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AB Sat is a package of digital terrestrial television channels (encrypted withViaccess andMediaguard) offered by the satellite companiesHot Bird andAstra and marketed in France, Belgium,Switzerland and Germany. The channels are all (or partly) run by the cable operators and certain networksADSL. ABSAT has a stake on two digital terrestrial television channels (TMC andNT1). The company is chaired byMichele Cotta.
The companyAB Groupe was launched in 1995 as the second satellite package in France (after the launch ofCanalSat in 1992), as part of the shift from analogue to digital television. The package creates some big names in media, such asClaude Berda (current president of AB), who hiredChristian Dutoit (member of CSA, former head ofTF1, the production ofAntenne 2, founder of many channels such asLa Cinq,LCI andI>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 insatellite television compared to CanalSat a few months before the innovation of many points, such as:
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
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.
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 ofCanalsat andTPS. The most part of the cinema channels was shared equally on cable in France and Belgium.
