LIBERTY GLOBAL SEEKS EURO MOMENTUM VIA 'HORIZON 4'

摘要

LOOKING TO SPARK customer growth in sluggish regions including The Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium, Liberty Global has announced the deployment of its next-generation video platform, Horizon 4. The platform combines linear TV with cloud digital video recording, video-on-demand, voice remote capabilities, mobile "go" features and integrated over-the-top apps, including Netflix and YouTube. It's already battle-tested, with Liberty deploying it across around 2 million homes in the United Kingdom, where it has been combined with Arris set-tops and TiVo software and marketed under the V6 brand. Liberty Media reported an uptick of 45,000 TV customers across Virgin Media system in the second quarter. But CEO Mike Fries conceded Liberty Global faces "a pretty tough competitive environment" in places like Switzerland, where Liberty lost 54,000 customers in Q2, more than half of them in video.