Hbo Digital Wish

摘要

HBO Central Europe believes that a lack of digital television platforms and fears over piracy are curtailing its ambitions to increase the reach of its subscription channels across central and eastern Europe. The premium content broadcaster last month launched its new thematic channel HBO Comedy in Romania, following a launch in Poland in January, and is expected to launch in the Czech Republic and Hungary in September. It also launched in March its subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD), HBO Digital, in Hungary to subscribers of its Maxpak channel package on T-Online's IPTV platform. John Rossiter, senior vice-president of business development at HBO Central Europe, a joint venture between Disney, HBO and Sony, said that the company was aiming to increase distribution across the whole region, although "there are some technical, quality and security issues that need to be addressed". "We need to be confident that our feeds will be secure and this is one issue that is preventing us from launching," he said. "We need to find an operator that will tick a lot of boxes." Rossiter said that the requirements expected of platform operators included a long-term plan to introduce new technologies and offer more services. "They need sufficient scale, the ability to fulfil customer demand and regular upgrade plans," he added. The launch of SVOD in Hungary marked the beginning of a push into other markets, said Rossiter, with the immediate focus on the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, and IPTV being the most attractive platform.