Poland’s leading independent production company ATM Grupa has announced plans for a second IPO. Likely to place at the end of June or early July, it could raise up to PLN185 million (€48.1 million). ATM Grupa’s plans for the next two years include the construction of a new PLN20 million TV studio in Warsaw and […]
Ukrtelecom looks for windfall
The incumbent Ukrainian telco Ukrtelecom has revealed that it expects to raise at least $1.6 billion (€1.2 billion) through the sale of a 37.86% stake in the company on the London Stock Exchange later this year. The floatation will follow the sale of a further 5% of shares locally, likely to earn Ukrtelecom a further […]
Tough times.Chris Dziadul looks at Romtelecom
Romtelecom’s latest results only serve to highlight the increasingly competitive nature of the Romanian electronic communications marketplace. The telco, which is owned by its Greek counterpart OTE (54.01%) and Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology – MCTI (45.99%), has undoubtedly had its work cut out following full market liberalisation. Today, it finds itself operating […]
Mixed picture for Romtelecom
The incumbent Romanian telco Romtelecom has reported a generally disappointing set of financial results for 2006. While its revenues were down by 3.8% to €894.8 million, EDITDA was, at €338.3 million, roughly the same as the previous year’s €341.5 million. It net income in 2006 was €55.2 million, as opposed to €84.8 million in 2005. […]
Super docu channel for Iberia
Sogecable and chellomedia’s Multicanal have announced an agreement under which the latter will acquire the assets of the documentary channel Documania. Multicanal will then go on re-launch its own documentary channel Odisea in April, offering a much wider variety of programming than at present. Both Documenia and Odisea are long-established services, having been launched 14 […]
RTL Group on the up
Bertelsmann’s RTL Group saw its revenues rise by 10.3% to €5.6 billion in 2006, while operating EBIT was up by 10.4% to €835 million. Bertelsmann itself saw its revenues increase by 7.9% to €19.3 billion and net income more than double to €2.4 billion. In Germany, Vox was RTL’s only channel to increase its audience […]
Hungary prepares for digital licences
Daniel Pataki, the president of the National Communications Authority of Hungary (NHH), has said that the country will start to sell digital TV licences next year. However, this will only happen if legislation governing digital frequencies is passed by its parliament beforehand. Hungary currently operates only a limited DTT service in Budapest and Kabhegy and […]
4Fun extends coverage
According to local reports, 4Fun Media, the owner of the Polish participation channel 4Fun TV, has signed an agreement with Vingo TV, a UK-based company owned by Timeshift Media. It will see the channel extend its coverage via Eutelsat’s Hot Bird 4 to such markets as the UK and Ireland, which have large Polish communities. […]
Multimedia/TPSA ink deal
The Polish MSO Multimedia Polska is reported to have signed a fixed line telephony interconnection agreement with the country’s incumbent telco TPSA. It will come into effect on July 1 and be valid indefinitely. Multimedia Polska is Poland’s third largest cable operator, claiming 575,000 subscribers as of the end of last year.
CT looks for earlier mux launch
The Czech public broadcaster CT has asked the country’s Telecom Office (CTU) if it can bring the launch of its DTT multiplex forward to later this year. The roll out of DTT services began in the Czech Republic in Q4 2005 and they are currently available – albeit in limited form – in Prague, Brno, […]