By Stuart Thomson
German service provider Tele Columbus Group, which operates under the PŸUR brand, has strengthened its partnership with WeltN24 GmbH and will add the latter’s Bild TV channel to its HD offering.
The channels Welt HD and N24 Doku will remain part of PŸUR’s cable offering under the new agreement.
Bild TV is produced and managed by a TV unit within WeltN24 GmbH, in which Axel Springer bundles the television activities for Welt, Bild and N24 Doku.
The Bild TV channel, based on the popular tabloid brand, can now be received unencrypted in HD on channel slot 77 across selected PŸUR cable homes.
In the coming weeks, Bild’s availability will be extended to more PŸUR networks and will ultimately reach over two million PŸUR cable households. The deal means that Bild TV is now available from all German cable networks, and the overall reach via cable, satellite and IPTV has increased to over 90% of German television households.
The deal also covered interactive services where these are available to cable households.
Chief consumer officer of Tele Columbus, Stefan Riedel said: “This means that we are now in a position to strengthen our unencrypted range of channels in the news area with the two strong news brands Welt and Bild.”
Executive director, video at Axel Springer, Stephan Zech, said: “The agreement ensures that we can reach many more cable households, especially in Berlin and the eastern German states, with our opinion-strong offer from Bild TV. This allows us to continue on the successful course of the Bild brand in the German television market.”
