New Basic Tier from Canal Digital

New Basic Tier from Canal Digital

FORNEBU, Norway, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Canal Digital's cable TV customers will receive five more channels in their basic tier. The newcomers are: Disney Channel, The Voice, Star!, Showtime and BBC World.

"Our cable TV customers have told us what they would like to see in the new basic tier. Canal Digital Kabel TV has conducted comprehensive surveys to form the basis for the wide selection of TV channels in the basic tier. The surveys indicate that the Norwegian channels are the most essential, with Swedish channels also figuring prominently, while interest in specialist channels focusing on documentary, nature and culture appears to be increasing. With these five new channels Canal Digital is strengthening the cable TV market's best basic tier," says Svein Erik Davidsen, Managing Director of Canal Digital Norway.

The Disney Channel, catering for children and families, is entirely commercial-free and broadcasts classic and new films as well as series. The Voice is a music channel that promotes Norwegian artists and pop music and international hits from all over the world. Star! is an entertainment channel that follows the stars of the fashion, music and film worlds, both on stage and backstage. The film channel Showtime broadcasts action movies, thrillers and science fiction movies from the big film studios. BBC World, the international news channel, will no longer be limited to the Bergen area, it will now be available for all of Canal Digital's approximately 400,000 cable TV customers in Norway.

Canal Digital has developed a new method for channel selection. Direct selection from content categories, which was used in 2002, has been replaced by comprehensive surveys among a representative cross-section of Canal Digital's customers, an approach that Canal Digital will continue to use in the foreseeable future.

Previously, channel selection was conducted every 2-3 years, and all customer households were given the opportunity to respond. Participation in this selection process dropped dramatically, and during the last selection round only 27 per cent of the households took part. Those who did respond were only to a limited degree representative of the customer group.

The new basic tier is the result of a number of initiatives that together make up the channel selection. Last autumn, several surveys were conducted to chart the popularity of the various categories and TV channels. This year new channels have been broadcast and tested. Based on customer response from different market surveys, Canal Digital Kabel TV has drawn up a recommended basic tier, which was tested in a comprehensive study conducted by MMI Univero. 77 per cent of the participants in this survey said they were satisfied with the recommended basic tier.

The recommended basic tier now consists of NRK1, NRK2, TV2, TVNorge, Local TV, TV3, SVT1, SVT2, TV4, Showtime/Star!, Animal Planet, The Voice, BBC World, Eurosport, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and the Disney Channel. In addition, customers will also receive an information channel showing news, programming information and other useful information from Canal Digital Kabel TV and Visningskanalen, which broadcasts new TV channels.

Based on feedback from customers, the above-mentioned channels will now be invited to join the new basic tier, which is due for launch on 1 July. Disney Channel will not be available until 1 August, due to rights issues. Star! and Showtime will share a channel between them, with Showtime broadcasting action movies in the evenings. National Geographic will be available in the areas where TVNorge and local TV share the same frequency.

For more information please contact:

Ingrid Schiefloe, Information Officer, Canal Digital, tel.: (+47) 951-56-977

ABOUT CANAL DIGITAL NORGE

Canal Digital Norge AS is Norway's leading TV distributor and a subsidiary of Canal Digital AS, a holding company, which is a wholly-owned Telenor company. All of Telenor's TV distribution via cable, satellite and smaller independent cable networks are gathered under one organisation. Approximately 1 million Norwegian households, directly or indirectly, receive TV signals from Canal Digital Norge. Canal Digital distributes 80 TV channels and 20 music channels, as well as games and interactive services. Canal Digital Norge has its headquarters at Fornebu, Norway.

Source: Telenor

CONTACT: Ingrid Schiefloe, Information Officer, Canal Digital,
+47-951-56-977

Web site: http://www.telenor.com/

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