The Prague Post
October 7th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague accommodation
Prague Real Estate

Home » Archives » Tech & Telecom

Cashing in on digital TV

Broadcasting firms plan to profit from mandated switchover

September 26th, 2007 issue

By Will Tizard

For the Post
For awhile, it seemed as if digital broadcasting — and the attendant sales burst in all things television — would never come to the Czech Republic.
Just ask Václav Žák, head of the Czech Broadcast Council, who found himself put on the spot Sept. 19 as he stood facing executives from dozens of international ventures investing in digital television in Central and Eastern Europe.
Speaking at the Informa industry strategy conference at Prague’s Marriott Hotel, Žák tried to explain why the Czech Republic has not yet managed to license the new medium sweeping Europe despite intense deadline pressure.
“In our country we are more cautious than is necessary,” Žák said. “We missed the opportunity for digital TV, not only to provide new technology, but for creating new markets.”
It was an awkward moment as the audience of players in the broadcast, Internet, telecom and security sectors listened in polite silence.
But Žák may have been speaking too strongly, according to interviews gathered at the conference. The opportunities for digital TV in the Czech Republic have not been missed — just delayed.
Since the European Union has set a deadline for each member state to switch from traditional analog TV broadcasting to digital broadcasts by 2012, millions of viewers are now faced with several choices as to how they’ll receive the new signals. And, the companies who win over households in the early days stand to grab a market share worth millions of euros in service contracts and advertising revenue.
This opportunity comes now that the country’s leading commercial broadcaster, TV Nova, has come to a détente with the government and upstart broadcast channels on a new media law, which should allow digital terrestrial broadcasting to begin in earnest.
As Žák explained, six new Czech broadcast startups — TV Óčko, Z1, TV Pohoda, RTA TV Febio and TV Barrandov — will finally begin transmitting under the terms of the revised law, which is expected to pass Parliament soon. These stations won their digital licenses last year but had them frozen after Nova complained that the process was unfair.
Under the revised law, the “digital six,” TV Nova and Prima TV will all receive digital licenses, joining public Czech Television, which has been broadcasting digitally for some time.
New televisions will automatically be able to receive these broadcasts, but anyone using older models will be required to purchase a set-top box that can decode digital signals. That means that, one way or another, consumers will face a buying decision when analog broadcasts cease, as they already did in the Domažlice region this summer.
Investors in the cable, satellite and ADSL business are expecting that many locals will then turn to their offerings, because these platforms capitalize far more on digital television’s promise, offering hundreds of digital channels and interactive services such as video on demand.
Digital TV can also be recorded, frozen and replayed, so the switch over is likely to drive the sales of television hard drives, some of which are already being integrated into high-end set-top boxes. High-definition programs are also part of the attraction — and these will help push the sales of large HDTVs.
“Content is king,” as Mark Goodburn put it at the Informa conference. His company, ADB, a manufacturer of set-top boxes, is — like dozens of others — expecting brisk business from the switchover. Many of these consumers may be won before the mandated switch, drawn by the increased programming variety, expected to be on the offer from cable and satellite companies.
Some of the biggest investors in the region are familiar names: HBO is developing original content in the Czech Republic and Poland, including some attention-getting documentaries intended to help promote its digital channels (one focuses on the booming cremation business that brings thousands of Polish bodies across the Czech border); Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation owns Bulgaria’s largest TV network, bTV, and is considering expansion; and Central European Media Enterprises owns stations in six countries, including their flagship in Prague, TV Nova.
The increased consumer interest has also prompted two Czech Internet services, Telefónica O2 and Volný, to launch large national campaigns offering discounts to secure subscribers to their Internet television systems.
Companies like HBO are entering the markets of Central and Eastern Europe despite the countries’ small size.
The potential for growth in a country like the Czech Republic, where only one-third of its households have cable or satellite service, is too large to ignore. Subscription rates for both are now growing at rates far higher than Western Europe’s more settled markets.
The increase options that come from digital television do run the risk of confusing the average consumer. However, that’s why one Polish digital TV network, ITI Neovision, emphasized the need to keep communication with the user as simple as possible. Neovision’s service, called N, has pushed its way into a crowded market by presenting the new technology as cool — and easy to use.
Part of that may be the panic button outfitted prominently on every one of Neovision’s remote controls, said general manager Maciej Sojka. If customers become lost in all the onscreen menus and program choices, hitting the button will return them immediately to the home screen.
“I’m quite proud of that one,” he said.
Will Tizard can be reached at business@praguepost.com


Other articles in Tech & Telecom (26/09/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.