Proximus sees off Telenet with exclusive Studio 100 deal

Belgian telecom operator Proximus has acquired the exclusive nationwide broadcasting rights to kids channel Studio 100 TV from the beginning of next year, leaving Liberty Global-backed Flemish rival Telenet in the cold.

Studio 100 TV will be nationwide available in the basic offer of Proximus TV, in both French and Flemish, and exclusively for Proximus TV customers. The channel was previously available on Proximus’s basic package in Wallonia only, with the channel available exclusively on Telenet in Flanders.

Proximus will also carry production company Studio 100’s cooking channel Njam!, which has previously been available on the Telenet platform in Flanders, exclusively from January, and will become the exclusive home for most Studio 100 content.

Proximus teamed up with Studio 100 in 2015 for the exclusive launch of kids digital platform Wanagogo, which is available on Proximus TV and via the Wanagogo app

Dominique Leroy

“The exclusive acquisition of Studio 100 TV in Flanders as part of our basic Proximus TV offering will allow us to further anchor Proximus in Flanders amongst families with kids, while our nationwide penetration and strong presence in Wallonia will support Studio 100 to further enlarge their footprint,” said CEO Dominique Leroy.

“We are very pleased that Proximus, an iconic, dynamic Belgian company, chooses resolutely for Studio 100 as a partner to grow together. We are happy we can now further expand this in Flanders. With this new dynamic, together we’ll write a beautiful Belgian growth story,” said Hans Bourlon, Studio 100 CEO.

Telenet is replacing Studio 100 TV with Baby TV in its current line-up. Studio 100 content will continue to appear on the Ketnet and VTM Kzoom channels and some shows will remain in Telenet’s Paly and Play More services until licences expire. Programmes made by Studio 100 in which Telenet has invested will remain in its catalogue.

Seprately, Proximus added 9,000 new TV custoemrs in the quarter to September, taking its total to 1.543 million, up 43.8% year-on-year.

The TV additions outperformed broadband for the quarter.  Proximus added 7,000 broadband subscribers, taking its total to 1.965 million, up 3.1% year-on-year.

TV and broadband revenue helped keep the Belgian telco maintain the same level of revenues as last year at €1.105 billion. Increased TV and broadband revenue, along with stronger mobile post-paid sales, helped compensate for the ongoing decline in fixed voice and mobile pre-paid revenues.

Overall underlying group EBITDA was €464 million, down 2.2%.

“The third quarter noticed a step up in competitor promotions, especially in the Consumer market.  Nonetheless, thanks to our convergence and dual brand strategy, we managed to mitigate the impact on churn and further grew our customer base. This was supported by Scarlet, occupying a competitive position on the low-end of the market. Our Enterprise segment sustained its solid position, firmly growing its mobile customer base and benefitting from a solid ICT quarter and on-going growth in Mobility and convergent services, offsetting the on-going pressure on legacy products,” said Leroy.