BERLIN—Paramount+ has launched in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The debut of Paramount Global’s streaming service follows the Dec. 1 launch in France and caps off a year of global expansion with the service now live in 45 markets.

To celebrate its latest launch, Paramount rolled out its iconic Blue Carpet at the UCI Luxe in Berlin for a launch party with a host of global and local stars, the company reported.  

The streaming service provides a broad slate for the whole family, spanning new and exclusive Paramount+ originals, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from Paramount's brands and production studios, including CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Showtime and the Smithsonian Channel.

It is also the home of a selection of new blockbuster films following their theatrical and home entertainment releases, including "Top Gun: Maverick," which will arrive on the service on December 22nd.

Paramount+ is investing in local content and talent, with an large language of German originals.

"There is no doubt 2022 has been the year of global expansion for Paramount+,” Marco Nobili, EVP and International GM of Paramount+, commented. “With the latest launch in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and France last week, we are now streaming in key markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and soon in India. With our unbeatable content offering to entertain the entire family, deployed across such a vast footprint, we are well-positioned to continue our momentum in 2023." 

Paramount+ in Germany, Switzerland and Austria is available online at https://paramountplus.de , on mobile devices and a wide range of connected TV devices via distribution through Apple, Amazon, Google, Samsung, Roku and more.

Users will be able to sign up at the price of € 7.99 or CHF 12 after a 7-day trial period. Paramount+ also launched on Sky platforms in Germany and Austria on December 8. Through this agreement, Sky subscribers with Sky Cinema will have access to Paramount+ content at no additional cost, and the Paramount+ app will launch on Sky Q. 

In French-speaking Switzerland, Paramount+ will be exclusively distributed via Canal+ as part of the offers CANAL+ Famille, CANAL+ Ciné Séries and CANAL+ La Totale.

MUNICH—Amazon’s free ad-supported streaming service Amazon Freevee has expanded its international footprint into Germany. 

The service got its first international launch last year in the U.K.

The ad-supported service debuts with Amazon Freevee Originals including "Bosch: Legacy" and others as well as thematically programmed live linear channels from BBC Food, BBC Travel, BBC History, X-Factor: Das Unfassbare, FilmRise Serien, Craction TV, and Highway to Heaven.

Prime and non-Prime customers in Germany can access Amazon Freevee through the Prime Video app or website and, in the coming days, via a standalone app on Fire TV.

On Prime Video, customers can access Amazon Freevee content through the “Popular Movies and TV – Free with Ads” carousel. 

“In the U.S. and the UK we have quickly differentiated ourselves in the free streaming landscape through a hybrid of exclusive Originals from Amazon Studios and highly sought-after movies and television,” said Lauren Anderson and Ryan Pirozzi, co-heads of content and programming, Amazon Freevee. “We look forward to building on this momentum, and establishing Amazon Freevee as the premier AVOD destination in Germany as we deliver customers a growing slate of widely appealing content through a personalized streaming experience.”

FRANKFURT, Germany—Technical services provider Media Broadcast is set to test use cases for TV production using 5G at its 5G campus in Germany.

The intention of the use cases is to establish an end-to-end TV production chain with 5G components, from portable recording with wireless cameras and microphones, to the integration of IT and command signals, to the playback of contributions via 5G in the studio.

The company intends to examine and test connectivity, data throughput, latency, susceptibility to failure and reliability within various parameters.

Media Broadcast will use its 5G Blue Box technology, which houses both the Core Net components and the control units for the Radio Access Network (RAN).

It also intends to welcome third-party companies to the campus to test their own 5G tech under real conditions.

“It’s clear that 5G is not the universal remedy for all challenges, as it is presented in many publications,” said Daniel Wolbers, head of 5G Product Development at Media Broadcast. “Gathering practical experience is therefore extremely important, especially in this early phase after the introduction of 5G. With our consulting services and our campus network, we offer all interested companies the opportunity to try out their use cases with us and then have them implemented.”

MUNICH—With a few clicks of a tablet, Germany’s 5G Today project, a field trial for 5G broadcasting, officially got underway in the Bavarian alpine region. Kicking off a two-day accompanying conference at the Broadcast Technology Institute IRT, 5G Today is designed to lay the foundation for the efficient transmission of broadcasting content in the 5G networks of the future, which could serve millions of future 5G devices.

First announced in the spring of 2018, 5G Today is a partnership between the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation, IRT, Kathrein, Rohde & Schwarz and Telefonica Germany. The field trial is covered by two high-performance transmitters located in Ismaning on top of the Wendelstein mountain. Both transmitters operate with 100 kW effective output power. Based on the new broadcast mode FeMBMS (Further evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service), 5G Today will test far-reaching distribution of content across large coverage areas with a radius of up to 60 km.

“We must design our future digital communications infrastructures in such a way that everyone can continue to benefit from the diversity of media content,” said Ulrich Wilhelm, director general of Bayerischer Rundfunk and current chairman of ARD. “I welcome the fact that Bavaria is playing a pioneering role in setting standards and in shaping our digital world in this sense.”

The setup at the transmitter location in Ismaning features an antenna system from Kathrein designed for the distribution of broadcast signals to mobile devices. Rohde & Schwarz, meanwhile, contributed HPHT transmitters that are used for 5G radio transmission; the pair operate as a Single Frequency Network in channel 56/57 (750-760 MHz). Telefonica Germany is making the appropriate frequencies available for this purpose.

“With this forward-looking concept, broadcasters can enjoy the same advantages in the distribution of video content over 5G networks as they do in classic broadcasting, such as high video quality, short latency times and long range,” said Peter Riedel, COO of Rohde & Schwarz.

“With this field trial covering Munich and the Bavarian alpine region, we now have a unique and true pioneer project—even if it will still take a few more years for commercial terminal devices to become available and before public operation will be possible,” said Michael Hagemeyer, managing director of IRT. “The test will provide important insights for our research.”

IRT is coordinating the project and developing a prototype FeMBMS received based on a Software-Defined Radio solution. This technology could eventually be integrated into smartphones, tablets and TV sets for reception of live and linear content over 5G.

5G Today will run until Oct. 31. Following the test period, the results and further exploitations of the findings will be further evaluated. 

MUNICH, GERMANY—High-power, high-tower broadcasting to mobile phones and tablets via wireless networks has gotten one step closer with the deployment of an LTE Broadcast single frequency network in Germany.

Transmitter and RF specialist Rohde & Schwarz and antenna manufacturer Kathrein have teamed up on the deployment to deliver media and other data to mobile and portable receivers in Munich and on major traffic arteries between Munich and Salzburg. The deployment is part of the 5G TODAY research project.

LTE Broadcast, also known as Further-evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (FeMBMS), defines options for transmitting to LTE-enabled mobile equipment, including smartphones and media tablets. The standard, specified in 3GPP Release 14 in June 2017, makes it possible for the first time for LTE to enable high-power, high-tower applications in downlink-only mode while using full signal bandwidth for multicast/broadcast applications, said Rohde & Schwarz.

The release also defines a guard interval and modes to allow operation without SIM cards, a requirement for broadcast operation.

Rohde & Schwarz and Kathrein achieved a milestone Dec. 4 when an R&S THU9evo high-power transmitter (5 kW with a 100 kW ERP) went into operation at Bayerischer Rundfunk’s (BR’s) Wendelstein transmitter site. On the same day, Kathrein finished an antenna deployment for testing at BR’s transmitter site in Ismaning near Munich.

[Read: Verizon Launches 700 MHz Airborne LTE Ops]

The Rohde & Schwarz FeMBMS solution supports broadcast applications for video and IP data in high-power, high-tower topologies with bandwidths of 5 MHz and 10 MHz. The transmitter receives the reference and configuration data via 3GPP-conform protocols from an LTE EPC (Evolved Packet Core), said Rohde & Schwarz.

For the research project, the Rohde & Schwarz broadcast service control center (BSCC) provides all needed EPC functions. BR delivers broadcast services to the BSCC via an R&S AVHE100 headend, the company said.

Kathrein’s specially designed antenna in Ismaning supports transmission of diversity signals with 12 innovative UHF antenna fields installed at a height of 656 feet. It also included a 1,214-foot-long HF transmission cable as thick as a human arm. Plans call for a second R&S high-power transmitter (7 kW) to be connected to the antenna by the end of January 2019, making the SFN ready for testing and signal measurement.

5G TODAY is a Bavarian research project that is part of a European 5G field trial being set up in Germany. The Bavarian Research Foundation is funding the project. Kathrein and Rohde & Schwarz, under the leadership of the Institute for Broadcast Technology, are investigating large-scale TV broadcast in FeMBMS mode via 5G broadcast networks. Telefonica Germany and Bavarian state broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk are supporting the project.

(Editor’s note: In the United States, a high TV tower could be 2,000 feet. High-power can mean 1000 kW ERP.) 

MUNICH—Germany is experimenting with 5G and has enlisted the help of Rohde & Schwarz in the process. The Bavarian research project “5G Today,” led by the Institute for Broadcast Technology (IRT), has set up a 5G test site for broadcasting in the Bavarian Oberland. Rohde & Schwarz is one of the project partners investigating large-scale TV broadcasts in the Further evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service mode over 5G networks.

European broadcasters and industry players have worked to establish an international standard for broadcasting in large 4G and 5G networks, which could enable smartphones and tablets at potential TV receivers, combining live TV services, media libraries, social networks and other media services.

As part of “5G Today,” large and smaller transmitter cells are combined to create a large coverage area. The first test broadcasts using TV signals are expected to take place at the end of 2018. They will be simultaneously broadcast on channel 56 from Bavarian state broadcaster Bayerischer Redfunk’s Wendelstein station and other locations in the Munich area. In the build-up to that, components for transmission and reception will be developed and installed, as well as the conduction theoretical studies and preliminary investigations.

[The Future of 5G and IP-ENG]

The “5G Today” project will be funded by the Bavarian Research Foundation over the course of 28 months. The project is supported by associated partners BR and Telefónica Germany.