CEE TV industry news stories

Chris Dziadul, May 2, 2024

 

 

e& denies United Group interest

Abu Dhabi-based e& had denied that it is planning to buy United Group. This follows a report in Bloomberg earlier this week that the company is considering acquiring United Group, the leading provider of electronic communications services in South-East Europe, for around €8 billion. In a statement, e& said that it had “not entered into any negotiation or agreement in respect of United Group BV’s assets.” However, it also added that it “continually relevant market opportunities with the objectives of maximising shareholder value.”

 

NTV-Plus eyeing conditional access change

Russia’s longest-established DTH operator NTV-Plus is considering abandoning Viaccess, the French conditional access system it has used for over two decades. According to a local report, it may instead opt for a Chinese system named Compunicate. NTV-Plus is owned by Gazprom-Media and the switch could be made before the end of this year.

 

EC approves Slovak DTT compensation

The European Commission (EC) has approved, under EU State aid rules, Slovakia’s plans to compensate the digital terrestrial television (DTT) operator Towercom for the direct costs incurred in the release of the 700 MHz band. The compensation amounts to €11.7 million and will cover the cost of migrating DTT services from the 700 MHz band to lower frequencies. This will allow for the band to be used for terrestrial systems that provide wireless broadband services.

 

NEM Dubrovnik unveils first agenda highlights

The 11th edition of NEM Dubrovnik will include Bartosz Witak, general manager Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, BBC Studios, and Monty Sarhan, CEO, SkyShowtime, among its keynote speakers. Jamie Cooke (Warner Bros. Discovery) and Natasa Rapaic (Croatian Telecom) will also be keynote speakers. Izzet Pinto, founder and CEO, Global Agency, will meanwhile share a special presentation with insights into marketing in the entertainment industry. Other speakers participating NEM Dubrovnik 2024, which will take place in Hotel Dubrovnik Palace from June 10-13, will include Grégoire Polad (ACT), Kenechi Belusevic (Warner Bros. Discovery), Robert Sveb (HRT) and key executives from – amongst others – CME Adria, Czech Television, RTL Hungary, Deutsche Telekom, Telekom Srbija, HBO Max Europe and Fremantle International. More details can be found on the official website: https://neweumarket.com/dubrovnik/

 

More sports channels on Vodafone TV

Vodafone has added the channels Nova Sport 5 and Nova Sport 6 to its TV offer in the Czech Republic. As a result, Vodafone Czech now has all Nova channels, including Nova Sport 1-6, in its line-up. Nova Sport 5 and Nova Sport 6 include, amongst others, coverage of Formula 1 and Moto TP. Separately, Nova TV has announced that its channels will broadcast the European and UEFA Conference Football League from this summer.

 

Additional speakers for Content Warsaw

A further six speakers have been announced for Content Warsaw, which will take place in the Polish capital on June 3-6.They are Toomas Luhats (ERR, Estonia), Igor Draguzet (CME), Mykailo Khyzhniak (Sweet TV Group), Veronica Kovacova (Beta Film), Jonathan Broughton (Plum Research) and Vivek Lath (GoQuest Media). It has also been announced that United Media will host a screen of the crime drama The Demon’s Fall (Bulgaria) at the event on June 5.

For further details on Content Warsaw, please go to:

https://contentwarsaw.net

 

Hrvatski Telekom adds Netflix, grows TV numbers

The Croatian incumbent Hrvatski Telekom (HT) says it has raised its portfolio “to a new level” by adding Netflix to its MAXtv offer in April. It has also announced results for Q1 that show it ended March with a total of 543,000 TV customers in its home market Croatia, or 2% more than in the same period last year. Meanwhile, its TV ARPU increased by 6.9% to €13. In Montenegro, CT’s subsidiary saw its TV subscriber figure rise by 3.5% to 82,000 over the same period.

 

Olympic partnership for Warner Bros. Discovery and Play

Warner Bros. Discovery and Play have announced a cooperation under which the latter’s TV subscribers will gain access to broadcasts from the Paris 2024 Olympic games on eight pop-up Eurosport channels. Seven of the channels will be in HD and one in 4K and in total they will offer over 830 hours of sports events from the Games. Warner Bros. Discovery entered into a similar agreement last month with Vectra, Poland’s leading cable operator.

 

New Orange role for Carl Al Khawand

Carl Al Khawand has been appointed the CFO of Orange Romania Group, effective July 1. He will take over from Adela Guédon, who will continue her career within the Orange Group as CFO of Orange Cyberdefence, its cyber security division. Al Khawand has over 10 years’ experience within the Orange Group and is currently the financial director for the North-East region of Orange France. He was previously the director of strategic projects at Orange France. In his new role he will be responsible for ensuring a stable financial performance in the context of the merger between Orange Romania and Orange Romania Communications.

 

 

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http://www.chrisdziadul.com

 

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© Chris Dziadul, 2024