Tom Scott

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — One of the nation’s first satellite broadcasters is growing after betting its existence two years ago on an emerging broadcast technology: Internet Protocol Television.

Sky Angel U.S. LLC had bought bandwidth on a Dish Network satellite since 1981 but faced a critical decision two years ago because the satellite was failing and a new one needed to be launched, said Thomas G. Scott, president and chief operating officer of Sky Angel. The company’s share would have cost between $200 million to $300 million, he said.

“We had to make the deal or go it alone,” Mr. Scott said. “A $200 million satellite wasn’t doable. We didn’t have a lot of options.”

Sky Angel, once called Dominion Video Satellite, had been a break-even business as a satellite television broadcaster of Christian programs, he said. Sky Angel took a gamble two years ago and became an Internet broadcaster, Mr. Scott said. The gamble paid off, he said, especially because the replacement satellite that was launched in March this year failed to reach the correct orbit and has limited broadcast abilities.

“We feel that God really protected us,” Mr. Scott said.

The company was founded more than 25 years ago by the late Robert Johnson Sr. in Naples, Fla., according to the company’s Web site. The headquarters remains in Florida, but all operations, engineering and customer support staff are in Cleveland.

Cleveland’s gain

Sky Angel wanted to build a new operations center far from Florida’s hurricanes, Mr. Scott said, and had settled on either Nashville or Louisville, Ky. However, a company executive had a chance meeting with Forest Preston, founder of Life Care Centers of America, which is based in Cleveland. Mr. Preston and city leaders convinced Sky Angel to move its operations to Cleveland two years ago.

The Cleveland operations are based in a Life Care administrative building that was previously the Cleveland Mall. But Sky Angel plans to build a $6 million to $7 million facility by next summer on Kile Lane, near Johnston Coca-Cola Bottling, Mr. Scott said. Sky Angel has a 20-acre satellite farm at Kile Lane.

Sky Angel has already invested about $10 million in Cleveland, said Ken Douglas, senior vice president of Cleveland operations. The company has 80 workers in Cleveland, which has grown 50 percent since the move. The new, 34,000-square-foot operations building will allow the company to add another 40 or so workers in two years, Mr. Douglas said, mostly in the engineering and programming departments.

Tech revolution

Sky Angel has added 52 video and radio channels to its original 20 channel video lineup, the maximum allowed by its old satellite bandwidth, Mr. Scott said. All those channels were Christian programming.

The company could add an infinite number of channels, but likely would add only another 30 because most remaining channels don’t meet Sky Angel’s criteria of being family friendly, he said.

Sky Angel uses Internet Protocol Television to deliver video and radio channels to consumers through their existing high-speed Internet connections, Mr. Scott said. Sky Angel recommends a minimum connection speed of 1.5 Mbps. The Internet programming is delivered from the computer to a set-top box which plugs into the television.

IPTV is extensively used in Asia, especially Korea, he said. Some regional TV providers in the United States use the technology, but a year ago Sky Angel became the first company to offer IPTV on a national basis, he said.

“This is our technology,” he said. “We paved the road.”

Staff Photo by Angela Lewis
Sean Mills works in the mater control room of Sky Angel in Cleveland, Tenn.

Sky Angel’s offerings include six music video channels, four Spanish channels, 20 radio channels and up to 48 hours of video on demand from numerous Christian channels, Mr. Scott said. The company produces three of its own channels as well.

The old, limited satellite service was an add-on to traditional cable or satellite service for people who wanted all the major Christian stations, Mr. Scott said. The company provides the largest number of Christian channels available, he said.

Now, Sky Angel’s selections also include Discovery, Animal Planet, Fox News, NFL Network, Tennis Channel, The Sportsman Channel and The Weather Channel.

Sky Angel is a niche service, targeted to people who want Christian and family-friendly programs, Mr. Scott said. Price is another factor, he said. The basic package, of 52 Christian video and radio channels, is $14.99 per month. An add-on package of 19 traditional video channels is an extra $10 per month. Many cable and satellite packages cost $50 to $60 or more per month, he said.

The company plans to offer service overseas in about a year, he said. It already offers a Romanian Christian channel with English subtitles.