German cable operator NetCologne has added three further HD channels from public broadcaster ARD to its offering: Einsfestival HD, EinsPlus HD and tagesschau24 HD.
The channels are distributed unencrypted. As one of the first cable companies, NetCologne now carries the complete HD line-up from public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, thereby increasing its HD proposition to 71 channels 23 of which are transmitted unencrypted.
The digital channels from ARD and ZDF will be important for football fans in the next weeks as the two broadcasters will outsource some of the World Cup games to Einsfestival and ZDFinfo. In total, ARD and ZDF will show all 64 World Cup matches live from Brazil on their main channels and digital channels.