ALICE JOINS DIGITAL FREE-TO-AIR LINE-UP ON ASTRA 19.2° EAST New Italian lifestyle channel to broadcast in English, French, German and Italian

Société Européenne des Satellites S.A. (SES) is pleased to announce a further enhancement of the digital free-TV line-up on the ASTRA Satellite System at 19.2° East.

Alice, a new Italian lifestyle channel broadcasting in four languages (English, French, German and Italian) is joining the steadily growing list of free-to-air digital TV services on Europe's most popular orbital position for satellite direct-to-home services. For an existing audience of more than 3 million households equipped for digital TV reception via 19.2° East, test transmissions were initiated today, and regular programming is scheduled to be launched on December 15th, 1999.

Alice is a service dedicated primarily to the world of the kitchen and the home, with tips on gastronomy, new recipes, home design and technology. Alice also takes a look at health, beauty and travel, focussing therefore on life's pleasures, both within and outside the home.

According to Valter La Tona, CEO of Sitcom, the operator of the new channel, "Alice is the first step towards building a pan-European, multilingual bouquet of digital channels available within the footprint of the ASTRA Satellite System."

Yves Elsen, Commercial and Marketing Director of SES, states: "Alice joins the steadily growing number of more than 60 television channels, who have already opted for Europe-wide digital free-to-air distribution via ASTRA 19.2° East. The international nature of ASTRA's free-to-air line up is illustrated by the number of broadcast languages available: Arabic (3 services), English (3 services), French (8 services), German (38 services), Italian (3 services), Spanish (3 services), as well as one service each in Dutch, Polish, Portugese, Catalan and Luxembourgish. ASTRA's free-to-air offer is poised to continue to grow over the coming months."

For further information please contact :