05.12.03
BBC
Prime breaks new ground in Germany
BBC
PRIME, the international British entertainment channel, has secured
a groundbreaking deal that widens the channel's German digital distribution.
Effective
immediately, BBC Prime, is available on ish Plus TV - a new initiative
from one of Germany's leading cable net operators, ish, to provide
digital programming on a large scale to its existing cable network.
This
deal brings BBC Prime to a potential 1.1 million new homes on the
ish TV cable network, with plans to increase this by a further 3.9
million homes as digital capability is extended.
BBC
Worldwide Director of Channels, Wayne Dunsford, said: "This
is a major step for BBC Prime, putting the channel in a strong position
to fully exploit the move to digital. As digital roll-out across
the ish network increases, BBC Prime is now placed to enter a major
expansion phase in the key German market."
James
Bonsall, CEO of ish Plus TV, added: "With ish Plus TV we want
to prove that digital TV does not have to mean expensive pay TV.
With the introduction of BBC Prime to our new digital offering,
we are bringing high quality British entertainment programming to
our viewers on a large scale."
Notes
to Editors:
BBC
PRIME is broadcast to over 14 million subscribers in more than
100 countries and territories. Over 2200 hours of new programming
are transmitted each year, including Parkinson, Top of the Pops,
EastEnders, The Weakest Link and BBC LEARNING (the BBC's unique
overnight educational service). This flagship British cable channel
shows the best of the award-winning programmes from the BBC - the
world's leading programme maker. In Germany BBC PRIME is available
on ish Plus TV, KDG and UPC Primacom.
ish
TV
ish operates the cable network in North-Rhine-Westphalia, which
provides over 4 million homes with television and radio. The cable
network has already been modernized for over one million homes in
NRW, which now have the possibility to get high-speed Internet access
via tv-cable and for a short time the new digital TV offer ish Plus
TV. ish Plus TV offers 56 additional digital channels and individual
movie highlights on a pay-per-view basis.
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