Away from the frantic build up to IBC, it’s been a fascinating week in the TV industry in Central and Eastern Europe.
The highlight was undoubtedly a deal that was nearly completed in 2010 but for some inexplicable reason never happened. Baltcom and Izzi, Latvia’s two largest cable operators, agreed at that time to merge and even received permission from the competition authority to do so.
Now, three years on, Baltcom’s owners have finally bought Izzi for an undisclosed fee.
The move is significant in that it will create a company with around 300,000 subscribers and better equipped to compete with the incumbent Lattelecom than either Baltcom or Izzi were.
On the other hand, it serves to highlight the recent lack of activity on the M&A front in Central and Eastern Europe, though this may soon change.
Speaking earlier this week, Stephane Richard, CEO of Orange, said that the company was seek to consolidate its position in several countries including Spain and Poland. It would also consider fixed-line acquisitions in Belgium and Romania, where it currently sells only wireless services.
This was seized upon in Romania, where Orange launched a DTH platform only earlier this year. The fixed-line sector in the country is already highly competitive, with RCS&RDS, Romtelecom and UPC Romania the leading players, and Orange would make an interesting addition to the mix.
Also this week, we saw Discovery fail in its bid to secure a frequency on Poland’s first DTT multiplex. The plan was to launch a localised version of DMAX and in the event it lost out to a little-known company named TV Spectrum.
The same tender also resulted in Stopklatka, another licence winner, beating off rival bids from – amongst others – Telewizja Polska.
IBC now beckons, but as these developments serve to show, there’s a whole lot more going on out there.
