MTG’s Viasat will shortly launch a new DTH platform, most probably targeting the lower end of the market, in Ukraine.
According to ProIT and Satkurier, it will be known as UA.TV and operated by Media Vision, which is responsible for the company’s existing platform Viasat Ukraine.
The latter, which is distributed by Astra 4A, made its debut in April 2008 and lists MTG and Strong Media Group as its shareholders.
Insights into MTG’s strategy in Ukraine were provided by Irina Gofman, EVP of Russian & CIS Broadcasting, speaking at a Capital Markets Day in Stockholm earlier this year.
In it, she said that pay-TV penetration in Ukraine in 2011 was still a relatively low 19.5% of all households, with the addressable market for DTH being 15.4 million non-cable households.
She added that DTT development – the country has a platform operated by the company Zeonbud – also represents a great growth opportunity for satellite.
An announcement on UA.TV is expected tomorrow (Tuesday, September 25).
Viasat Ukraine currently has around 150,000 subscribers, while its nearest competitor Xtra TV has in the region of 100,000.
