NTV Plus faces satellite migration dilemma in Siberia

Russian pay TV provider NTV Plus is to migrate its packages for Siberia and the Urals to the Direct TV-1R satellite and begin broadcasting in MPEG-4, according to local reports.

NTV East currently uses the Bonum 1 satellite at 56° East but the satellite has become unstable.

NTV will reportedly begin to migrate its services from early next year. The move will mean that subscribers will have to acquire new MPEG-4 receivers. According to the reports, NTV Plus will attempt to maintain its presence on Bonum 1 as long as possible in the hope that the launch of the Express-AT1 satellite next year will enable it to continue to delier services to subscribers in MPEG-2.

Rival Tricolor TV, which already broadcasts in MPEG-4, has already announced plans to migrate its services to the new satellite.