New Belgian pay TV service launches with raft of intn’l channels

Dutch telco KPN has launched a new pay TVservice in Belgium, Snow.

The service will combine TV, internet and telephony in a bundled offering, competing with existing providers Telenet and Belgacom.

The Snow service will be marketed separately from KPN Belgium’s existing mobile telecom offering in the country, Base. The service offers 33 channels including public broadcast channels from France and the UK

Snow went live yesterday and includes French and Flemish options. The French service includes all the channels of UK broadcaster the BBC – BBC One, Two, Three, Four, CBeebies, BBC HD, BBC World News, BBC Entertainment and CBBC – as well as France 2, 3, 4 and 5, TF1, LCI and TV Breizh from France, Belgian Francophone channels La Une, La Deux and La Trois, RTL TVI, Club RTL, AB3, MCM één, Canvas, Ketnet, OPTV, Trace Sports, Viacom’s MTV, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr, Disney, Disney Junior and Disney XD, Turner’s CNN and Cartoon Network, National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel.

The Flemish version excludes France’s public channels but includes Flemish public channels, OP12, VTM, VTM Kzoom, 2BE, Vier, Vijf, Vitaya, Acht, Jim and TMF.

Ian McDonough, senior vice-president and general manager EMEA, BBC Worldwide Channels, said: “The BBC channels are well-known for setting the standard for high quality television and this is another exciting chapter in the expansion of our portfolio throughout Europe. We are proud to offer so much of our content to Belgian viewers through this new agreement.”

A triple-play pack costs €39 a month, while internet and fixed phone together without TV is available for €35. Additional channels are available both in Flemish and French versions either à la carte or in mini-packs, with a kids pack available for €6. Additional multi-screen offerings are available €3, with additional SnowBox set-tops available for second screens for €6 a month.

KPN began marketing the service by sending individuals dressed as snowmen to the headquarters of rival services Telenet, Belgacom and VOO bearing placards with the slogan “All you need is Snow”.

Earlier this week, KPN revealed that it had 1.766 million TV customers in the Netherlands at the end of December, up from 1.4 million a year earlier. The number included just over one million IPTV subscribers, almost double the total for 2011, while Digitenne digital-terrestrial customers declined from 827,000 to 754,000.