Polish public-service broadcaster TVP will launch a second sports channel and make its TVP Sport platform available via digital terrestrial television, according to president Jacek Kurski.
Speaking to the Business Insider Polska website, Kurski said TVP Sport will be made available to viewers free of charge via DTT having previously served as an encrypted service available only via cable and DTH platforms.
Kurski said the change is likely to happen in February, adding that a second channel, entitled TVP Sport Max or TVP Sport Premium, is set for launch.
Kurski said this move has been made possible due to the growing amount of sports content TVP holds. The broadcaster’s last major rights deal came in April, when it acquired a package of rights marketed by Uefa, European football’s governing body, securing control over Poland’s national team’s games from 2018 to 2022.
The CAA Eleven agency, Uefa’s exclusive marketing partner for the sale of certain media and commercial rights relating to its national team football competitions, in February launched a tender in Poland for rights to the European Qualifiers for the Euro 2020 and 2022 Fifa World Cup tournaments, the 2018-19 and 2020-21 Nations League competitions and other international matches.
TVP acquired this package of rights, along with the Euro 2020 finals, having already secured coverage of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which will take place in Russia and Qatar, respectively.