Liberty Global’s German cablenets Unitymedia and Kabel BW have closed a new distribution agreement with Sky Deutschland that brings up to 18 HD channels to its customers in North-Rhine Westphalia, Hessen and Baden-Württemberg.
Cable customers will see the first result of the new carriage deal when Sky Atlantic HD, also dubbed The home of HBO, will launch its broadcasts on May 23. This will be followed in June, when Unitymedia and Kabel BW will also start to distribute Sky Sport HD2, Sky Sport News HD and Sky Cinema HD, bringing the total to five Sky HD channels.
The total number of Sky HD channels will grow to 15 on the Unitymedia networks, and 18 on the Kabel BW nets, by the end of the year, including a number of new Bundesliga HD football channels, which will launch with the new season.
The two cable operators will launch an extensive marketing campaign in their respective regions. Customers will buy the Sky subscriptions directly from the cable operators. The new distribution agreement replaces the current contract between Sky D and Kabel BW.