The new Croatian public channel HRT-HTV 5 displays its international ambitions

5 April 2018

The Croatian national broadcasting Group Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) has signed a multi-year agreement with Eutelsat for capacity on HOTBIRD, the flagship video neighbourhood for Europe and the Middle East, in order to broadcast its latest entertainment and news channel HRT-HTV 5 to an international viewer base.

The free-to-air channel HRT-HTV 5 offers 24-hour news, educational and entertainment programmes in Croatian, as well as content in English, Spanish and German. It joins the hub of 1,000 channels available via HOTBIRD to more than 135 million households in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. By selecting Eutelsat’s premium neighbourhood, the Croatian Group HRT will be able to raise the profile of its latest channel HRT-HTV 5 beyond its borders, thereby reaching a widespread global audience.

Up to now, the HRT broadcasting Group operated four terrestrial TV channels (HRT-HTV 1, HRT-HTV 2, HRT-HTV 3, HRT-HTV 4), aired via the EUTELSAT 16A satellite in Croatia. HRT is also member of EBU, an organisation of which Eutelsat has been a partner for many years.

Kazimir Bacic, CEO of HRT, commented this agreement: “The launch of HRT-HTV 5 reflects the vibrancy of Croatian broadcasting, in particular for news and other services. Our drive to share this with a wide national and international audience has been made possible thanks to satellite broadcasting via HOTBIRD, which was the obvious step in achieving this goal.”

Michel Azibert, Chief Commercial and Development Officer at Eutelsat, said: “We are delighted with HRT-HTV 5’s arrival on HOTBIRD, and through this with the new momentum given to our partnership with a renowned public broadcasting group such as HRT. This agreement once again shows the legitimacy of this leading position for broadcasters who wish to reach key audiences spread over a very large geographical area.”