxCiné FX is a French television channel, owned by AB Groupe.The channel was originally only available via AB Sat and as an option on CanalSat, but is now available through contract on the cinema option from AB, on cable, on ADSL, and on digital television packages.At its start, in 1996, the cinema...
(the only French channel 100% dedicated to science-fiction, fantasy and horror) - Ciné PolarCiné PolarCiné Polar is a French television channel owned by AB Groupe.The channel was originally only available on AB Sat and as an option on CanalSat, but is now available through a cinema contract with AB, on cable, on ADSL, and on digital television packages....
Documentaries and true-life
- EncyclopédiaEncyclopédiaEncyclopédia is a French television channel dedicated to encyclopedic knowledge.-History of the channel:Encyclopédia was launched in 1996 with the launch of the AB Sat satellite package as a documentary channel dedicated to encyclopedic knowledge, but mostly on science and engineering, notably...
- Toutel'Histoire
- Animaux
- Escales
- Chasse et PêcheChasse et PêcheChasse et Pêche is a French television channel dedicated to hunting and fishing.-History of the channel:Created in April 1996 for the AB Sat package, Chasse et Pêche is a channel based around hunting and fishing for sport, and those who enjoy them....
Specialised
- Mangas
- XXLXXL (French TV)XXL is a television channel in France that is dedicated to pornography and erotica. Created in 1996 and transmitted by the AB Sat satellite, it was at the time the first French channel to broadcast pornography every evening...
(channel reserved for pornography and other pay channels) - Fit TVFit TVFit TV is a French television channel which is part of the AB Groupe. The channel was originally only shown on AB Sat, but is now available via a contract through certain cable channels and on digital television. The channel deals with fitness and staying in shape. It ceased broadcast on 15 October...
(fitness) - VidéoclickVidéoclickVidéoclick is a commercial television channel shown in the French Community of Belgium.-History of the channel:The Youth Channel Television group, which operates the Belgian channels AB3 and AB4, entered negotiations in 2004 with the communications agency of the French Community of Belgium to...
(Themed) - Télé Marseille (Local channel that Absat launched)
Music
- Musique classique (television channel) (Cancelled in 2007)
- Nostalgie TV, later RFM TV (Cancelled in April 2005)
- Onyx (German channel) became documentary channel : Terra Nova (since cancelled)
- 'Zik (Cancelled 31 December 2007)
Sport
- AB Sport, bought from the Pathé group in 1998 (Pathé sport) and since become Sport+Sport+ (France)Sport+ is a French television channel on cable and satellite which is owned by Canal+ and which is devoted to live sport....
- France Courses (daily live racing)
Cinema
- Ciné Box (Cinema channel cancelled end of August 2004)
- Ciné Comic (Cinema channel cancelled end of August 2004)
- Ciné Palace
- Rire
- Romance
Others
- Terranova (documentary)
- Vive la vie TV
- AB5Television in BelgiumTelevision in Belgium was introduced in 1953.-History:The three Belgian Communities - Dutch, French and German-speaking - have legal responsibility for audiovisual communication...