ANGA CABLE 2009 – COLOGNE. Eutelsat’s Kabelkiosk plans to launch a bouquet of between 8 and 10 HD channels in the third quarter of this year.
The German headend-in-the-sky service will offer the bouquet at a price point of around €15. It will comprise of a documentary, sports, lifestyle, music (both serious and modern) and youth channels.
“Since we are still talking to the various channels we cannot name them,” said Martina Rutenbeck, CEO of Kabelkiosk. A launch is intended during this year’s consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin, where HD will be the main theme.
Kabelkiosk is also launching a push-VOD service before the end of the year, using the DVB standard. “We expect to launch a real VOD service based on IP technology at a later point,” said Rutenbeck. At the moment, Kabelkiosk is looking at various solutions and consumer set-tops for the service.
In June, Kabelkiosk said it will extend its current Family XL tier with 10 additional channels. These will include the German version of the Travel Channel, the US based channels America Unleashed and Total Hip Hop, VH1 Classic, Animax, Nick Jr, the adult channel Lust Pur plus three more channels still to be announced.