Europe: Discovery HD Awaiting Romanian Launch

If all goes according to plan, Discovery HD soon will become the sixth Discovery Channel venue to be launched in Romania via existing digital cable operators.

A Discovery executive in Europe said now it’s up to cable interests in the former Soviet state to carry the new HD channel, if they wish to. “We are ready to launch Discovery HD today if Romanian distributors are willing to accept this. It all depends entirely on distribution. We hope to launch this very soon,” he told Business Standard.

There is no current estimate for exactly how many Romanian homes may have HD sets, but in a nation still struggling to get on its feet economically following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number is not thought to be very high. (The Romanian economy has had its share of success in recent years luring Western companies, such as movie studios and the Marriott Corp.)

Discovery Channels said it is currently among the largest HD distributors globally--available outside the United States in an estimated eight million homes scattered across 15 countries. The first three European nations to receive Discovery HD in the recent past were the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.