On May 18, at the Conference “Satellite TV: Strategies and Risks of the Ukrainian Market”, organized by the Mediasat in the framework of the XXIII Kyiv International TV and Radio Fair, the participants representing media groups and satellite operators discussed the encryption of TV channels on the satellite.
Fedor Grechaninov, StarLightMedia, remarks that the encryption was previously postponed because of the coming analog cut-off. The approximate cut-off date was specified as 30 June 2017. Accordingly, the encryption could be expected in early 2018, since it is desirable at least 6 months to elapse between the analog cut-off and encryption. In case of rescheduling analog cut-off for a year or more, the SLM will initiate a request to encrypt channels in early 2018, without waiting for the analog cut-off. Andrei Malchevsky, 1+1 Media, points out that winter is not the best time for encryption and the industry is not yet fully ready for a technological transition to a conditional access system.
On May 20, the Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council Iurii Artemenko stated that the analog cut-off would not be implemented either in 2017, or even in 2018. Thus, it can be expected that media groups would encrypt their channels on the satellite in February 2018, before the analog signal cut-off in Ukraine.
The conference details coming soon on the Mediasat!
