M7 Group to build up new DTH platform in Austria

Luxembourg-based media company M7 Group is launching a standalone HDTV platform for DTH satellite households in Austria on Astra (19.2 degrees East) in November 2015.

The offering will be based on M7’s current platform HD Austria, but can be received through its own smart card. HD Austriahas so far only been accessible through the smart cards of Austrian public broadcaster ORF and pay-TV operator Sky Österreich.

Following “tough negotiations” with ORF that have lasted over a year, an agreement has finally been reached through mediation of media regulator KommAustria, according to HD Austria. The move will enable Austrian viewers to receive both ORF’s channels and the Austrian commercial channels in HD quality via satellite without having to use the ORF Digital smart card.

With the new platform, HD Austria wants to provide the around 2 million Austrian DTH satellite households with a more comprehensive HD lineup and new interactive functions. This would create a “real alternative” to the former “ORF smart card monopoly” for consumers, retailers and TV set manufacturers, underlines HD Austria.

“The launch of the new HD Austria platform will lead to better offerings and more variety for consumers,” said Martijn van Hout, M7 Country Manager for Germany and Austria. “That’s because our own platform will enable M7 Group to provide new services and hybrid products complementing satellite television with streaming content from the internet. In a few weeks, these offerings will be available in Austria.”

The HD Austria platform is marketed through an advertising campaign (pictured with Martijn van Hout) encouraging viewers to leave the old, stone age period of television (“Raus aus der Fernseh-Steinzeit!”) and join the HD world.

M7 Group operates TV platforms across Europe reaching a total of more than 3.5 million customers.

M7 Group chooses Viaccess-Orca CAS

The M7 Group has chosen Viaccess-Orca CAS to secure its DTH services across seven European countries.

Using Prime Sentinel card-based conditional access system (CAS), M7 Group will deliver premium content to subscribers’ set-top boxes (STBs). At the moment, M7 uses various CA systems and it is not quite clear howe the new agreement will impact thee encryption systems.

“M7 Group operates a variety of DTH and IPTV services across Europe, including Skylink for the Czech and Slovak market, AustriaSat in Austria and Hungary, CanalDigitaal and Online.nl in The Netherlands, and TV Vlaanderen and Télésat in Belgium. As part of our overall strategy, we wanted to deploy a consistent ecosystem to reduce operational complexity and costs,” said Marco Visser, CEO at M7 Group.

“Viaccess-Orca has provided us with an innovative, flexible, and cost-effective solution for content protection. By supporting flexible configuration and offering pay-as-you-grow scalability, the chosen Viaccess-Orca solution lowers our overall operational expenses, while guaranteeing us a future proof content security solution of our content.”

Viaccess-Orca’s Prime Sentinel CAS provides advanced security for a wide range of TV service models including live TV, catch-up, PVR, and video-on-demand. M7 subscribers’ rights management will be provided through Expert Sentinel, a VO service off-loading operational actions from the operators and allowing them to focus on selling and optimizing their service offering.

In addition to content protection solutions from Viaccess-Orca, M7 Group has deployed a new ecosystem that includes STB hardware and chipsets from various industry partners. Prime Sentinel has been pre-integrated with Zenterio OS, which is served on Kaonmedia’s hybrid DTH/OTT IPTV STBs — a zapper and a PVR — providing M7 Group with a unique and flexible ready-to-deploy solution fitting all its markets.

“Viaccess-Orca and our ecosystem partners have provided M7 Group with a versatile, scalable, and secure television solution that can be deployed with a short time to market,” said François Moreau de Saint Martin, CEO of Viaccess-Orca.

“Unlike other content security solutions, our Prime Sentinel CAS supports multiple business models and advanced STB chipsets features including Multi-CA. By providing operators with increased flexibility, our solution reduces capital and operating expenses, while protecting their revenue streams.”

M7 Group eyes Hungarian platform

Luxembourg-based M7 Group is evaluating the potential acquisition of the Hungarian DTH platform Hello HD.

Speaking to Broadband TV News, Jaromir Glisnik, a member of the board of the Group, said that any deal would likely to be completed in 2014 rather than this year.

He also said it is already working with Hello HD; Broadband TV News understands this to be through the integration of the Irdeto CA encryption system into the platform alongside Conax. At the moment, the channels Cool, Nickelodeon, SportKlub Hungary and TV Paprika have simulcrypt.

Glisnik also told Broadband TV News that the possible acquisition of Hello HD is not directly related to Skylink’s recent decision to start offering its subscribers Hungarian language channels.

He added that from a practical perspective, it should be borne in mind that Skylink employs the 23.5 degrees East position on Astra, while Hello HD uses 9 degrees East on Eutelsat.

Hello HD was launched in Hungary in May 2008 and initially had plans to expand to other CEE markets.

However, it has failed to make a strong impact on a Hungarian DTH sector dominated by Digi, T-Home and UPC Direct.

M7 Group already has a presence in the CEE region through the ownership of Skylink and CS Link in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The company is also very active in the German language market through its subsidiaries HDAustria and AustriaSat.