The 140 German cable networks, who take part in the Deutschen Netzmarketing have now access to HD channels from the country’s two main private broadcasters ProSiebenSat.1 TV Deutschland and RTL Deutschland, thanks to a new agreement with Eutelsat Kabelkiosk.
The KabelKiosk distributes the HD channels RTL HD, VOX HD, Pro Sieben HD, SAT.1 HD and as well as 39 private channels in SD quality in a basic package to cable operators. Under the agreement, the cablenets belonging to the Deutschen Netzmarketing now have immediate access to the channels to carry them on their networks.
Ingo Schuchert, managing director of the Deutschen Netzmarketing, said in a statement: “Digitisation is not an end in it self, it must offer customers real added value in terms of quality, comfort and variety. Exactly this can be done with the offer of BasisHD from Eutelsat.”
Martina Rutenbeck, CEO of Eutelsat Communications said in Cologne: “We are delighted to have signed the distribution agreement, which promotes the digitisation of the cable. With a combination of crowd-pulling HD content, strong marketing partners, and attractive services Eutelsat KabelKiosk remains an important guarantee for the successful migration of the cable to digital TV. ”
The Deutsche Netzmarketing is a joint partnership between around 140 cable operators in the German-speaking parts of Europe with the aim to jointly sign distribution contracts with broadcasters. It brings together small and medium-sized private operators as well as larger nets such as Tele Columbus and Primacom and so-called ‘city carriers’ including NetCologne and wilhelm.tel. Also, many housing associations take part in the venture, that brings together some 6 million cable homes.