ViacomCBS , Sky launching Paramount + in Europe
ViacomCBS and Sky have confirmed that SVoD service Paramount + will launch on Sky platforms in the UK , Ireland , Italy , Germany , Switzerland and Austria ( GSA ) in 2022 as part of a new multi-year distribution agreement that also includes the extended carriage of ViacomCBS ’ s
“ Paramount + is an excellent service with a huge range of fantastic films and TV series .” portfolio of pay- TV channels and the renewal of Sky as an ad sales partner in select markets .
“ We are thrilled to expand our longstanding partnership with Sky to continue delivering ViacomCBS ’ leading portfolio of premium entertainment brands to Sky customers and importantly bring Paramount + to new audiences in all Sky markets , including the UK , Ireland , Italy , and GSA ,” declared Raffaele Annecchino , president and chief executive officer , ViacomCBS Networks International . “ This transformative distribution deal is key to accelerating our global ambitions in streaming while also supporting Sky ’ s strategic objectives to better serve audiences with greater flexibility in how they consume our content across all platforms .”
The news followed an earlier announcement that Sky owner Comcast ’ s Peacock streaming service would also be joining the Sky platform ( see p6 ).
“ This is another example of how we are innovating for our customers and further aggregating all the best apps and content together in one place on Sky Q , giving them more great TV to watch than ever before ,” stated Stephen van Rooyen , executive VP and chief executive , UK and Europe at Sky . “ Paramount + is an excellent service with a huge range of fantastic films and TV series , and our new , broader agreement with ViacomCBS will benefit both businesses .”
Upon launch , Sky Cinema subscribers will get the bonus of Paramount + included at no additional cost . As part of this partnership , Paramount Pictures ’ feature films will remain available on Sky Cinema in the UK and will join Sky Cinema in Germany and Italy in 2022 . All other Sky customers will be able to subscribe to Paramount + as an add-on to their account .
In addition , ViacomCBS and Sky reached a multi-year extension for carriage of ViacomCBS ’ s linear channels — including Comedy Central , MTV and Nickelodeon — in the UK , Ireland , Italy and GSA .
ViacomCBS renewed its multi-year agreement with Sky as an ad sales partner for all platforms and channels in the UK and Italy . Sky Media will continue to handle ad sales across the ViacomCBS portfolio of channels , including Channel 5 in the UK . Other terms of the agreements were not disclosed .
Paramount + will also be available directto-consumer in UK , Ireland , Italy and GSA through the Paramount + app for iOS and Android and across supported connected TV devices and OTT platforms . Pricing and local content offering will be announced at a later date .
Research : 39 European operators offering Wi-Fi 6
Thirty-nine Broadband operators are providing Wi-Fi 6 gateways at the end of 2020 , via 53 different devices , reveals Dataxis latest research focusing on broadband CPE key characteristics . |
Wi-Fi 6 is the latest Wi-Fi standard deployed by the Wi-Fi Alliance . The wireless networking standard enables a larger capacity and better use of bandwidth to serve more simultaneous users with many wireless devices . |
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It supports data rates up to 9.6Gbps which is more than twice the maximum speed supported by Wi-Fi 5 .
The potential of broadband subscribers with access to Wi- Fi 6 , a figure which accounts for the number of subscribers of ISP rolling out the router , divided by the number of routers deployed to date by the ISP , reached 24m in 2020 . This figure , close to 10 % of the 260 million fixed internet subscribers counted in Europe at the end of 2020 , is expected to continue rising at a fast pace in coming years .
These deployments are mostly implemented by fibre operators , as FTTH modems
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represent close to 30 % of the potential subscribers reached by the devices . Wi-Fi extenders are also increasingly offering this feature , reaching 20 % of Wi-Fi 6 capable CPE potential in 2020 .
Additional broadband CPE high-end features are included in the analysis published , such as Mesh smart Wi-Fi , Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 , and the access of advanced routers : Docsis 3.0 and Docsis 3.1 , Super vectoring 35b and Gfast and Fixed 5G .
As device suppliers gradually integrate these technologies , adoption should progress extremely fast in this context of ever-rising demand for better wireless connectivity and continued support from EU regulators .
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EUROMEDIA 7 |