The German cable operator Kabel Deutschland KDG and ARD/ZDF have agreed on the conditions of carriage of the HD versions of the main public channels in the country. Just last week, the cabler said it would not distribute the HD versions.
KDG took the position that HD simulcasting is not part of the overall carriage agreement between the operator and the public broadcasters and that ARD and ZDF should pay a carriage fee for the new channels.
The announcement was made just as the broadcasters were to broadcast HD coverage of the Athletics World Championships, taking place in Berlin between August 15 and 23.
According to local press reports, KDG was not successful in its bid to gain payments from the pubcasters.
In a related development, the Dutch public broadcaster NOS has decided not to carry the HD signals from the Berlin event on its Nederland 1 HD channel. The costs involved were deemed too high and the sports event was broadcast only in upscaled SD.
All three Dutch public channels Nederland 1, 2 and 3 now simulcast in upscaled SD and are available on all major cable nets, with Nederland 1 HD also offered on the DTH platform Canal Digitaal.
