Belgian premium channel Prime has registered more than 180,000, the cable operator Telenet has announced. The December 31, 2008 figure represents a high watermark for a premium channel in the Flemish market.
“This is an historic figure”, delared Telenet’s VP of Television, Anouk Mertens. “Last year Prime broke through the famous FilmNet ceiling and has now chalked up a record number of customers. Most people were sceptical about the future of a channel like Prime when digital television was launched in 2005 – in particular because the then Canal+ had lost broadcasting rights for the Belgian football championship – but today Prime has proved that it is stronger than ever.”
Two new movie channels, Prime Star and Prime Family, have been launched and the number of films available on demand has been doubled to 300.
Separately, Telenet has signed a new video on demand agreement with Disney, securing PPV access to recent Disney titles including like Wall-E, Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian and High School Musical 3. The agreement joins separate contracts with other Hollywood majors including Warner, Sony, Paramount and Universal.
