Canal+ may have to launch digital platform from Sweden
In the past, Canal+ has been so against such de-located broadcasting that in October it sued competitor HBO in a Polish court because the American company beams its channel into Poland from Hungary (WBJ, Feb. 13-March 1, 1998).
Company executives last week defended the Swedish-based location for the new digital platform, saying they may use another country as a base because it is a necessity.
The station still "believes in a Polish platform broadcast from Poland," said Lew Rywin, president of Canal+ Polska. He added that the Stockholm uplink was "a temporary solution" and that "eventually we want to broadcast from Poland."
And does this differ from what HBO does? "We still think HBO operates illegally," Rywin said.
Rywin also stressed that Canal+'s digital platform is not yet operating and so it is not currently beaming programming in from Sweden. And it hopes that by the time it launches its digital platform this fall it will have found a Polish platform - "preferably from ulica Woronicza," Rywin said.
Ulica Woronicza is the home of public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP). Canal+, which already has commercial Polsat on its side is hoping to lure TVP onto its digital platform and enter into a cooperative agreement with the broadcaster (WBJ, July 6-12, 1998). But Canal+ isn't the only one after TVP. Its rival Wizja TV, also to be launched this fall, is hoping to get TVP on its own digital platform. Executives from Wizja TV, which is owned by U.S.-based @Entertainment, met last week with TVP.
The talks were "optimistic," said Andrzej Muras, president of Wizja TV. But Wizja will not sit waiting for TVP. The digital platform plans to launch Sept. 18 with or without the public broadcaster.
Canal+ is taking a more wait-and-see approach. The company has not yet met with TVP, although it has requested a sit down. And Rywin is confident that the public station will choose it over Wizja.
"Particularly with the view that the previous managing board of TVP has already looked into the offer of @Entertainment and was not too impressed," he said.
And Canal+ will not launch its platform until TVP makes up its mind on which provider to go with. "We hope that some decision will be made over the next month," Rywin said, while refusing to give a more precise launch date than "this fall."
Gaining a Polish partner will be especially important to Canal+ if it hopes to broadcast from within Poland. @Entertainment President Robert Fowler said last Thursday that he did not see a possibility for Wizja TV to move its entire broadcasting into Poland from its Maidstone, U.K. location.
Sweden aside, Canal + insists that this is its goal. "We have obliged ourselves and ultimately we want to broadcast from Poland," Rywin said. An optional partner? "Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA)," answered Rywin.
Company executives last week defended the Swedish-based location for the new digital platform, saying they may use another country as a base because it is a necessity.
The station still "believes in a Polish platform broadcast from Poland," said Lew Rywin, president of Canal+ Polska. He added that the Stockholm uplink was "a temporary solution" and that "eventually we want to broadcast from Poland."
And does this differ from what HBO does? "We still think HBO operates illegally," Rywin said.
Rywin also stressed that Canal+'s digital platform is not yet operating and so it is not currently beaming programming in from Sweden. And it hopes that by the time it launches its digital platform this fall it will have found a Polish platform - "preferably from ulica Woronicza," Rywin said.
Ulica Woronicza is the home of public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP). Canal+, which already has commercial Polsat on its side is hoping to lure TVP onto its digital platform and enter into a cooperative agreement with the broadcaster (WBJ, July 6-12, 1998). But Canal+ isn't the only one after TVP. Its rival Wizja TV, also to be launched this fall, is hoping to get TVP on its own digital platform. Executives from Wizja TV, which is owned by U.S.-based @Entertainment, met last week with TVP.
The talks were "optimistic," said Andrzej Muras, president of Wizja TV. But Wizja will not sit waiting for TVP. The digital platform plans to launch Sept. 18 with or without the public broadcaster.
Canal+ is taking a more wait-and-see approach. The company has not yet met with TVP, although it has requested a sit down. And Rywin is confident that the public station will choose it over Wizja.
"Particularly with the view that the previous managing board of TVP has already looked into the offer of @Entertainment and was not too impressed," he said.
And Canal+ will not launch its platform until TVP makes up its mind on which provider to go with. "We hope that some decision will be made over the next month," Rywin said, while refusing to give a more precise launch date than "this fall."
Gaining a Polish partner will be especially important to Canal+ if it hopes to broadcast from within Poland. @Entertainment President Robert Fowler said last Thursday that he did not see a possibility for Wizja TV to move its entire broadcasting into Poland from its Maidstone, U.K. location.
Sweden aside, Canal + insists that this is its goal. "We have obliged ourselves and ultimately we want to broadcast from Poland," Rywin said. An optional partner? "Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA)," answered Rywin.
