German media company ProSiebenSat.1 has closed down the global OTT service of its German-language international TV channel ProSiebenSat.1 Welt.
The channel now solely remains available as a conventional pay-TV service in the USA and Canada.
“We have successfully been present with ProSiebenSat.1 Welt in the USA and Canada for 11 years providing the largest commercial German-language TV offering via cable, satellite and OTT,” Zeljko Karajica, member of the executive board of ProSiebenSat.1 TV Deutschland and managing director of ProSiebenSat.1 Welt, told Broadband TV News.
“We have closed down our global OTT service at the end of November 2015 as we managed to sign a very good commercial distribution deal with Dish for the USA. ProSiebenSat.1 will also become available there as an OTT service again from early February,” said Karajica.
“Throughout the years, it emerged that the USA and Canada are the most important markets for our German-language channels,” explained Karajica. “We remain very satisfied with the success of our pay-TV offering there.”
The subscription-based OTT service which enabled reception of ProSiebenSat.1 Welt and an on-demand service on smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs, launched in 17 countries in August 2014: France, UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Canada, USA, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and South Africa.
With its refocus on North America, ProSiebenSat.1 Welt remains available on the following platforms: In the USA on Dish, Verizon und Frontier and in Canada on Bell, Rodgers und Cogeco. The viewers affected by the OTT termination are informed about the move and the refund of their subscription fees on the ProSiebenSat.1 website and by e-mail.
ProSiebenSat.1’s competitor RTL follows a different strategy when it launches its global TV channel RTL International on January 18, 2015 as the company aims for a multi-territory coverage not just restricted to North America by covering markets such as South Africa, Israel, Australia and Brazil.
