German company Asklepios Medienkommunikation und Marketing wants to launch Gesund.TV, a thematic TV channel focussing on healthy lifestyle.
German anti-media concentration commission KEK has given the green light to the venture at its latest assembly in Berlin. The licence application was submitted at media authority MA HSH.
Gesund.TV plans to broadcast as a free-to-air service via cable, satellite, IPTV and OTT, according to KEK.
All shares in Asklepios Medienkommunikation und Marketing are held by Asklepios Kliniken Verwaltungsgesellschaft, a 100% subsidiary of German hospital group Asklepios Kliniken. The group’s single shareholder is Dr. Bernard große Broermann.
The first attempt to establish a health TV channel in Germany was made almost 10 years ago: Deutsches Gesundheitsfernsehen (DGF), a thematic TV channel covering health, nutrition and research, launched on April 1, 2007. The free-to-air channel initially transmitted via cable and satellite, but became a web-only service in February 2009 to save costs. In July 2009, DGF filed for insolvency.
On the pay-TV market, German publishing house Burda tried to establish a thematic TV channel showing health programmes: Focus Gesundheit launched on June 1, 2005, but closed down on September 15, 2010.
