CEE TV industry news stories

Chris Dziadul, March 8, 2024

 

Netflix expands across CEE

Deutsche Telekom has expanded its partnership with Netflix to also include Croatia and Hungary. As a result, Hrvatski and Magyar Telekom subscribers will soon be able to see Netflix integrated into their offerings, including bundling or set-up features on their TV interface. Separately, A1 has become the first telco operator in Serbia to offer its subscribers Netflix. Netflix reached an agreement with A1 Group last October securing distribution on A1 offers across six markets, starting with Austria and followed by Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.

 

BC Partners to sell United Group?

BC Partners is reportedly preparing to sell its majority stake in United Group. The reports, which are unconfirmed, first appeared in the Greek and Bulgarian media in February and were picked up at the beginning of this month by several English language TV industry online news websites. BC Partners completed the acquisition of its stake in United Group from KKR in March 2019. As part of the transaction, KKR and United Group’s management retained a substantial minority stake in the company.   

 

RSF launches Svoboda satellite package

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has officially launched the Svoboda Satellite Package. As a result, nine Russian-speaking TV and radio channels are now broadcast on Eutelsat’s Hotbird satellite at 13 degrees East to territories including Russia, occupied territories of Ukraine and Baltic countries. The project results from a proposal from Jim Phillipoff and the Denis Diderot Committee launched in March 2022.

 

New structure for TVP channels

Eleven channels operated by the Polish public broadcaster TVP came under its Programming Office at the beginning of this month. The channels in question are TVP Kultura, TVP Historia, TVP Dokument, TVP HD, TVP Kultura 2, TVP Historia 2, TVP Kobieta, TVP ABC, TVP ABC 2, Alfa TVP and TVP Nauka, and the change strengthens programme coordination and allows for the optimisation of the broadcaster’s costs.

 

Liberty Global promotes Severina Pascu

Severina Pascu has been appointed to the newly created role of senior VP, commercial and operations, at Liberty Global. She joined the company in 2007 as CFO of UPC Romania and has since held a number of senior roles. Liberty Global’s only presence in CEE is in Slovakia, having left Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania in the last few years.

 

Warner TV set for Czech launch

The Czech version of Warner TV will make its debut on April 2. A linear channel, it will be available as an FTA service and distributed on Multiplex 23, which is operated by CRA’s Czech Digital Group. Significantly, the Czech Republic will be only the second country after Italy in which the Warner Bros. Discovery channel can be received free of charge.

 

Megogo expands to Romania

The international streamer Megogo has made its debut in Romania. Its offer, consisting of free TV channels and Optim TV, costs RON14.99 (€3.01) a month to receive. Megogo is already present in over 25 markets across Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

 

T-2 files lawsuit against Telekom Slovenije

The Slovenian operator T-2 has filed a lawsuit against the incumbent Telekom Slovenije related to the latter requiring insurance when concluding contracts for fixed local (WLA) and central (WCA) access. It is hoping for the court to rule in its favour and is not expecting damages. Telekom Slovenije rejects T-2’s claim and says its actions are fair and non-discriminatory. T-2 has previously filed a number of lawsuits against Telekom Slovenije.

 

MyZen TV expands in Romania

The SECOM linear channels Myzen TV 4K and Museum TV 4K are now available on Ines in Romania. The agreement between Ines, which is based in Bucharest, and SECOM was finalised by Thema, a subsidiary of Canal+ Group.

 

United Media hires Elena Dimova

Elena Dimova has been appointed the HR director of United Media, effective March 1. In her new role she will lead the strategic direction of the HR unit, working closely with United Media’s top management and subsidiary firms.

Dimova has worked in the field of human resources for almost 20 years. Prior to joining United Media, she had in-house HR roles in the finance and banking industry, FMCG (food production), heavy industry (metallurgy), and fintech (IT).

 

 

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© Chris Dziadul, 2024