CEE TV industry news stories

Chris Dziadul, June 20, 2024

 

 

United Group expands in Slovenia

Telemach Slovenia has entered into an agreement with Garnol to buy the telco T-2 for an undisclosed fee. Under the terms of the transaction, United Group-owned Telemach Slovenia, following due diligence and regulatory approvals, will acquire at least 98.06% of shares in T-2. Established in 2004, T-2 was the first operator in Slovenia to add a video library, seven-day catch-up and 4K channels to its offer.

 

Netflix registers growth in Poland

Netflix strengthened its leading position among streaming services in Poland last Month. According to Nielsen’s The Gauge, its share of TV usage rose to 2.2%, up from 1.9% in April, among viewers aged 4+. Meanwhile, streaming’s share of total video viewing on TV screens reached 8.6% in May, the highest level since the launch of The Gauge in Poland in December 2022. Aside from Netflix, HBO Max and Viaplay also recorded increases in viewing share last month.

 

Major change at M7 Group

Jaromir Glisnik will retire from the position of chairman of the board of directors at Canal+-owned M7 Group at the end of this month. Glisnik has been closely involved in the Czech satellite TV industry since 2007 and oversaw the growth of Skylink into the country’s leading DTH platform.

 

Hungarian streaming for AMC

AMC Networks plans to launch a streaming platform in Hungary later this year. Quoting Levente B. Málnay, EVP-AMC Networks International, local reports say that it will be named Selekt and sold through local distribution partners. Málnay mentioned the platform in a wide-ranging interview https://www.c21media.net/departments/cee100/ published by C21 Media, as well in a panel discussion at NEM Dubrovnik earlier this month. More details will be revealed closer to its launch.

 

Volleyball rights extension for United Media

United Media has extended its media rights agreement with Volleyball World from 2025 to 2032. This will ensure coverage of premier volleyball and beach volleyball events across Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia, with competitions being broadcast on the regional sports channel Sport Klub. Volleyball World is a new partnership between the FIVB and CVC Capital Partners aimed at driving growth, innovation and investment in volleyball around the world.

 

TV Markiza to launch new channel

The Slovak national commercial broadcaster TV Markiza has announced that its latest thematic channel Markiza KLASIK will officially make its debut on Monday, July 15. On air for 24 hours daily and distributed by paid cable, satellite and IPTV services, it will offer its target audience, aged 35-64, mostly foreign productions, supplemented by classic Slovak and Czech TV entertainment. TV Markiza, which owned by PPF Group’s Central European Media Enterprises (CME), is celebrating its 28th anniversary this year.

 

Volia to add sports channels

The Ukrainian operator Volia says it will enrich its offer with several new sports channels. Starting July 1, its subscribers will be able to receive Sport 1 Baltic (exclusively showing martial arts), FC Dynamo Kiev TV, XSport+, Setanta Sport + (English Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga), UPL.TV (Ukrainian football), and Eurosport 1 and 2. Earlier this year Xavier Niel, the founder and majority owner of France’s iliad, secured permission to buy Datagroup-Volia from Horizon Capital and minority shareholder Mykhaylo Shelemba. The combined company Datagroup-Volia is the leading fixed telco and pay-TV provider in Ukraine.

 

Stella Litou joins egta

Stella Litou, the CEO of CME’s Pro Plus and RTL Hrvatska, has joined the board of directors of egta, the international trade body for multiplatform TV and audio businesses. She is a key signatory of an industry charter launched by egta to celebrate its 50thanniversary this year.

 

 

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© Chris Dziadul, 2024