Cable TV (CATV, DVB-C, MMDS, …) News

Swiss Competition Commission to review Sunrise's UPC takeover
Jun 3, 2019 – The Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO/WEKO) has decided to examine in detail the planned takeover of UPC Switzerland by Sunrise from its owner Liberty Global. A decision from COMCO/WEKO is expected by the beginning of October 2019.
News categories: Sunrise, WEKO, Cable TV, Digital TV, MandA, Regulation, Switzerland

EQT acquires Maltese telecom operator Melita
May 23, 2019 – EQT has signed an agreement to acquire Melita from Apax Partners and Fortino Capital. Melita services customers on Malta with mainly four types of products: Gigabit broadband services, mobile and fixed telephony as well as TV services.
News categories: Melita, EQT, Harald Rösch, Ulrich Köllensperger, Cable TV, Digital TV, Malta, MandA

Telcos to dominate Western European pay TV
May 23, 2019 – Reflecting the rising importance of the telcos, IPTV is gaining subscribers in Western Europe at the expense of the other pay TV platforms. IPTV overtook satellite TV in 2015 and will be approaching cable by 2024, according to Digital TV Research.
News categories: Digital TV Research, Simon Murray, Cable TV, Digital TV, Europe, IPTV, Satellite, Subscribers, Terrestrial

AminoTV deployed on multi-tenant platform at DELTA and Caiway
May 21, 2019 – Amino has announced the first deployment of AminoTV on a multi-tenant platform at DELTA and Caiway in the Netherlands. This follows the acquisition of the two providers by EQT and their subsequent merger into DELTA Fiber.
News categories: Amino, DELTA Fiber, Donald McGarva, John Wittekamp, Cable TV, Content Distribution, Digital TV, IPTV, Middleware, Netherlands, Set Top Box

Pay TV subscribers in Romania up 3% in 2018
May 15, 2019 – According to ANCOM, in 2018 the number of pay TV subscribers in Romania grew by 3%, reaching a total of 7.64 million. The trend of previous years continued with subscribers shifting from satellite to cable and IPTV.
News categories: ANCOM, Sorin Grindeanu, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Satellite, Subscribers

Rostelecom pay TV subscribers up 3% YoY in 1Q 2019
May 15, 2019 – Rostelecom (MOEX: RTKM, RTKMP; OTCQX: ROSYY) has announced results for the first quarter of 2019. The number of pay-TV subscribers grew by 3% to 10.2 million households compared to the corresponding period of last year.
News categories: Rostelecom, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Results, Russia, Subscribers

Major U.S. pay TV providers lost ~1,325,000 subscribers in 1Q 2019
May 14, 2019 – Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. lost about 1,325,000 net video subscribers in 1Q 2019, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 305,000 subscribers in 1Q 2018.
News categories: Leichtman Research, Bruce Leichtman, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Satellite, Streaming, Subscribers, USA

Fibre becomes leading technology for pay TV distribution in Norway
May 13, 2019 – Fibre has become the leading technology for the distribution of pay TV in Norway according to the country's National Communications Authority (Nkom). At the end of 2018, there were over 2.2 million TV subscriptions in the country, 28,000 fewer than a year earlier.
News categories: Nkom, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Norway, Satellite, Subscribers, Terrestrial

Cox adds Amazon Prime Video access to Contour voice remote
May 13, 2019 – Cox Communications has announced that Contour customers now have access to Amazon Prime Video. By simply saying "Amazon Prime Video" or "Prime Video" into their Contour voice remote, customers can watch Amazon Originals.
News categories: Cox Communications, Prime Video, Kevin Hart, Andrew Bennett, Apps, Cable TV, Digital TV, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Streaming, USA