Prima TV receives DTT approval

The Czech Broadcasting Council (RRTV) has announced that under the terms of its 1994 licence the national commercial station Prima TV is allowed to undertake DTT transmissions. Prima TV, which is backed by Sweden’s Modern Times Group (MTG), is currently distributed digitally on the Czech Digital Group (CDG) multiplex in Prague and the council’s ruling will effectively allow it to also broadcast digitally in other parts of the country including Domazlic, where DTT transmissions began last November. Separately, the MSOs UPC and Karneval have unified their phone tariffs in what is the first step of an integration process following Liberty Global’s acquisition of the Czech Republic’s number two operator. The deal, worth €322.5 million, was announced in August 2006 but only completed last month following a long investigation by the Czech Anti-Trust Office (UOHS). Karneval currently has around 10,000 telephony subscribers and UPC nearly 30,000. (CD)