Advanced Television

Montenegro gets DTT pay-TV platform

August 1, 2016

By Branislav Pekic in Rome

Montenegrin operator Crnogorski Telekom (part of Deutsche Telekom) and national DTT multiplex operator Radiodifuzni Centar have launched a new DTT platform, with 18 TV channels (5 free-to-air and 13 encrypted).

The FTA offer includes national broadcasters – public channels RTCG 1 and RTCG 2, as well as commercial channels TV Vijesti, TV Prva (owned by Greece’s Antenna Group) and TV Pink Montenegro (owned by Serbia’s Pink  Media Group).

The subscription-based offer includes both international (Fox, 24 Kitchen, National Geographic and Nickelodeon) and regional channels (Arenasport 1, Pink 2, RTS 1, RTS 2, Happy TV, Studio B, Al-Jazeera Balkans, Hayat Plus and DM Sat). More TV channels should be added in October.

The DTT platform uses the DVB-T2 standard and Conax encryption for the pay-TV channels. The subscription fee for the Basic package is €5 and includes free use of the digital box. Signal coverage is available to 97 per cent of the Montenegrin population.

All channels are aired via the country’s first DTT multiplex (MUX 1, active since 2014) on UHF channel 35.

Currently, 91.64 per cent of Montenegrin households receive TV via subscription-based TV distribution platforms, while 8.63 per cent watch free-to-air TV via terrestrial means.

At the end of June 2016, Montenegro had over 178,000 subscribers to TV distribution platforms (IPTV, DTH, cable and MMDS), with the main players being Crnogorski Telekom (Extra TV – via IPTV), United Group (Total TV – via DTH and Telemach Montenegro – via cable) and m:tel (Telekom Srbija – via cable).

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTT/DSO, Pay TV