It’s now just over a decade since Romania’s RCS&RDS was at the height of its powers in Central and Eastern Europe, providing DTH services in several of the region’s countries.
However, the last few years have seen a major retrenchment and the company is now only active in its home market and in Hungary.
In early 2015 its interests in the Czech Republic were taken over by Lama Energy Group, a locally owned utility holding with little if any experience in the TV industry. However, it has proved to be highly ambitious and its efforts to transform Digi TV into a modern and successful platform appear to have paid off.
Just this week, it provided news outlets, including Broadband TV News, with a summary of what has been achieved in the last two years. In the “huge leap” that has taken place during this time, it lists the key milestones as the launch of the new Digi TV satellite platform, the expansion of the programme offer and its appeal and securing the rights to the Premier League, La Liga and other sports. Alongside these was the launch of a new internet TV service named Dig2Go last autumn.
The launch of new Digi TV came alongside the introduction of Kaon set-top boxes with enhanced features or CA modules. Migrating subscribers to the new platform required a review of their existing equipment and replacing it where necessary in order to improve reception. All in all, said Digi CZ’s CEO Vladimir Rusnak, the company has already spent hundreds of millions of crowns and the investment will continue.
Significantly, with the launch of Dig2Go Digi became the first operator in the Czech Republic to offer TV services both via satellite and over the internet.
Today, the satellite service provides viewers with over 100 channels, 22 of which are in HD. The IPTV offer, on the other hand, consists of 88 channels, 40 of which are in HD. The basic package is complemented by the additional packages Extra, Sport, Sport Plus and Cinemax.
Sport is undoubtedly one of Digi’s main USPs in a market in which it has established itself as an important player. While we have yet to report on a subscriber figure, we know that it would eventually like to have the same number for its internet service – over 200,000 – as that claimed by incumbent’s O2 TV platform.
The reality is that pay-TV penetration is much lower in the Czech Republic – probably 45-55% – than in most other CEE countries. While this undoubtedly offers opportunities for Digi and other operators, DTT services, which are free to receive, are and are set to remain exceptionally popular in the country.
