MultiChoice catches wave of cable market
Although MultiChoice has offered its FilmNet pay-TV programming in Poland for about a year via satellite, it just delved into cable this fall.
"Cable is growing more rapidly than satellite," said Piotr Plocharski, marketing director for MultiChoice Polska, which sells subscriptions for FilmNet, a Netherlands-based television group that broadcasts eight channels in 13 countries across continental Europe. In Poland, FilmNet's programming includes foreign and Polish films, soccer matches, the Discovery channel, Country Music Television and QVC, the shopping channel.
The number of Polish households with cable TV is expected to jump from one million in 1994 to 2.5 million by the turn of the century, according to research conducted by Kagan World Media Ltd., which has offices in Carmel, California, and London.
Cable is the wave of the future, Plocharski said. To that end, MultiChoice has taken several steps this fall in aggressive pursuit of more viewers.
Last month, MultiChoice signed an agreement with the Polish Cable Operators Association to transmit its programming via cable in direct-to-home (DTH) transmissions. This means that cable operators have to install devices, called traps, and subscribers can get the programming.
Since September 25, FilmNet has been available to more than 100,000 subscribers of the largest cable network in the Katowice province in southern Poland. MultiChoice declined to say how many of the cable subscribers had ordered its programming.
Two weeks ago, MultiChoice signed an agreement with Warszawska Telewizja Kablowa (WTK) PORION, a Warsaw-based cable operator, to transmit FilmNet via the PORION network. WTK PORION has 700,000 subscribers in all Warsaw districts. Plocharski said that PORION has received inquiries from 5,000 subscribers about FilmNet.
And in a move to hook viewers before winter hibernation season, MultiChoice last week began promoting a 40% subscription price reduction in a multimedia advertising campaign. Between now and the end of the year, subscribers can pay zl. 599 ($244.49) for decoding equipment and three months of basic FilmNet programming that includes CMT, MTV, the Discovery Channel and QVC. Normally the whole package costs zl. 1,048 ($427.76) for three months.
MultiChoice executives are keeping mum about their current subscribers, but are convinced they are at least a full lap ahead of competitors Canal Plus and HBO.
Canal Plus recently signed an agreement with the Polish Cable Operators Association that would allow 1.2 million viewers to receive Canal Plus' three-hour daily uncoded program. The French-owned pay-TV company, which has been operating in Poland since February, has 27,000 subscribers to its full-coded program, said General Manager Marc Olivier. Canal Plus charges zl. 199 ($81.22) deposit fee (refundable) and zl.41 ($16.73) a month for cable programming, as well as zl. 33.50 ($13.67) a month for programming received via a decoder box. Canal Plus broadcasts 20 hours a day during the week and 24 hours a day on weekends.
And Home Box Office, in Central Europe since 1990, is preparing to enter Poland as well.
Bob Leighton, senior vice president of HBO International, said during a recent media conference in Warsaw that his company expects to bring its product to the Polish market in the next few months.
HBO entered Hungary in 1991, broadcasting six hours a day. Today, it broadcasts 18 hours a day. Figures on subscribers were not immediately available at press time.
"Cable is growing more rapidly than satellite," said Piotr Plocharski, marketing director for MultiChoice Polska, which sells subscriptions for FilmNet, a Netherlands-based television group that broadcasts eight channels in 13 countries across continental Europe. In Poland, FilmNet's programming includes foreign and Polish films, soccer matches, the Discovery channel, Country Music Television and QVC, the shopping channel.
The number of Polish households with cable TV is expected to jump from one million in 1994 to 2.5 million by the turn of the century, according to research conducted by Kagan World Media Ltd., which has offices in Carmel, California, and London.
Cable is the wave of the future, Plocharski said. To that end, MultiChoice has taken several steps this fall in aggressive pursuit of more viewers.
Last month, MultiChoice signed an agreement with the Polish Cable Operators Association to transmit its programming via cable in direct-to-home (DTH) transmissions. This means that cable operators have to install devices, called traps, and subscribers can get the programming.
Since September 25, FilmNet has been available to more than 100,000 subscribers of the largest cable network in the Katowice province in southern Poland. MultiChoice declined to say how many of the cable subscribers had ordered its programming.
Two weeks ago, MultiChoice signed an agreement with Warszawska Telewizja Kablowa (WTK) PORION, a Warsaw-based cable operator, to transmit FilmNet via the PORION network. WTK PORION has 700,000 subscribers in all Warsaw districts. Plocharski said that PORION has received inquiries from 5,000 subscribers about FilmNet.
And in a move to hook viewers before winter hibernation season, MultiChoice last week began promoting a 40% subscription price reduction in a multimedia advertising campaign. Between now and the end of the year, subscribers can pay zl. 599 ($244.49) for decoding equipment and three months of basic FilmNet programming that includes CMT, MTV, the Discovery Channel and QVC. Normally the whole package costs zl. 1,048 ($427.76) for three months.
MultiChoice executives are keeping mum about their current subscribers, but are convinced they are at least a full lap ahead of competitors Canal Plus and HBO.
Canal Plus recently signed an agreement with the Polish Cable Operators Association that would allow 1.2 million viewers to receive Canal Plus' three-hour daily uncoded program. The French-owned pay-TV company, which has been operating in Poland since February, has 27,000 subscribers to its full-coded program, said General Manager Marc Olivier. Canal Plus charges zl. 199 ($81.22) deposit fee (refundable) and zl.41 ($16.73) a month for cable programming, as well as zl. 33.50 ($13.67) a month for programming received via a decoder box. Canal Plus broadcasts 20 hours a day during the week and 24 hours a day on weekends.
And Home Box Office, in Central Europe since 1990, is preparing to enter Poland as well.
Bob Leighton, senior vice president of HBO International, said during a recent media conference in Warsaw that his company expects to bring its product to the Polish market in the next few months.
HBO entered Hungary in 1991, broadcasting six hours a day. Today, it broadcasts 18 hours a day. Figures on subscribers were not immediately available at press time.
