Eutelsat: “Losing Flix TV will have no financial impact”
September 19, 2018
By Chris Forrester
The news that Slovakian DTH platform Flix TV was to close caused equity analysts to re-work their revenue forecasts for Eutelsat, which carries the broadcaster’s channels from its E-16A satellite.
‘Not so,’ implies Eutelsat. Investment bank Exane/BNPP explains: “Flix TV is using the Telekom Austria white labelled DTH platform (itself a client of Eutelsat 16A). This platform will continue to operate and will continue to require the same amount of capacity as other pay TV players, including Flix TV’s competitor Antik Sat. In Eastern Europe several DTH platforms use this Telekom Austria white labelled platform which sends the same video feeds to various DTH players.”
“As a result, although Flix TV is to close down, the video feeds it used will continue to be active for other DTH platforms. So, there will be no impact on Eutelsat 16A. According to our Exane Satellite Monitor, this satellite has seen improving capacity usage trends in the last two months. The recently announced deal with Orange Slovensko is likely to further drive capacity usage.”
The bank’s equity analysts remain “positive” on Eutelsat and SES.