HOT drops international channels

Three major international broadcasters are being dropped by the Israeli cable platform HOT from the beginning of February. BBC Prime, Eurosport News and National Geographic’s Adventure One are being replaced by channels from China, Georgia and Ethiopia. HOT has recently added the English language version of international news channel France 24 and plans to add the erotic channel Amateur Babes. Hallmark, Fox Sports and National Georgaphic’s main channel all survived the chop after agreeing to lower monthly carriage fees. The negotiations followed a declaration from HOT CEO David Kamenitz that he planned to reduce programming costs by up to 40%. Although the choice of channels has not pleased subscribers, the Council for Cable and Satellite Broadcasting says that HOT has done nothing wrong. A potential beneficiary from the decision is the satellite platform YES, which screens BBC Prime, but has yet to see a marked increase in subscriber numbers. (JC)