Greece’s Antenna launches SVOD

Antenna Group has launched an SVOD service in Greece.

The ANT1 Next streaming service rolls out today and comes after Antenna tested the market with a TVOD service last year.

ANT1 Next is priced at €2.99 (US$3.24) a month and has exclusive scripted programming including popular local dramas – Brousko and Tamam – plus box sets and catch up content.

“We are delighted to be launching our new SVOD service in Greece following the huge success of our TVOD platform last year,” said Antenna Group managing director Pete Smith.

“Viewers want more flexibility in how they consume content and ANT1 Next allows our audience – particularly the younger demographic – the opportunity to watch an episode of their favourite show before it airs on our linear channel or to catch-up on one of our primetime entertainment programmes.”

Tariq Syed, Antenna’s managing director of digital assets and thematic channels, told TBI that the with low pay TV uptake and continuing economic woes, the TVOD launch last year was a way to gauge the appetite of Greek consumers.

“With the economy, and low pay TV penetration, there isn’t an established propensity to pay for content, so we didn’t know if it was the right time, but we decided to test the market,” he said. “Free-to-air is around for the long term, but we think [on-demand and streaming] will be the future at some point. We wanted to get in early.”

Having demonstrated there was an appetite for paid-for services the group decided to launch SVOD, he added.

A crucial differentiator to Netflix will be the emphasis on local content, Syed said. “In the smaller markets where there will generally be one key service that people go to. We’re programming our service with local content. Netflix is a higher price and has a non-local portfolio.”

Antenna also operates web TV platform Netwix, which offers exclusive short-form content across comedy, entertainment, lifestyle and gaming genres.