The Swiss television market is dominated by cable, with a share of 53.6%, which broadcasts a wide variety of national and international TV channels to the majority of households. However, for the people of Switzerland receiving their TV channels via satellite, it was a very different story. Other than the national broadcaster’s channels, the choice of content was far more limited and distributed between different satellites. Satellite homes were demanding more content variety and a simple solution to receive it. Kabelio has begun to meet that demand.
In Switzerland, cultural diversity is prevalent throughout the landscape. The eight and a half million inhabitants consist of German, French, Italian and Romansh speaking citizens that have traditionally received their entertainment and news through cable TV. The content delivered through cable distribution is from the country’s national broadcaster as well as local and international channels in three of the primary languages of the country.
Swiss TV audiences have grown to demand a wider variety of channels in their different languages. However, this has proved to be a challenge for cable access in a country where more than 50% of the territory is covered in mountains and woodlands. Satellite is the only option for the households in these regions of Switzerland, but in order to access different channels, viewers had to point their satellite dish to more than one satellite. There also wasn’t the same choice of relevant channels for Swiss audiences who used satellite as there was for those who used cable.
This set of circumstances drove Damir Krilcic to create Kabelio, a new DTH platform designed to give choice back to the Swiss people and offer new opportunities for Swiss viewers to access the content they want, no matter where they may be.
Kabelio and Eutelsat - streamlining satellite for Switzerland
Kabelio AG, based near Zürich, markets the Kabelio product to viewers in Switzerland. Damir Krilcic selected the best domestic and European channels, 34 of which in High Definition (HD), supplemented by a range of free-to-air channels to offer the Swiss viewing public. However, the challenge of streamlining satellite reception for Switzerland needed a reliable and trusted partner to bring the vision to life.
Kabelio turned to Eutelsat to help them achieve their vision of an all-in-one HDTV experience for all who reside in Switzerland. The flexibility, power and expertise that Eutelsat could provide would help Kabelio to establish itself in a cable-dominated country. As Joerg Hansen, Chief Operating Officer of Kabelio puts it ‘Eutelsat’s knowledge of the market has allowed us to launch this initiative and the model we worked out together gives us the flexibility we need to grow progressively’.
Despite Kabelio’s relatively small customer base, they were able to secure a mutually beneficial business agreement with the satellite operator that enables them to evolve at their own pace.
With Eutelsat’s support, Kabelio launched their service to over 200,000 satellite-enabled homes throughout Switzerland. Each of their viewers can now receive the best domestic and international channels in all three of the official languages through a single package. Most satellite homes are already pointed to 13° East to receive the national SRG SSR channels, so by simply swapping the CI access module with the Kabelio CI+ module, in their TV set or set-top box, viewers can start receiving all the channels in the Kabelio package.
A world of opportunity and choice
Today, Kabelio currently comprises 34 TV channels in HD quality, many of which are being broadcast via satellite for the first time through Eutelsat’s HOTBIRD 13° East satellite position. Their signal is available everywhere in Switzerland and can now supply areas where there are no terrestrial networks with a strong and stable signal, and with none of the bottlenecks associated with streaming primetime viewing.
Kabelio has enabled a world of opportunity for their remote, niche audience, and is growing in popularity throughout the country. The most popular German, Austrian, French, Italian and British channels are now available on satellite, as well as some exclusive content that was previously only available through cable.
The partnership between Kabelio and Eutelsat reaffirms the ability of satellite to provide a wealth of content, information and entertainment anytime, anywhere and with an unparalleled quality of viewing to remote viewers.
If you would like to find out more, or are seeking a partner to your success, contact Eutelsat today.