Inside CEE Television
- chrisdz3
- Jul 24
- 5 min read
Chris Dziadul, July 24 2025
4iG to restructure SpaceCom debt
Hungary’s 4iG and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have jointly submitted an offer for the comprehensive restructuring of the bond debt of the satellite operator SpaceCom. Under the proposed plan, IAI, which is an Israel state-owned defence company, would acquire an 80% stake in SpaceCom and 4iG retain its 20% share and continue to act as a strategic partner in the company’s future operations. The financial structure would include a capital injection of $12 million in the form of a subordinated shareholder loan, with 4iG contributing $2.4 million towards the total. In a separate development, 4iG has signed MoUs with the leading United Arab Emirates technology and investment companies e& and Mubadala Investment Company.
Zygmunt Solorz dismissed
In what is an extraordinary development, Zygmunt Solorz has been dismissed from the position of president of the management board at Poland’s Cyfrowy Polsat. At the same time, Mirosław Błaszczyk has been dismissed from the position of president of the management board. They have been replaced by Daniel Kaczorowski and Andrzej Abramczuk respectively. The decision to fire Solorz and Błaszczyk was made by Liechtenstein-based TiVi Foundation, Cyfrowy Polsat’s majority owner, set up by the Solorz family. Solorz is the founder of Cyfrowy Polsat and has recently been in dispute with his children over the group’s future ownership and direction. Cyfrowy Polsat is one of the leading providers of media and telecom services in Poland and traces its roots back to Polsat, the country’s first national commercial TV station, which was launched in the early 1990s.
Hrvatski Telekom loses TV subs
The Croatian incumbent Hrvatski Telekom (HT) ended the first half of this year with 551,000 TV subscribers in its home market. Although this was 0.7% fewer than 12 months earlier, its TV APRU over the same period rose by 11.9% to €14.2. Meanwhile in Montenegro, its local subsidiary saw its TV subscriber base increase by 1.4% to 84,000. HT notes that one of the highlights of the first half of this year on the TV side of its business was securing the exclusive rights to broadcast Croatian Football League (HNL) games for an additional five seasons, starting 2026/7. All top-tier games will be shown exclusively on HT’s MAXSport channels.
Vodafone targets sports fans
Vodafone has launched a new package named Vodafone TV Lite & Sport in the Czech Republic. It combines the operator’s complete sports offer, consisting of 20 channels, with more than 30 basic channels from Vodafone TV, and is available to subscribers for a promotional price of CZK59 (€2.4) for the first month, subsequently rising to CZK299 a month. The package includes Nova Sport, Sport 1 and 2 and Eurosport 1 and 2 in its sports channel line-up.
TVP in the red
The Polish public broadcaster TVP ended 2024 with a net loss of PLN238.6 million (€56.1 million). According to figures released by the National Court Register (KRS) and published by the local media, its revenues amounted to PLN3.41 billion, down 19.6% on the previous year. The KRS puts the loss down to the failure of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) to transfer PLN245.5 million in receiver licence fees to the public broadcaster.
HBO Max expands across CEE
The streaming service HBO Max has made its debut in four CEE markets. As of July 22, it is available in Albania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In addition, it has launched in Armenia. Cyprus, Georgia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malta and Tajikistan. All told, HBO Max is now available in 90 markets, having gone live in Australia and Turkey earlier this year. As of Q1, it had 122.3 million subscribers, or 22.6 million more than 12 months earlier. In a related development, as previously reported by Inside CEE Television, Go 3 has become the first local TV services in the Baltics to launch HBO Max following an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Legal blow for Dragan Šolak
The Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal by Dragan Šolak to take up the matter of his dismissal and that other senior management at United Group on an urgent basis. In a statement, United Group says it “rejects his claims and assertions and has explained the court that there is no basis for urgently considering this matter.” It adds that it is expected the court will set a date for a hearing in October of November 2025. Inside CEE Television notes that Solak, who founded United Group, filed a lawsuit against it last month after the surprise dismissal of both him and CEO Viktoriya Boklag by BC Partners, the majority shareholder.
Strong year for Czech CRA
The Czech infrastructure company CRA saw both its total revenue and EBITDA increase by more than 10% in the year to March 31, to almost CZK2.9 billion (€117.9 million) and CZK1.4 billion respectively. In a statement, it says that although its revenue is again largely made up of sectors other than traditional broadcast, the latter remains the strongest in its portfolio. CRA, which is owned by Cordiant Digital Infrastructure, notes that its revenues for ICT services, which include cloud, data centres and OTT, increased by 65% year-on-year.
Telia confirms Latvian exit
Sweden’s Telia has signed an MoU with the Republic of Latvia, Latvenergo and LVRTC to sell all its shares in the fixed network operator Tet and mobile operator LMT. In a statement, it says the parties are aiming to sign a final agreement by the end of this year and for the transaction to close in H1 2026. Telia currently owns 49% of Tet and 60.3% of LMT. Inside CEE Television notes that discussions surrounding its exit from Latvia have been ongoing for some time. Unofficial estimates believe the transaction could be worth between €500-600 million.
Hungarian families with children opt for streaming
Families with children in Hungary spend significantly more on communication services, including streaming, than other households. According to a 2024 survey undertaken by the regulator NMHH, Hungarian households spend around HUF24,000 (€60.1) per month on such services, with the amount increasing by approximately HUF3,400 a month per child. NMHH notes that while traditional pay-TV services are already received in 90% of households, the rate is almost 100% in those with children. It adds that the effect is much more striking for streaming. While only 18% of households without children watch such services, the figure rises to 39% for those with one child and 69% for those with two or more. Although Netflix is the most popular streaming service among families with children, Disney+ is also widely watched.
For more information about Chris Dziadul, please go to:
To register your interest in receiving regular news updates on the TV industry in Central and Eastern Europe, please email:
© Chris Dziadul, 2025
Comments