UPC Media will manage four main business units:
1. chello broadband internet access. chello is the leading European provider of broadband internet access, growing by 180% last year to 340,000 subscribers by year end 2000. This will continue to retail under the well-established and award-winning chello brand name across UPC systems and beyond.
2. chello interactive services. This unit deploys key products to support UPC’s digital roll-out across Europe, including broadband portal services, interactive/enhanced television, walled garden e-commerce and entertainment.
3. Transactional television services. This includes pay-per-view, near-video-on-demand and video-on-demand services for UPC systems, non-UPC systems and via broadband internet. Its products are today being deployed successfully in Netherlands and Austria.
4. Pay television channels. UPCtv currently produces and distributes 8 successful thematic channels to systems across Europe, reaching over 8 million subscribers as of January 1, 2001, with brands such as Extreme Sports, Avante and Innergy. In addition, it holds investment stakes in a number of third-party branded channels and programming ventures.
In addition, UPC Media will oversee the 23.5% UPC interest in SBS, a leading pan-European free-to-air broadcast network, and UPC’s 50% interest in IPS which produces five channels in partnership with Disney for the Spanish and Portuguese markets.
The creation of UPC Media is driven by strong evidence that the businesses described above have become increasingly inter-dependent and overlapping. By bringing these activities closer together within a single management structure, UPC creates new opportunities to generate revenue, strategic benefits in marketing and third-party partnerships and significant cost-saving and efficiency in operations.
UPC Media will be run under a single new management structure. Andrew Barron, currently Managing Director of UPC media, is promoted to become Chief Executive Officer of the new division with overall management responsibility.
Roger Lynch, departing CEO of chello said: This combination makes great sense at this stage in the development of internet, TV and interactive services. I wish the team in UPC Media every success.
