FREESAT BOOSTS HIGH-DEFINITON CHOICE WITH BET AWARDS 2009

FREESAT BOOSTS HIGH-DEFINITON CHOICE WITH BET AWARDS 2009

On American Independence Day, Saturday 4^th July Freesat will bring viewers the prestigious BET Awards 2009 in brilliant high-definition (HD) – a UK exclusive for the subscription-free digital satellite TV service.

Held in Los Angeles on Sunday 28^th June, this year’s BET Awards are hosted by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and will feature performances from Hollywood A-listers Beyonce Knowles, Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Watching this year’s BET Awards in HD is a special bonus for Freesat HD viewers who can catch an HD simulcast of the ceremony exclusively on the BET HD channel (Channel 142), on Saturday 4^th July from 8.30pm. Freesat standard-definition (SD) viewers will not miss out though and can watch the awards by tuning in to the BET channel (Channel 140) at the same time.

The BET Awards were established in 2001 by Black Entertainment Network to celebrate the best African American talent from music, film, television and sport and previous winners include Prince, Mariah Carey, Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Halle Berry.

Viewers should look out for the special BET HD channel (142) as it appears in the Freesat EPG from Thursday 2^nd July until after the event

Freesat’s MD Emma Scott comments “Being able to broadcast this year’s BET Awards exclusively on Freesat in HD is a real coup and we hope Freesat viewers will really enjoy watching some of the world’s biggest entertainers like Beyonce and Jay Z with amazing HD picture and sound quality”.

“We’re committed to bringing our viewers brilliant HD programming completely subscription-free and we hope this will be the first of many Freesat HD exclusives”.

This is an official press release - 25th June 2009.