Chris Dziadul, September 26, 2024
EC approves PPF Telecom Group sale
The European Commission (EC) has approved, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), the acquisition of a majority (50% + one share) stake in PPF Telecom Group, excluding its Czech business, by United Arab Emirates-based e&. Under the terms of the transaction, first announced in August last year, e& will pay an initial €2.15 billion for the stake. The transaction covers PPF Telecom’s assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia. In the case of Bulgaria, it does not include PPF’s broadcaster bTV Media Group. The EC’s approval is the first of its kind under the new FSR and could trigger more media and telecom transactions across Europe.
New OTT platform for Czech Republic
A new OTT service named Pecka.TV has been launched in the Czech Republic. It offers users three programme packages, ranging from 104 to 162 TV channels and costing from CZK119-279 (€4.74-11.10) a month. Pecka.TV can be received on smart TVs and mobile devices and also includes 5,000 films and series, a seven-day archive and 30-day recording facility. According to local reports, the service is operated by a Prague-based company named LCTV.
Streaming dips in Hungary
The number of Hungarians visiting the sites of streaming providers from a computer or mobile device was almost 20% percent lower in the first half of this year compared to H1 2023. This, according to the regulator NMHH, was primarily due to the normalisation of viewing trends following the end of the pandemic. It adds that during the first half of this year, Netflix was the most watched platform with 1,690,000 visitors per week, followed by HBO Max (419,000) and Disney+ (285,000). Not far behind was the most popular Hungarian service provider, TV2 Play, which was visited by 259,000 people per week. NMHH notes that RTL+ attracted 144,000, SkyShowtime 122,000, Amazon Prime Video 65,000, Telekom TV GO 52,000 and the National Film Institute's Filmio service 5,000 visitors. In other important observations, NMHH says that although more streaming service providers are entering the Hungarian market, this has not brought any meaningful competition: the new players typically attract new users who were previously unable to be reached by other service providers. Furthermore, Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max, targeted the 16-39 age group particularly well, while TV2 Play, Filmio and SkyShowtime had a majority of 50-75 year olds in their audience. There is only a significant difference between the sexes in three cases: SkyShowtime and Telekom TV GO are more popular among men, while TV2 Play is more popular among women.
SPI International enhances streaming service
The streaming service Filmbox+ has been enhanced in Poland, Hungary and Romania. Both its appearance and features are now optimised for a simpler, more intuitive and enjoyable user experience. Filmbox+ is operated by Canal+’s SPI International and offered in the three countries exclusively as part of cable and satellite operators’ packages.
Polish competition authority clamps down on operators
Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has issued a binding decision requiring the former UPC Polska (now P4) to compensate customers for charging them for services they did not choose to receive. It is investigating a similar practice by Canal+ Polska, which faces being fined up to 10% of its turnover.
OTT take-up grows in Croatia
Croatia ended the second quarter with 85,677 subscribers to OTT services. This, according to the regulator HAKOM, was 81.03% more than in the same period in 2023. However, it was less than 10% of the total pay-TV subscriptions, which increased by 1.62% over the year to 929,473. IPTV was the most popular form of reception (492,907, +1.17%), followed by cable (134,653, -11.23%), DTH (123,301, -6.38%) and pay-DTT (93,035, -3.89%). Pay-TV revenues in Q2 amounted to €34.458 million, or 10.05% more than in the same period last year.
UPC’s Martin Miller to retire
Mihnea Radulescu will become the new CEO of UPC Broadband Slovakia on October 1. He will replace Martin Miller, who after nearly 28 years at Liberty Global, the parent company of UPC, will retire at the end of this month.
CRA extends Czech TV multiplex contract
The Czech national transmission company CRA will provide the public broadcaster Ceska Televize (CT) with complete technical support for the operation of the nationwide multiplex MUX21 until 2030. MUX 21 broadcasts in Full HD quality, distributing five national TV channels and four regional version of the public broadcaster’s first channel CT1 to more than 99% of the Czech population. The multiplex is also used to broadcast 10 public radio stations from Czech Radio, reaching the 10% of Czech households that listen to digital radio broadcasts. MUX21 employs 29 high-power transmitters and 52 repeaters.
OIV takes over Bosnian TV digitisation
The Croatian national transmission company OIV has signed an addendum to an agreement with Nimbus Innovations (the legal successor to the sanctioned company Sirius 2010) and Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia & Herzegovina. It will enable the continuation of the digitisation of public broadcasting services in Bosnia & Herzegovina, with OIV assuming all rights and obligations from the agreement on the part of the supplier. OIV was in charge of integrating the equipment into a single system, as well as upgrading the equipment from the first phase of digitisation, which was successfully completed earlier. The total value of the signed addendum to the agreement, which will enable the reception of public broadcast programmes via a DVB-T2 platform covering the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, amounts to €13.08 million. Bosnia & Herzegovina remains the last country in Europe not to have digitised its terrestrial TV services.
Canal+ hires Ewa Soroka
Ewa Soroka has been appointed the marketing director at Canal+ Polska, effective October 21. In her new role she will be responsible for for building and implementing the marketing strategy for Canal+ products and brand, as well as marketing activities aimed at B2C and B2B clients. Soroka has been employed in the media industry for almost 15 years and was most recently at Ringier Axel Springer Polska.
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