CEE TV industry news stories

Chris Dziadul, June 13, 2024

 

Max debuts in Poland

The streaming service Max made its debut in Poland on Tuesday, June 11. The launch, along with that in France on the same day, marked the first wave in Europe that began last month. As a result, Max is now available in 25 European countries across the continent and 65 countries and territories globally. Max has still to launch in around 50% of its addressable market, with the next rollout planned for Southeast Asia later this year. According to TVN Warner Bros. Discovery, over 15 local productions are currently being made for Max in Poland.

 

Bulsatcom slips in Bulgarian ratings

Vivacom ended last year with a 36.30% share of Bulgaria’s pay-TV market in subscriber terms. This, according to Capital, quoting the annual KRS TV analysis, put it ahead of Bulsatcom (22.20%), previously in top spot, followed by A1 Bulgaria (27.30%) and other providers (14.20%). Vivacom also led in revenue terms with a share of 32.70%, followed by A1 Bulgaria (28.90%), Bulsatcom ((26%) and other providers (12.40%). Earlier this year the regulator CPC gave United Group’s Vivacom the go-ahead to buy Bulsatcom.

 

Regulator awards Polish licences

Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) has awarded a 10-year satellite TV licence extension for TVN Style, a female-oriented channel operated by TVN Warner Bros. Discovery. At the same time, it has satellite TV licences to five new Canal+ channels. Canal+ 360 is a general channel while Canal+ Extra 1, Canal+ Extra 2, Canal+ Extra 3 and Canal+ Extra 4 are sports-based.

 

Cooperation call from BBC StudiosBBC Studios plans to evolve and change its business model in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Speaking at NEM Dubrovnik, Bartosz Witak, general manager BBC Studios, CEE region, added that it needs to be more flexible, which will probably be the key to success. In its search for more eyeballs across the region, it will be looking for local coproduction partners.

 

SES and tailored sports content distribution

The majority (71%) of sports content is still consumed through TVs, according to Julia Reznik, deputy head sports & events, SES. Speaking at NEM Dubrovnik with her colleague Ariel Nishri, VP product development, she also underlined the growing popularity of women’s sports, with the most recent (2023) World Cup attaining a global audience of 2 billion, compared to 1.1 billion four years earlier. Asked about the prospects for 5G Broadcast, Nishri pointed out to the limitations of signal coverage outside cities and the high capacities required by mobile providers – typically 100 MB but up to 500MB per connection. This is where satellite operators have an advantage.

 

Major funding promised for Ukraine

Veon through its 100%-owned subsidiary Kyivstar plan to increase its commitment to rebuild Ukraine’s digital infrastructure from the previously announced $600 million to $1 billion over the period 2023-27. Separately, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) have agreed to provide DataGroup, to merged with Volia and Lifecell, with $435 million for their development. Both announcements were made at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin.

 

Major outage at UPC Slovakia

Liberty Global’s UPC suffered a major outage of its internet TV services in Slovakia earlier this week. According to local reports, it affected services on a national level and lasted for several hours. TV services were also hit in the Liberty Global markets of Ireland, Switzerland and the UK.

 

Croatian TV owners facing bankruptcy

The Commercial Court in Zagreb has called on Televizija Classicum, which operates the film channel Klasic TV, to submit a list of assets and liabilities or face bankruptcy proceedings. According to Poslovni, Televizija Classicum was established in March 2010 and is represented by Maja Jelisic Cooper and her husband Jonathan Paul Cooper. Klasic TV was at one stage the most watched film channel in Croatia. It was sold to the Serbian company Mondo in 2019 and Maja Jelisic Cooper subsequently launched a documentary channel named Dox TV.

 

 

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© Chris Dziadul, 2024