Meo to add SportTV in HD from November
October 28, 2008
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Portugal Telecom's pay-TV platform, Meo, will add the SporTV channel in high definition from November 1st.
The channel, which was so far exclusive to the subscribers of rival pay-TV operator Zon TV Cabo, will be available both on Meo's IPTV and satellite (DTH) services. Launched in June of this year, SporTV HD currently airs some football matches of the Sagres League as well as the main European football leagues.
The availability of the SporTV HD channel exclusively for Zon TV Cabo subscribers was recently the subject of a complaint filed by cable operator Cabovisão to Portugal's Competition Authority, for alleged anti-competitive behaviour. In reaction to this move, the management of SporTV has now decided to make the HD channel available to all operators.
Meo also carries three other HD channels: Eurosport HD, National Geographic HD and Luxe HD. Two more high definition channels are set to launch in Portugal – MTV HD Portugal and Fashion TV HD – although carriage deals have yet to be announced.