First Punjabi Network in America Launches with SES AMERICOM

24-hour news/entertainment channel devoted to millions of Punjabi-speaking people living in the U.S.



PRINCETON, NJ . - Meeting the television programming needs of one of America’s biggest ethnic audiences, SES AMERICOM, an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges: SESG), today announced it is distributing JUS Punjabi, the country’s first Punjabi-language network serving the Indo-Punjabi, Sikh, and South Asian communities throughout the United States.

Punjabi is one of the most common languages across Pakistan and India and is widely spoken in other countries where Punjabis have emigrated in large numbers, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. JUS Punjabi, the first television channel devoted to delivering content to Punjabi-speaking audiences, is being offered nationwide over SES AMERICOM’s AMC-1 satellite.

“Punjabi is spoken by well over 110 million people worldwide which puts it right up there with French and German,� said Penny Yogiraj Sandhu, president and CEO of JUS Punjabi, who was born and raised in the India state of Punjab. ”It’s been a longtime goal to bring a quality Punjabi network to America, which is capable of reaching out to the large and vibrant Indo-Punjabi and Sikh communities living across the U.S. By partnering with SES AMERICOM, our subscribers can rest assured that their Punjabi news and entertainment will be there when they want it on JUS Punjabi"

“The launch of JUS Punjabi represents a historic and highly anticipated moment for millions of Punjabi-speaking television viewers across America,” said Steve Bunke, vice president of North American media services for SES AMERICOM. “SES AMERICOM is honored to be selected by JUS Punjabi, as we offer the new network a reliable and secure platform capable of distribution to cable, satellite, and emerging services such as IPTV and mobile TV.”

JUS Punjabi provides a complete lineup of Indian-Punjabi programming, including a variety of news shows, sitcoms, live call-in talk shows, game shows and music. The new network is owned and operated by a New York-based management team led by president and CEO Penny Yogiraj Sandhu and executive vice president Karl Khandalavala II, who together have more than 30 years of ethnic broadcasting experience in the U.S.