The Czech DTH market could be about to enter a period of huge change, with the merger of the two leading platforms Skylink and CS Link a possibility.
E15 reports that Media Vision, which is headed by Ivan Zach, is looking into the possibility of selling CS Link, which had 419,000 active smart card holders at the end of 2009 (both CS Link and Sky Link are pre-paid services and occupy the same Astra orbital slot at 23.5 degrees East).
Media Vision posted a loss of nearly CZK70 million (€2.83 million) in the first 11 months of last year and has since consolidated its assets.
One of those assets is the third multiplex, which is operated by the Czech Digital Group (CDG) and is believed to be up for sale and to be attracting interest from both TV Nova and Ceske Radiokomunikace (CRa).
The Czech Republic’s DTH market is currently served by Skylink, CS Link, Digi TV and UPC Direct.