M7 Group is set to facilitate cable, IPTV and DTH reception of Russian language channels RTVD, Nasch Kinomir, TeleBom and TeleDom.
The M7 Group has signed an agreement with Berlin-based media company RTV Broadcast & Content Management (RTV) for the cable, IP and DTH distribution of RTVD, TeleBom, TeleDom and Nasch Kinomir, targeting the Russian-language community in Germany and beyond. For this purpose, the channels are allocated on M7’s capacity on the new Eutelsat 9B satellite at 9 degrees East.
The three Russian language channels received the green light from German regulators last October.
RTVD is the newly launched Russian-language news and information channel; Nasch Kinomir features Russian movies, while TeleBom provides children’s programming and TeleDom focuses on new and classic Russian TV series. All four channels are already from this month available for M7 Deutschland’s cable and IPTV customers, as part of the Russian-language premium package. Furthermore, the channels will be offered via M7’s other cable and IPTV operators within the Europe-wide Eutelsat 9B footprint.
From autumn onwards, the channels will also be offered for Direct-To-Home satellite reception via the Eutelsat 9B satellite, targeting a wide audience of Russian-language speakers in Germany and the rest of Europe. For both the European third-party and DTH delivery, M7 Platform Services will provide RTV with tailor-made distribution and reception solutions, including smartcard delivery, subscriber management and help desk support.
“We are very happy with this agreement with M7 Group, allowing us to address a very large but still underserved audience of millions of Russian-speaking citizens in Germany and the rest of Europe with an attractive mix of unbiased news and information as well as general entertainment programming for all age groups“, says RTV’s managing director Peter Tietzki.
“We are very much welcoming RTV as our new customer, further enhancing the attractiveness of our Russian-language program line-up on the M7 platform on the Eutelsat 9B satellite. The agreement with RTV also confirms that the combination of cable, IP and DTH-distribution via the same satellite feed provides broadcasters with the most cost-effective solution to reach the largest possible European audience“, said Bill Wijdeveld, VP business development M7 Group.
