5/16/2008

Z1 to start broadcasting in June

Viewers can tune to Z1’s terrestrial digital broadcasting (DVB-T) using set-top boxes in Prague and central Bohemia and in the Brno, Ostrava and Plzeň regions. “We are doing everything to be able to start broadcasting on 1 June. More than 30 % of the population of the Czech Republic could be able to watch our terrestrial digital broadcast from the very beginning. However, Z1 will be broadcast using all digital methods. So we will be available via satellite, by cable, IPTV and the internet throughout the Czech Republic,” says Martin Mrnka, CEO of Z1.

The distribution of terrestrial digital signal in the Brno and Ostrava areas will be started by the end of May. “Before the start of our broadcast, we will use the digital signal in those regions for an advertising campaign – we will show an advertising video there,” Martin Mrnka adds. Z1 should also be available in the Ústí nad Labem area this autumn and then gradually in other regions, too.

The commercial news TV model brought to the Czech television market by Z1 matches worldwide TV news standards, as seen on CNN
and Fox News in the US, Sky News in the UK, N24 in Germany or TA3 in Slovakia. The Z1 programme will consist of continuous news coverage as well as documentaries, magazines, debates and talk shows.

Z1 has built its news studio in Holešovice in Prague, from where almost 150 reporters and other employees will broadcast. “Our studio is equipped with the latest technology supplied by the French company Dalet. We are also preparing to launch a news portal on the internet simultaneously with the start of our broadcast to be able to inform about current events in this way, too,” Hanuš Hanslík, Z1 news director adds.