Luxembourg-based M7 Group has concluded a long-term satellite and OTT distribution agreement with US-based news channel Newsmax. The deal was announced today at ANGACOM 2022 in Cologne.
Newsmax is available in 52 million pay TV homes in the US and is also available on a number of OTT platforms such as Roku, Pluto and Samsung TV+. Newsmax is now focused on expanding globally, starting in Europe via M7 Group.
Following the agreement with M7, Newsmax will from sometime in June onwards start broadcasting Free-to-Air in HD via the M7 satellite platform at Astra 23.5 East. Newsmax will be listed in the EPG’s of Skylink (Czech Republic and Slovakia), Canal Digitaal (Netherlands) and TV Vlaanderen (Flanders), the M7-owned Direct-To-Home platforms operating via Astra 23.5.
Furthermore, Newsmax will be available as linear OTT channel via the M7 platforms in Hungary (Direct One), Romania (Focussat), Austria (HD Austria) and Wallonia (TéléSAT).
Bill Wijdeveld, VP Platform Content Services at M7 Group, commented: “We are welcoming Newsmax on board of our TV platforms, allowing the channel to launch into multiple European markets in one go. We thank Newsmax for its trust in our service provisioning and look forward to a fruitful cooperation over the coming years.”
Andy Biggers, SVP of Content Distribution of Newsmax added: “We selected M7 as our European launch partner as it allows us to be instantly available in 7 European key markets. Moreover, being available via Astra 23.5 East allows us to deliver Newsmax to third party operators throughout Astra’s Europe-wide footprint in optimal picture and sound quality.”
Rajan Sing, responsible for EMEA distribution of Newsmax, told Broadband TV News that the plan is to roll out local versions of the channel and not just the US feed. Also, the broadcaster plans a second channel featuring documentaries some time in the future.
