Turkey’s Dogan TV has signed an agreement to deploy a wide range of technologies and applications supplied by NDS. They will help the broadcaster, which is owned by the media group Dogan Yayin Holding (DTH), to launch an advanced TV service named DSMART to a potential 17 million households in the country. Dogan TV encompasses three FTA national TV channels, Star TV, CNN Turk, Kanal D and 15 thematic channels, as well as two services (EuroD and EuroStar) aimed specifically at viewers outside Turkey. It also has interests in the radio, home video and production sectors and will make its first foray outside Turkey next month when it launches entertainment-based Kanal D, probably as a joint venture with Switzerland’s Ringier AG, in Romania. Dogan TV commanded an audience share of 24% and 36% of TV ad spend in Turkey in H1 2006.(CD)
This follows last year’s upgrade news from Digiturk. CAS by Irdeto, Middleware by OpenTV, HD PVRs by Pace, and a complete overhaul, upgrading to HD, of their play-out center by Harris. It looks like what previously were periferial markets are stepping-up.