Inside CEE Television
- chrisdz3
- May 15
- 4 min read
Chris Dziadul, May 15 2025
Max reverts back to HBO Max
The streaming service Max will return back to its original name HBO Max this summer. News of the move was announced by JB Perrette, president and CEO of streaming, and Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content, at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), speaking at the WBD Upfront on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York. HBO Max was the original name of the streaming service when it launched in May 2020, with the rebrand to Max taking place exactly three years later. WBD’s streaming business gained 22 million subscribers last year and is on track to exceed 150 million by the end of 2026. HBO Max made its debut in Central and Eastern Europe in March 2022, launching in 13 countries across the region.
Digi gains TV subscribers
Digi Communications ended the first quarter with 5,910,00 pay-TV subscribers in its home market, Romania. This, according to the company in its latest results, was 3.4% more than in the same period last year. The company has also started to grow its TV customer base in the West European markets it is present in. In Spain, it ended Q1 with 47,000, while in Portugal it had 125,000.
Levira expands to UK
The Tallinn-based media services company Levira has established a presence in the UK. Its subsidiary Levira Media Services, based in the city of Leeds, will ensure the delivery of content to various platforms including streaming, traditional TV, FAST and VOD. Levira Media Services is headed by CEO Martii Kinkar, with Stephen Stewart its COO.
PPF makes ProSiebenSat.1 offer
The Czech Republic’s PPF Group has decided to make a public acquisition offer to the shareholders of ProSiebenSat.1 Media to increase its stake in the German company to 29.99%. PPF has been a strategic investor in ProSiebenSat.1 Media for more than two years and is currently the second largest shareholder with a stake of close to 15%. The offer, amounting to €7 a share, follows a public takeover offer by MFE-MediaForEurope published earlier this month and has been welcomed by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It notes that PPF Group has no intention of acquiring a controlling interest in the company. PPF Group’s interests include Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which operates TV stations in several CEE countries.
Slovenian regulator rules against T-2
Slovenia’s Agency for Communications Networks and Services (Akos) has ruled against the telco T-2 for the recent withdrawal of the channels Extreme Sports, Fashion TV and Mezzo Live from its offer. In a statement, it says that T-2 unilaterally changed the contractual terms and conditions without properly informing subscribers, thus violating the country’s Electronic Communications Act. The telco is now required to publish a notice on its website about the changes and compensate customers accordingly.
TVP makes VOD and FAST gains
The Polish public broadcaster TVP saw strong growth in its streaming service in April. According to Mediapanel, TVP VOD opens were 26% higher year-on-year, while the number of visits and views were up 34% and 21% respectively. All told, the service had over 2.5 million users, spending on average four hours viewing its content, or one more than a year earlier. Significantly, TVP VOD was the second most viewed streaming VOD and OTT platform in Poland, behind only Netflix but ahead of such services as Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Player and Canal+ Online. Meanwhile, TVP’s first FAST channel, launched on April 14, made a strong start thanks to the popularity of the series Na dobre i na złe which it features.
Hearst Networks expands CEE footprint
Hearst Networks EMEA has launched a dedicated local feed for The History Channel in Slovenia. The channel will feature a curated mix of History Channel originals and popular international content, along with localised ad breaks tailored specifically for Slovenian advertisers. Local ad sales will be managed by Casmedia. Hearst Networks EMEA also has ad sales operations in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.
Poland’s Toya opts for Agama
The Polish cable operator Toya has deployed a headend and network observability solution from Agama Technologies to ensure the quality of experience for its Toya Go and Android TV OTT services. Agama Technologies is based in Linköping, Sweden, and works with a number of operators in CEE including Hrvatski Telekom and A1 Serbia.
Eurosport localised in Ukraine
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has teamed up with Megogo to localise Eurosport 1 and 2 in Ukraine. Megogo is producing a Ukrainian language soundtrack for the channels while WBD is providing technical and editorial support. The first events to be shown in Ukrainian are the Italian Grand Tour and Roland Garros tennis tournament.
Good start for Czech Oneplay
The Czech streaming service Oneplay, formed by the merger of Voyo and O2 TV in March this year, now has around 1.4 million subscribers. The figure, quoted by several Czech media outlets, was provided by PPF Group, which owns both the national commercial broadcaster TV Nova (Voyo) and telco O2 (O2 TV). They also note that prior to the merger, Voyo had a reported 950,000 subscribers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and O2 TV 870,000 in the Czech Republic. Given that the combined total was around 1.5 million in the Czech Republic and there was considerable overlap between the services, this indicates most subscribers moved over to Oneplay when it launched.
Czech spectrum management strategy approved
The Czech government has discussed and approved new spectrum management strategy. According to the Czech Telecom Office (CTU), it is
“Built on the pillars of making new frequency bands available, creating conditions for investment and innovation, implementing tools for the effective use of spectrum, and developing expertise in spectrum management.” The strategy envisages retaining digital terrestrial broadcasting beyond 2030 and the release of two previously unused national frequencies (Number 25 and 26) for a limited period They may be used by DTT networks and for 5G Broadcast tests.
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© Chris Dziadul, 2025
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