Discovery, ready to launch HDTV in Romania

Only cable operators with digital capabilities or Direct to Home (DTH) digital platforms will be able to distribute Discovery HD. Furthermore, only HDTV compatible TV sets, namely LCD or plasma, can screen the new channel.

Launching Discovery HD in Romania will involve a considerable investment for the network station, as well as for distributors and subscribers. Katarzyna Kieli, Discovery Network Europe Vice President, explained that the new channel would only broadcast programs produced in HD standards, rather than converted ones. “Because we produce at high-definition standards, everything about the new channel will be different - from programs to the quality thereof,” the Discovery VP said. 

Discovery HD will broadcast programs from all the other five channels, including documentaries on lifestyle, nature, travel, but excluding historical programs, because archive images are not in HDTV format.

Katarzyna Kieli could not provide any information about potential price increases of cable or DTH subscriptions following the introduction of Discovery HD in the program package, but said that Discovery is also considering pay-TV (e.g. HBO).

“We are ready to launch Discovery HD today, if Romanian distributors are willing to accept this. It all depends entirely on distribution. We hope to launch this very soon,” added Katarzyna Kieli.

For the time being, there are no studies regarding the number of HDTV compatible TV sets in Romanian homes. However, the transition from classical TV sets to LCD or plasma screens could be very rapid, considering a rapid drop in prices, which currently stands at some €400-500.

Discovery has a large archive of HD programs, produced in the past few years, but because no distribution network was in place, the new channel can broadcast these programs.

Discovery HD is the largest HDTV distributor, present in some eight million homes in 15 countries. Poland was third of ten countries on the European continent to have the HD signal, following the United Kingdom and Germany.

Association
On 21-22 June, Romania will enter the “high society” of human resources in Europe, when HR Club joins the European Association of Personnel Managers. The most important professional associations in Central and Eastern Europe are already represented in the European Union, including the Bulgarian Human Resource Management & Development Association (BHRMDA).