Belgian OTT platform WeepeeTV is terminating its services o December 31, according to Belgian newspaper De Standaard.
At the moment, WeepeeTV offers a choice of 31 channels including Belgian public broadcaster VRT, private broadcaster VMMa (VTM), local Belgian channels as well as international channels including the three Dutch national public channels, BBC1 and BBC2, and Al Jazeera. Monthly fee is EUR12 for five Belgian channels plus ten a la carte channels, or EUR120 per year.
WeepeeTV is delivered via internet and can be seen on computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. It only offers live streaming.
“The big players asked Weepee to pay for the rights with very heavy minimum guarantees,” CEO Remy Knecht told the newspaper.
“Weepee still tried to get the channels based on the current market potential, to reach an agreement and knowing that a small company like Weepee can not compete in terms of advertising budgets. But the VRT and VMMa were not interested.”
The news of the upcoming end of WeePeeTV comes at the same time as start-up Bhaalu is launching its nPVR service for Belgium and the Netherlands. Both VRT and VMMa already announced legal action against Bhaalu.
Meanwhile, the combined Dutch language Belgian broadcasters VRT, VMMa and SBS are launching their own OTT app nationwide. After a pilot with 10,000 users, the new Stievie service will be rolled out on December 6.
The jointly promoted Stievie shows live channels and catch-up TV up to seven days after the original broadcast.
