Digicel has acquired majority ownership and control of St. Lucia-based International Media Content Ltd., parent company of regional sports broadcaster, SportsMax, and North American broadcaster CEEN-TV.
The deal is one of several recent cable TV and broadband acquisitions that aim to transform Digicel from a pure mobile company to a complete communications provider.
Digicel Group CEO Colm Delves said, “As a complete communications solutions provider, it’s all about ensuring our customers enjoy access to the best multimedia content on the best devices via the very best network and that we meet all of their communication, entertainment and networking needs. SportsMax represents the perfect blend of sports entertainment and infotainment with a Caribbean flavor.”
The 24-hour dedicated sports cable channel SportsMax is available in 23 countries across the Caribbean with a mix of international, regional and local sports programming. Notable content includes the Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, West Indies cricket, the Indian Premier League and the IAAF Grand Prix.
The deal is Digicel’s fifth acquisitions in the Caribbean cable TV market since November 2013, when the company bought Caribbean Cable Communications Holding Ltd., a cable TV and Internet service provider in Anguilla, Nevis and Montserrat. In February, Digicel purchased SAT Telecommunications which provides TV, telephone and broadband Internet services in Dominica, followed by the acquisition in April of WIV Cable TV and its broadband services sister company TCT in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Digicel continued the expansion of its cable TV footprint in July when it added Jamaica’s second largest subscriber television company Telstar. Meanwhile, the telecommunications provider has further diversified by acquiring submarine fiber network capacity.
Digicel announced this week that the group had received government and regulatory authority approvals to complete the December 2013 purchase of a submarine fiber network across the Caribbean region from Guadeloupe-based Loret Group and Caribbean Fibre Holdings.
This deal will provide Digicel with a wholly-owned submarine fiber optic cable network providing capacity from Trinidad connecting 12 countries to Puerto Rico with onwards connectivity to the United States. In total, Digicel has secured access to a network of 15 submarine segments with a reach of some 3,100km (about 1,900 miles) across the Caribbean region. It will also give Digicel have extensive onwards capacity connecting to the United States, Europe and Asia, the company said.
According to Digicel’s group CEO, the company is investing heavily in cable TV, content and fiber across the markets to ensure it is positioned for more data-intensive customer multimedia demands on multiple platforms.
Sportsmax deal
Sportsmax parent company IMC has been responsible for the broadcast of major international events such as the FIFA World Cup tournaments since 2006, including this summer’s event, and the 2012 London Olympics. In 2013, SportsMax launched its 24-hour Spanish language channel, CDN SportsMax, in the Dominican Republic which includes similar content as SportsMax plus Major League Baseball.
Under the terms of the deal, the founder and a number of the lead principals will continue to have an ownership stake and be involved in the day-to-day running of the IMC operation.
Patrick Rousseau, chairman of IMC and SportsMax, said working with Digicel, the sports channel will seek to grow its audience and reach across the Caribbean and North America.
SportsMax CEO Oliver McIntosh said the merger would allow the company to enter new areas such as high definition programming as well as new content. Some of the changes would include bringing content on to mobile platforms, broadband platforms and more games from different sports.
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