The Polish MSO Multimedia Polska has withdrawn Eurosport from its programme offer, replacing the service with the public broadcaster’s TVP Sport. At the same time, the Polish Chamber of Electronic Communications (PIKE) has issued a statement saying that the move marks the end of a “period of dictatorship” by programmers and that they should from now on treat the 4.5 million cable viewers in Poland as partners rather than continue to demand excessive fees. PIKE adds that it has been in fruitless negotiations with Eurosport about the matter since 2006. Local sources believe Eurosport was charging Multimedia Polska, Poland’s third largest operator, around €0.35 per subscriber, translating into an annual bill of around PLN760, 000 (€210,500).
