BBC First has entered into a partnership with A1 Telekom Austria Group that will result in the drama channel launching in Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia on April 1.
It will be made available to subscribers to A1’s pay-TV service (one.Vip in Macedonia) and Xplore OTT service with programming fully subtitled into Croatian, Slovenian and Macedonian from launch.
Speaking exclusively to Broadband TV News at BBC Showcase in Liverpool, Salim Mukaddam, VP and general manager CEE, BBC Studios, said that it wants to make BBC First, which made its CEE debut in Poland last year, eventually available throughout the whole of the region.
He added that there is a real gap in the market for a premium British channel, in effect “nothing that caters for people who want to watch premium British drama”.
Meanwhile, commenting in the development, Gernot Rasch, director marketing & operations, A1 Telekom Austria Group, said: “We see content and entertainment as a critical element of our multi-screen customer experience and it’s in the core of transforming our offerings from connectivity into personal experiences. Thus we are particularly happy and proud to be the first one in our markets to offer our customers BBC First and its exquisite stories and plots”.
Outside CEE, BBC First is also available as a channel in Australia, Asia, South Africa, the Benelux and the Middle East.