Country | Cyprus |
---|---|
Programming | |
Language(s) | Greek |
Picture format | 4:3 (576i, SDTV) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Alfa TV Limited |
History | |
Launched | 1998 |
Closed | 2015 |
Alfa TV was a pay television service available in Cyprus, that broadcast sports and children's programming as well as the odd film. It was owned by Alfa TV Ltd. and was launched in 1998. Alfa TV was one of only 2 pay-TV services in Cyprus, the other being Lumiere TV with whom Alfa TV had a programming agreement. Some of the programs on Alfa TV were broadcast incorporation with well-known pay-TV channels, and specifically with those of MultiChoice (CineMagic, SuperSport and K-T.V.).
It was broadcast over the air, together with Lumiere TV, on several platforms, like CytaVision, with an extra fee. Repeaters had been set up across the country that enabled more than 80% of the population to receive those services. Alfa TV was available on the Nova Cyprus platform but due to a financial dispute with the provider, the channel was removed and signed on with rival Athina Sat in July 2006. [1] It was also available through IPTV providers CytaVision & PrimeTel.
As of March 3, 2008, Alfa TV returned to NOVA Cyprus following a new agreement whilst Athina Sat, had ceased operations. [2] During the summer of 2011, the channel, was expected to be renamed to STAR Channel. The owner and former member of the parliament, Sokratis Chasikos, hired the former head manager of ANT1 Cyprus, Giorgos Tsalakos, as head manager. The contract with LTV ended in May and was not renewed.
Alfa TV featured sports programming from Cyprus and around the world, as some of them were broadcast in corporation with SuperSport. [3] Sports coverage included live action from NBA, WNBA, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, WWE Bottom Line, World Rally Championship, NASCAR and Champ Car World Series. In addition, Alfa TV had extensive coverage of championship football including matches from the following leagues: Super League, Premier League, Serie A, German Bundesliga and Portuguese Primeira Liga. Alfa TV also covered other events such as horse racing from the Nicosia Racing Club, tennis, boxing, bowling, billiards, rodeo, golf and extreme sports. Shows regarding sports would include: [4]
Initially, Alfa TV would broadcast children's programs incorporation with K-T.V. [5] At a time the latter network would collapse, Kids TV, its spiritual successor, was formed. Independently managed, it would air Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon cartoons. Coincidentally, K-T.V. in South Africa would also air Nickelodeon programming.
Television broadcasting in Greece began in 1966, preceded in 1951 by statute 1963 permitting television broadcasting.
SuperSport is a prominent sports broadcaster with a rich history of international operations. Originally, it extended its reach beyond Africa, operating in various European regions, including Scandinavia, Benelux, Italy, Eastern Europe, Greece, and Cyprus. These operations were initially launched by FilmNet and later came under the ownership of MultiChoice. However, these channels have since been replaced. SuperSport also operated in Thailand under the name True Sport and had a presence in Egypt and the Middle East through partnerships with the Cable Network of Egypt (CNE) and the Arab Radio and Television Network.
MultiChoice is a South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa, and GOtv, a minor service operating in over nine countries of this area and Showmax service. MultiChoice was formed out of the subscriber-management branch of the M-Net terrestrial pay television company, and broadcasts the full range of M-Net channels on the DStv service. MultiChoice is owned by the media conglomerate of the same name. One of the subsidiaries of MultiChoice is DStv Stream, formally DStv Now then DStv App, a service that delivers television transmission to mobile devices such as laptops, smart phones and notebooks.
Orbit Communications Company was a privately owned Pay TV network, operating in Bahrain. Owned by Saudi Arabia–based Mawarid Holding, it was the first fully digital, multi-channel, multi-lingual, pay television service in the Middle East and North Africa and was also the world's first fully end to end digital TV network. Launched in 1994, it was originally situated in Tor Sapienza, Rome, Italy as the location was considered entirely suitable to build a satellite farm. Orbit employed around 600 employees who were largely a combination of British and Italian staff with several Arabic speaking nations also represented. Orbit broadcast in several languages around the world including English, Arabic, French and Filipino.
Novasports is a Greek sports pay television network owned by Nova, a subsidiary of Greek telecommunications company of the same name. It is available exclusively on Nova, a DTH satellite service. It is available terrestrially and via satellite only on Nova.
Lumiere TV (LTV) was a pay television service based in Cyprus and broadcast in more than 67 European and African countries. It broadcast movies, series, documentaries and social TV shows. It was owned by LTV Group Ltd.
Athina Sat was a Cypriot digital satellite pay television service owned by the limited company of the same name. Launched in May 2005 and was the first Cypriot-owned DTH satellite provider in Cyprus. It was one of two satellite platforms, the other being Nova.
Sports Channel, also known as the Sport 5, is one of the major Israeli television company and sports journalism outlet owned by RGE Group. Available on cable and satellite ; the company has six channels which are devoted to sports.
Television in Cyprus was introduced in 1956. In 1957, CyBC was created. Private TV was introduced on 26 April 1992, by the church owned Logos TV which started its transmissions in stereo and Teletext from day one. In August 1995, Logos also introduced the first internet service provider in Cyprus, LOGOSNET. The Republic of Cyprus currently uses the PAL colour system and has converted terrestrial transmissions to digital on 1 July 2011, in line with EU policy. Because of the political division of the island, television companies are also divided.
Telecommunications in Cyprus includes radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet, in the Republic of Cyprus.
Television in Switzerland was introduced in 1950, with regular broadcasts commencing in 1953. People who live in Switzerland are required by law to pay a television licence fee, which is used to finance the public radio and television service SRG SSR. Since 1 January 2021, the Licence fee cost in all the linguistic regions of Switzerland is 335 CHF per year or 83.75 CHF quarterly, counting both radio and television licences. All licence fee payers are entitled under the law to services of equal quality. The fee is charged per household and not per person, with empty dwellings being exempt. The fee is determined by the Federal Council.
True Sports is a Thai group of sport channels operated by cable and satellite pay-TV provider TrueVisions. True Sport channels are available exclusively on TrueVisions. The number of channels are depends on the package.
National Geographic is a subscription television network, launched in Greece in 2001 by the Fox Networks Group. The channel features documentaries with factual content involving nature, science, culture, and history. Shows can be watched in English with Greek subtitles.
beIN Sports is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef Obaidly.
K-T.V. was a children's network broadcast in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus and South Africa as a programming block on M-Net and later on FilmNet. It was owned by Multichoice. In Greece, it used to air in the morning and afternoon on Alfa TV exclusively for NOVA.
Its sister programming block was K-TV World, which aired mostly in the afternoon, while K-T.V. aired in the morning.
AstraSat was the South African Broadcasting Corporation's satellite television service that existed between 1996 and 1998. AstraSat carried SABC's three terrestrial television networks and two additional free-to-air channels that were aimed at becoming subscription channels. Numerous factors including the reliance on analogue instead of digital led to its closure in February 1998.