It may be still early days, but connected TV is undoubtedly starting to take off in Central and Eastern Europe.
Certainly in Poland, one of the region’s largest markets, the figures are already starting to look impressive. Figures published in the local press say that there are now 300,000 connected TVs in the country and that they will account for 35% of total TV set sales this year.
Alongside this growth in connected TV take-up we are seeing a raft of new and extremely important content agreements. Just a few days ago it was reported that the Russian ISP and 4G network provider Yota had entered into a three-year agreement securing 2,000 hours of BBC content for PCs, smart phones and connected TVs. This content will now become available on Yota Play, a new service on Samsung Smart TV expected to make its debut in July.
Furthermore, it has been reported that Samsung Smart TV has extended its cooperation with ipla, the interactive media platform operated by Redefine, a subsidiary of Poland’s Polsat. Redefine regards Samsung as a strategic partner and will be introducing a widget on its sets produced this year that will give access to the platform’s iplaFILM channel, which currently consists of paid-for titles.
However, Redefine is also working closely with other players in the connected TV space. Just this May, for instance, it announced that ipla was being made available on sets produced by LG Electronics. Panasonic, Sony and of course Samsung are already working with ipla and are soon expected to be joined by Philips.
Leading broadcasters in general across Central and Eastern Europe are now starting to offer their content over the internet and the trend is only likely to intensify. CME, for instance, launched its VOD portal Voyo in the Czech Republic earlier this year and will shortly roll it out to its five other markets across the region. Less than a month ago it struck a key agreement with Warner Bros giving viewers access to around 150 movie titles.
All in all, viewers in the region can look forward to a much more rewarding TV experience in the months and years that lie ahead.
