Belgian operator Telenet is bundling SVOD with two new top tiers of its TV product to be called Rex and Rio.
The top-tier Rio package includes subscription to the six premium channels, and in a move to fend off future competition from SVOD services such as Netflix, exclusive access to on-demand premium movies (current titles include Ted, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Madagascar 3, Skyfall, De Rouille et d’Os) and TV series including Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Girls, Borgen and The Newsroom. US series are shown within days after airing in the US and are exclusively available on Telenet.
Rex and Rio will become available on September 23, at €14.95 a month for Rex and €24.95 for Rio. For this price, all family members can pick titles from the wide on-demand offering and have access to the extra theme channels, on the device of their choice. Customers can decide each month whether to continue or stop their subscription.
For the time being, nothing will change for the current subscribers to one of the present channel packages (Prime, Plus, Music Choice, HD XL and Passion).
The new Rex package consists of a wide SVOD offer with 1,000 movies and 1,000 episodes of TV series, and the thematic channels History Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery World, Discovery Science, Discovery ID, E! Entertainment, Travel Channel, OUT TV, Fashion One, Boomerang, Disney Jr, Disney XD, Nick Toons, Nick Hits, Baby TV, MTV Rocks, VH1, Mezzo, Lite and comedy channel Lacht.
In addition, Rio will offer another 1,000 movies and 1,000 episodes of TV series and 20 more thematic channels: Discovery HD Showcase, TCM, MGM, TNT HD, Shorts HD, Foxlife HD, SyFy, 13th Street, Penthouse, Blue Hustler, Playboy, Motors TV, Trace Sports, MTV Live HD as well as the premium movie channels Prime Star, Prime Star +1, Prime Family, Prime Action, Prime Series and Prime Fezztival.