Ukrainian media groups and Zeonbud reported that they had reached an agreement on satellite coding
Last Friday, May 31, as part of the "Days of Electronic Communications" industry conference, Ukrainian media groups announced that they had reached an agreement with the operator of terrestrial digital television LLC "Zeonbud" regarding further steps in the coding process. The position was voiced by representatives of StarLightMedia and 1+1 media during the panel discussion "The status of satellite encoding and the potential of the pay TV market", thus confirming the support and readiness of media groups for satellite signal encoding, which will take place on January 20, 2020.
In particular, during the conference, media groups specified that the satellite signal coding project is already in an active phase. So, the primary step will be the coding of the "Zeonbud" traffic signal, which should take place already in September of this year. Currently, this signal is available on the Astra 4A open satellite, from which it is possible to access Ukrainian TV channels. Broadcasting TV channels in this way is a de facto violation of the copyright of media groups on the content they produce, and therefore reaching an agreement with "Zeonbud" is an important step in encoding the transport, and later, the satellite signal. Such actions will limit the uncontrolled (including illegal) distribution of content on the territory of Ukraine and allow the initiators and participants of the coding process to proceed to the next stages of its implementation.
"Satellite encoding has long been introduced in the markets of developed European countries. Finally, in Ukraine, the preparation for encoding TV channels has already entered an irreversible stage, when stopping the project, in which huge investments and resources were invested, cannot be its logical conclusion. From now on, we can publicly not only declare, but also confirm our intentions with real actions. January 20, 2020 is a historic date that will become the next driver of fundamental changes in the culture of content consumption in Ukraine, " commented Yaroslav Pakholchuk , executive director and head of pay TV 1+1 media.
"Encoding of the Zeonbudu transport signal is a very important stage both in the process of encoding the satellite signal and in general for the development of the television market of Ukraine. This is the step that our partners in the market expected from us, and we are happy to inform them about the reaching of final agreements between the media groups and "Zeonbud" on the coding of the transport signal already in September of this year" , - says Yulia Trybushna , director of the Digital division and PayTV of the StarLightMedia group.
In order to provide satellite subscribers with the necessary equipment for receiving an encoded signal, media groups and the industry noted that they purchased 110,000 set-top boxes (tuners), which are already distributed in retail networks and points of sale available to users.
