Swisscom has taken its stake in the Swiss premium rights holder Cinetrade to 75%. The operator has owned 49% in the business, which has a minority holding in paycaster Teleclub since 2005.
In a statement the telco said that between them, Swisscom and Cinetrade, had opened up a wider selection of sports content to the viewing public across both pay and free-TV.
It said there is now four to six times as many football matches broadcast live on free TV, while it is now also possible to enjoy all 180 games from the Swiss Super League, as well as 36 Challenge League games, on pay-TV.
There are no plans to integrate Cinetrade into Swisscom and will continue to operate as a standalone company under its existing management. Sager will remain a shareholder and CEO of the company, while Swisscom will play no organizational role in the development of programmes.
Teleclub Programm AG will assume responsibility for the organisation of television programmes (pay TV, sport) and the editing of programme information for the Cinetrade Group.
The Competition Commission approved Swisscom’s holding in Cinetrade in 2005. At the end of 2011, the Commission confirmed that neither the assumption of a majority holding in Cinetrade nor the sale of the majority holding in the broadcaster need to be reported.
