Canal+ asks broadcasters to join its digital force

Days before @Entertainment-owned Wizja was scheduled to launch its digital platform, Canal+ said it was on the verge of crafting a consortium that would include public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP); soon-to-be-privatized telecom monopoly Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA); commercial station Polsat; and Bresnan Communications-owned cable network AsterCity.
"We are in the final stages of negotiations with those parties," said Gaspard de Chavagnac, deputy managing director of Canal+. "We hope to close the deal before the official launch."
Although none of these parties would disclose what size stake they would take in the proposed consortium, de Chavagnac said none of the partners would assume more than 50%. TVP, he said, would probably take the largest stake, followed by Canal+, Polsat, TPSA and AsterCity.
While both Canal+ and Wizja approached the Polish broadcasters about including their programming in the digital platforms, only Canal+ has offered them the opportunity of actually becoming a financial partner in the business. If Canal+ wins the digital game and becomes the platform of choice in Poland, the broadcasters that would likely help put it over the top would get a share of the profits.
As for TPSA, it would provide valuable infrastructure - namely satellites to broadcast the signal - and cash.
Canal+ plans to begin broadcasting its digital platform on Oct. 30. If the consortium comes together, that platform would include Poland's most popular television stations, TVP1, Polsat and TVP2. The group had already agreed with Polsat to carry its signal.
That platform will also be carried on AsterCity cable.
But Canal+ doesn't want to stop there. The company is also going after two fairly new stations, supraregional tvn and Nasza TV. "We are open to all Polish partners who are legally operating on the market," de Chavagnac said.
Whether those entities will deal exclusively with Canal+ is an open question. TVP's owner, the Treasury Ministry, is unsure what direction it wants the public broadcaster to take. At the same time, a TPSA executive was spotted last Thursday having lunch at the Blue Cactus restaurant with an @Entertainment official.
"We are open to cooperation with any partners," Przemyslaw Szmyt, @Entertainment's deputy president, said last week.
He said the company was willing to share some of its expensive infrastructure, such as a $2.5 million-$3 million transponder, with other Polish stations that are eager to improve their technology. Wizja's digital platform officially debuted last Friday; the company is still actively negotiating with potential partners, the prime one being TVP.
"We are still talking with TVP," Szmyt said. "And so far it has not given us the cold shoulder."
But TVP will be excluded from aligning itself with Wizja if it does eventually sign on with Canal+'s consortium. "We are negotiating exclusive rights," de Chavagnac said.
TVP and its programming is largely seen as a trump card for either broadcaster. While @Entertainment has a head start with already launched Wizja, industry executives said it needs TVP's programs to reach its target market share.
"For @(Entertainment), the fact that they are already on the air is a definite victory," said a media watcher who wished to remain unnamed. "But if Canal+ actually gets TVP and TPSA, Wizja may see its number of subscribers fall below the targeted figure."
@Entertainment hopes to have 130,000 subscribers by the end of the year. The company has already sold 34,000 Philips digital receivers - the dishes needed to receive the signal - at a subsidized price of zl. 599, Szmyt said. "And all that before the official launch of the advertising campaign," he said.
While TVP is crucial to either platform, the public broadcaster's alliance is far from being decided.
"We are negotiating with the two digital operators, and I don't think any binding decision will be taken soon," said Pawel Sosnowski, director of TVP's information bureau. "So far there has been no single document signed."
Canal+ and the Polish parties are scheduled to meet about the consortium this Wednesday. But media watchers are already doubting the ability of Canal+ to bring both TVP and TPSA into the same group.
While both entities are technically owned by the Treasury Ministry, their management boards are opposed in terms of political ties.
TVP's board is tied to the former government, led by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), while TPSA's is linked to the currently governing, right-leaning Solidarity Election Action (AWS).
"You cannot marry water and fire," said an industry source who refused to be named.
The Treasury Ministry also appears to be unclear as to how to handle all the attention TVP is getting. The ministry last week sent a letter to the country's media watch dog, the National Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV), asking it to take a stand on the issue.
"We have no idea what the status of the future consortium would be," said Andrzej Zarebski, member of the KRRiTV's management board.
He said that TVP has three choices: Allow any platform to carry its signal; join the consortium and take part in the digital revolution; or focus on creating new programming and spin off additional stations, and then eventually sell the rights to the digital platforms.
TVP could "just build up its own thematic platform and then open a small store with those," Zarebski said.
But one thing is clear, he said. The KRRiTV is uncertain why Canal+ is so eager for TVP to become a shareholder in its consortium. "We don't know if (TVP's) potential cooperation with Canal+ would involve only production, actual creating of the digital platform or just propaganda aimed against Wizja TV," he said.