Chris Dziadul, March 6, 2025
TVN attracts more interest
A third possible buyer of the Polish national commercial broadcaster TVN has emerged. According to a report by VSquare, quoting unnamed sources, it is Grzegorz Hajdarowicz, the founder of Gremi Media Group. He joins two other bidders– the billionaire Michał Sołowow and a consortium led by Wirtualna Polska, which includes Rafał Brzoska, whose interests include InPost – for TVN, which is likely to be sold by Warner Bros. Discovery for around €1 billion. A number of potential foreign bidders, including MFE-Media for Europe and Hungary’s TV2, have already dropped out of contention.
TVP outlines FAST channel plans, makes VOD gains
The Polish public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) plans to launch 20 FAST channels. Speaking at a presentation on its upcoming schedule and quoted in the local media, its DG Tomasz Sygut added that the first will be Na dobre i na złe (For better or worse) and they will include one aimed at older viewers. Sygut also said that the broadcaster’s on demand service TVP VOD saw a 70% increase in the viewing of linear channels in 2024, while the number of users and video opens rose by 30%. Meanwhile, figures just published by TVP show that its on demand service was the second most popular in Poland after Netflix in February. Its share of usage time among VOD and OTT platforms put it ahead of – amongst others – Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Canal+ Online. In a separate development, TVP has announced the launch of Slawa TV, a service aimed at Ukrainian speakers. It is on air for six hours daily and uses the same frequency as Biełsat, a TVP service aimed at Belarus.
Bigger reach for Slovakia’s JOJ Šport 2
The Slovak channel JOJ Šport 2 has secured distribution on Slovak Telekom and Digi Slovakia. As a result, it will be available to an additional 600,000 households across the country. JOJ Šport 2 is operated by the broadcaster JOJ Group and made its debut on January 21.
Second anniversary for prima+
The Czech streaming service prima+ celebrated its second anniversary at the end of last month having notched up 1.4 million users and 233 million views. According to its operator Prima Group, credit for this success lies largely with its own productions, with the series Zoo and Kamarádi, along with the detective show Zrádci, having attracted the most subscribers. Going forward into this year, prima+ plans to focus more on expanding premium content and will offer up to 11 “premium” hours to its paying customers each week. Prima+ is available in a choice of three tariffs – Free, Light and Premium – with the latter being ad-free and the most comprehensive.
SPI international finds Romanian partner
Canal+-owned SPI International has entered into a partnership with Thematic Channels sales house in Romania, effective March 1. Thematic Channels will be the exclusive representative for the ad sales of SPI’s Dizi Romania, which was launched as a dedicated feed in the country last month.
Vodafone first in Czech Republic
Vodafone Czech has launched a ground-breaking set-top box that combines Dolby Atmos sound with the best features of a smart TV. Known as Vodafone TV Play, it is the first such receiver on the Czech market. At the same time, Vodafone Czech is now offering TV and high-speed internet in a single package. For CZK649 (€25.9) a month, customers will receive not only a new set-top box and the Vodafone TV+ service, but also internet at speeds of up to 1000 Mbps and a modern Wi-Fi modem Vodafone Station. Vodafone Czech notes that the Vodafone TV Play box is available to rent for CZK150 a month or can be purchased at a discount.
Marquee TV widens CEE reach
The arts and culture-based streaming service Marquee TV has widened its reach on Telemach and Serbia Broadband (SBB) across Southeast Europe. It is being offered as a linear channel on Telemach’s Eon TV in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia and on the Eon and D3, as well as Eon Sat platforms, by SBB in Serbia.
Atmedia adds more channels
Atmedia will add Antenna Entertainment’s AXN Black and AXN White to the portfolio of channels it commercially represents in the Czech Republic on April 1. It has been commercially representing Antenna Entertainment’s flagship channel AXN since 2008, the year Atmedia itself entered the Czech market. AXN Black and AXN White are distributed by the largest pay-TV operators in the Czech Republic, namely O2 TV, Vodafone TV, Magenta TV and Skylink.
Russian streamers grow revenues
The revenues from online streaming services in Russia amounted to R121.3 billion (€1.3 billion) in 2024. This, according to TelecomDaily, was 44% more than the R84.2 billion posted a year earlier. Although the total in 2023 was 45% up on the previous year, growth in 2025 is projected to be a much lower 20-22%. The top five services remained unchanged, being headed by Kinopoisk, followed by ivi, Wink, Okko and Kion, while the total number of paid subscriptions in 2024 amounted to 58 million, or 29% more than a year earlier.
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