Belgian based media entrepreneur Gabriël Fehervari, CEO of production house Alfacam, has decided to pull the plug on Exqi Plus because of the channel’s continuing losses.
Just before the summer, Exqi Plus cancelled its contract with the ad sales house RMB because of disappointing viewing figures for the channel, while programming on the channel was replaced by sports from the Exqi Sport+ channel.
According to Belgian press reports, Fehervari and his wife Karin Stoop put €4.5 million into the venture. Fehervari’s Alfacam also invested in the channel and had to write off €4.7 million on the channel resulting in a loss for the company of €3.69 million. However, turnover at Alfacam rose to €23.3 million during the first half of the year, up from €17.1 million.
Alfacam realises 84% of its turnover outside of Belgium; 60% of it comes from outside Europe. The company was heavily involved with coverage of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and has new contracts in India for the Commonwealth Games, as well as for cricket competitions.
Fehervari is now looking for new partners to continue with the EXQI Sport, EXQI Culture and EXQI FM channels. Alfacam is one of the pioneers in HD broadcasting in Europe with the early launch of channels such as Euro 1080 and HD1, HD3 and HD5.