To say that the last few years have been eventful for SPI International/FilmBox is something of an understatement.
Having cut its teeth in Poland, it expanded to the rest of Central and Eastern Europe and now has a global presence.
Indeed, as recently as 2013 it was only operating in Poland and had just launched in Romania. Fast-forward to the present, following the recent addition of Moldova to its footprint through a deal with StarNet, it works with almost all operators in the CEE region and reaches 27 million homes.
Key to SPI International/FilmBox’s expansion has been entering into partnerships with key industry players. These currently include Amazon, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Turkcell and Vodafone.
Further afield, it has established a presence both in Africa and the Far East, and all told it globally now works with 1,400 operators in 45 countries. Its reach is currently 55 million homes, and according to the company it aims to almost double this figure to 100 million by 2022.
In terms of targets, SPI International/FilmBox also aims to double its current revenues by 2022, with digital accounting for 25% of the total.
2018 was an important year for the company in Poland, where it acquired Stopklatka through its subsidiary Kino Polska TV. The deal further strengthened Kino Polska TV’s position in the Polish market, where it had also recently become the sole owner of the DTT channel Zoom TV.
Looking to the future, SPI International/FilmBox is now aiming to increase its ad revenues, starting in the Czech Republic. It already has a strong presence in the country and earlier this year signed a new agreement with M7 Group’s Skylink, the leading DTH platform in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In another important development, the company has also just opted for Evrideo’s cloud-based playout platform to distribute its proprietary channel Gametoon HD.
