Cablecom pushes Digi-TV

The cable network operator Cablecom is planning a further reduction in the conventional range of channels. The selection of the channels concerned will be based primarily on audience ratings. It is not yet known which channels will be affected. However, there are limits to the reduction: according to the Radio and Television Act, SRG channels as well as local and regional stations that have a license with a performance mandate must be broadcast. In addition, the Federal Council or the responsible department can designate stations that are to be broadcast due to their contribution to education, cultural development or opinion-forming. This is expected to happen in the spring when the ordinance to the law comes into force, as Bernhard Bürki from the Federal Office of Communications said. At the beginning of October, Cablecom recently removed the English channel BBC Prime and the Spanish TVE from the analog program and postponed the Austrian channel ORF 2. The decision was met with criticism from customers and authorities. The Spanish ambassador also intervened: he sent a letter to Cablecom, according to an embassy spokeswoman. She confirmed a report in the Berner Zeitung newspaper on Thursday. This is not unusual when foreign-language channels are affected, said Cablecom spokesman Stephan Howeg. The channels RTP, France 3, NDR and Italia 1 had already been switched off earlier. Cablecom regrets having to restrict the analog offering, Howeg told the news agency SDA. However, for reasons of frequency space, there was no other option. Frequencies are becoming increasingly scarce, and one analog station takes up as much space as 10 digital stations.
In addition to the switch-offs, Cablecom's digital offering has also come in for criticism: the price watchdog and the Consumer Protection Foundation have criticized the price of the offering and the fact that customers have no choice of digital television reception device. Cablecom wants to counter this criticism with improvements. The company is currently working on a solution, Howeg added. The content is not yet being communicated. The aim is to make the transition from analog to digital television easier.