Chris Dziadul, June 27, 2024
Russia retaliates against European media
Russia has blocked access to a total of 81 media outlets in Europe in response to the EU’s ban on the news agency Novosti, newspapers Izvestia and Rossiiskaya Gazeta and news website Voice of Europe. They include several TV stations among them the public broadcasters in Estonia, Latvia and the Czech Republic, Belsat (operated by Poland’s TVP and serving viewers in Belarus) and three in Romania (Pro TV International, Digi24 and B1TV). Also blocked is the recently launched satellite package Svoboda, operated by Reporters Without Frontiers (RSF).
Slovakia approves RTVS changes
Slovakia’s parliament has approved controversial changes to the public broadcaster RTVS that critics say will transform it into little more than a government mouthpiece. The changes, which appear to run counter to the new European Media Freedom Act and come into effect on July 1, will see the dismissal of RTVS’s director general years before his term expires and a nine-member supervisory council, appointed by the culture minister and parliament, chose their replacement. RTVS’s name will also be changed to Slovak Television and Radio (STVR). Critics of the changes include the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), with the latter appealing directly to Slovakia’s President Peter Pellegrini to use his veto.
TV2 Hungary secures Warner Bros. Discovery content
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Hungary’s TV2 Group have signed a multiyear partnership agreement. As a result, TV2 and its thematic channels Super TV2, Mozi+, Moziversum, Prime, Jocky TV, TV2 Kids, TV2 Comedy and TV2 Klub will offer a wide range of blockbusters and successful US series from WBD’s catalogue to viewers on an exclusive basis.
Pay-TV market grows in Croatia
Croatia ended the first quarter with a total of 922,032 pay-TV subscribers. This, according to the regulator HAKOM, was 1.5% more than in the same period last year. Although connections via IPTV accounted for 54.10% of the total, or 3.21% more than in Q1 2023, the biggest growth was seen in OTT services, which were up 38.7% in terms of take-up. Meanwhile, pay-TV revenues in Q1 amounted to €32.9 million, up 3.9% on a year earlier.
New channel licence awards in Poland
Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) has awarded 10-year licences on the DVB-T multiplex MUX-8 to the channels Republika and WPolsce, operated by Telewizja Republika and Fratria respectively. MUX-8 has near national coverage and the channels will join Metro, Nowa TV, Telewizja WP, ViDoc TV and Zoom TV. Significantly, MWE Networks, one of the losing bidders for the licences, has indicated it will appeal against the regulator’s decision.
RTV Slovenia makes funding appeal
Councillors of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia have appealed to the county’s government to raise the cost of receiver licence fees. They currently amount to €12.75 per household each month and have been unchanged since 2012. Under the councillors’ proposals they would be increased in line with inflation to around €14 a month.
Warner Bros. Discovery inks T-Mobile deal
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) in Poland and T-Mobile have signed an agreement that will see the latter’s customers get access to Eurosport channels during the upcoming Paris Olympic Games. In total, they will be able to watch eight pop-up channels – seven in HD and one in 4K – offering over 830 hours of coverage of the Games, which start on July 26.
TVP hit by hacker attack
The Polish public broadcaster TVP has again been targeted by a cyberattack. It was aimed at its IT infrastructure during the online transmission of the Poland v Austria match played during the UEFA Euro 2024 Football Championship in Germany. According to TVP, the attack was quickly neutralised and it also offered viewers an alternative way to watch the game, on the website match.tvp.pl. TVP suffered a similar attack only a few days earlier during the Poland v Netherlands game at Euro 2024.
Amagi expands in Poland
Amagi has strengthened its presence in Central and Eastern Europe by opening in a new office in the Polish city of Lódz. Amagi is a next-generation media technology company that provides cloud broadcast and targeted advertising solutions to broadcast TV and streaming TV platforms.
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© Chris Dziadul, 2024
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