MUMBAI: Asian satellite service provider Asiasat and Music Media Enterprises Europe have signed a new lease agreement for the use of C-band capacity on AsiaSat 2 to broadcast Club 977's two Internet radio streams, Club 977 The 80's Channel and Club 977 The Hitz Channel.

Club 977 is based in Minneapolis, US.. Started its first broadcast in 2000, Club 977 now has over five million listeners tuned in to the stream each month from the Internet. Club 977 currently offers two Internet radio stations with a third and fourth channel scheduled for launch in the third quarter of this year. Club 977 The 80's Channel (www.club977europe.com), the world's most listened all 80s Internet station, plays the best 80s Pop, Rock and Retro Music whilst Club 977 The Hitz Channel (www.club977hitz.com) plays the best US Top 40, R&B, Hip Hop and Rap music taken directly from the charts.

Music Media Enterprises Europe director Henk van Meer said, "We see a high demand for music and radio content from Asian audience. We have chosen Asiasat 2 for our Asian expansion because of its unparalleled coverage, established neighbourhood and penetration, enabling us to reach numerous cable and FM rebroadcast stations, and cellular sites in the region."

Asiasat CEO Peter Jackson said, "We are delighted to add these new radio services on Asiasat 2. Broadcasters and content providers appreciate the power of AsiaSat 2 in terms of its footprint coverage and audience access. Our effort to bring in more new television, radio and mobile content into this region to satisfy the tremendous demand here will continue".

Club 977 is available on Asiasat 2 in C-band with the following reception parameters:
Transponder: 9B
Frequency: 3960 MHz
Polarisation: Horizontal
Modulation: QPSK
Symbol Rate: 27.5 Msym/sec
FEC: 3/4