Archive notice: This article was originally published on May 17, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Premiere HD will in future also be receivable on the cable networks of Kabel Deutschland (KDG). The subscription broadcaster Premiere and Kabel Deutschland, Germany’s largest cable network operator with around 9,6 million households, have agreed on this. The agreement provides for initially feeding in two of Premiere’s three HDTV channels, namely „Premiere Philips HD Sport“ and „Premiere HD Film“.
Following the contract with Kabel BW last year, the transmission of the football World Cup on Premiere in HD via cable is thus secured in 14 federal states. The pay-TV provider is the only broadcaster in Germany that transmits all 64 matches of the football World Cup live and in HD. „Even before the World Cup, Premiere HD can be received in more than 60 percent of German cable households“, states Markus Schmid, Executive Board member for Marketing and Sales at Premiere AG. For Kabel Deutschland, the agreement with Premiere at the same time marks the entry into HDTV: „The future belongs to high-definition television. That is why we are pleased to be able to offer our customers HDTV for the first time“, explains Manuel Cubero, Managing Director Cable Television and Content. „Through the broadcast of the complete FIFA World Cup 2006 in HD quality alone, viewers will notice the fascination that emanates from the new television standard.“
According to Premiere, cable households supplied by KDG can experience HD television “in the next weeks”. The broadcaster’s HDTV offering has already been receivable via satellite since the end of January. More than 20.000 subscribers have since chosen Premiere HD, the company emphasizes. Following contracts with Astra, Kabel
Deutschland, Kabel BW, ewt, Primacom, DNMG and several small network operators, according to company information more than 75 percent of all TV households in Germany can receive Premiere’s HDTV offering.
At the same time, the first cable HD receiver, the Humax PR-HD1000 C, was certified today for reception of Premiere HD. “Sufficient” devices are to be available before the World Cup, the broadcaster says.
