TV Cabo
Encyclopedia
ZON Multimédia is a Portuguese media
holding
company whose main assets include a satellite
, cable operator
and ISP, a movie distributor (Lusomundo
) and a virtual carrier of mobile phone services. Its services include cable television
, cable internet
and VOIP. ZON Multimédia (formerly PT Multimédia) is the spun off media arm of Portugal Telecom
. ZON Multimédia produces several premium channels
for the ZON TV platform, which include SportTV
(joint-venture with Controlinveste
) and TVCine
. Lusomundo is also the home-video distributor of Walt Disney Pictures
, Warner Bros.
, DreamWorks
and Paramount Pictures
releases in the Portuguese market, alongside of launching several independent and European titles.
position.
The company might be considered a Portuguese dot-com
. In the PT Multimédia days, it brought Portugal Telecom
SAPO (a successful web portal and search engine, sold to its parent company in 2005), Lusomundo
(a successful movie distribuitor, movie theater
operator included in the spun off company and, formerly, the owner of the Diário de Notícias
newspaper and the TSF
radio, which were sold to Controlinveste the same year as SAPO was sold) and several TV channels such as SportTV
, CNL (now SIC Notícias
) and TVCine
(MOV
was only created after the spin-off).
On January 17, 2008, ZON announced it would acquire TVTEL
, its main competitor in both cable and satellite broadcasting in Porto region. Thus, ZON is strengthening its position due to the appearance of a new significant rival, meo from Portugal Telecom
, using IPTV
and satellite broadcasting systems, and still it is one cable operator ahead (Cabovisão
) of being the sole cable television provider in Portugal.
On September 29, 2008, ZON Multimédia announced the new mobile product ZON Mobile (MVNO), the first real quad play operator in Portugal.
On November 2008, ZON
officially announced that it would enter the contest for the fifth channel that will be created at the same time as Digital Terrestrial Television
is introduced in Portugal.
On March 17, 2010, ZON renamed its cable and satellite television service as ZON TV, dropping the 16-year-old TVCabo name.
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
holding
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
company whose main assets include a satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
, cable operator
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and ISP, a movie distributor (Lusomundo
Lusomundo
Lusomundo is a Portuguese integrated media corporation founded in 1953, which has major interests in movie distribution, cinema theaters and media assets....
) and a virtual carrier of mobile phone services. Its services include cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
, cable internet
Cable internet
In telecommunications, cable Internet access, often shortened to cable Internet or simply cable, is a form of broadband Internet access that uses the cable television infrastructure. Like digital subscriber line and fiber to the premises services, cable Internet access provides network edge...
and VOIP. ZON Multimédia (formerly PT Multimédia) is the spun off media arm of Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
. ZON Multimédia produces several premium channels
Pay TV
Pay television, premium television, or premium channels refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and internet television...
for the ZON TV platform, which include SportTV
Sport TV
SportTV is the brand name for a group of seven Portuguese sports-oriented television channels. SportTV is the dominant subscription television sports brand in Portugal. The first channel, then known as only SportTV, was launched on 16 September 1998 and is produced by ZON Multimédia and...
(joint-venture with Controlinveste
Controlinveste
Controlinveste is a Portuguese media holding company founded and controlled by Portuguese sports mogul Joaquim Oliveira. Controlinveste was founded in 2005 after the amalgamation of Lusomundo Media and Olivedesportos.- Assets :*Diário de Notícias...
) and TVCine
TVCine
TVCine is a Portuguese premium television brand used on four movie channels, operated by ZON Multimédia. They showcase recent movies and premieres from all the major studios, as well as comedy, action, classic and old movies....
. Lusomundo is also the home-video distributor of Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
, Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
and Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
releases in the Portuguese market, alongside of launching several independent and European titles.
History
ZON was founded in 1994, and was the second cable operator to be founded in Portugal (the first was the regional Bragatel, which was acquired by ZON in 2007). ZON is the sole cable provider in many areas of the country, which leads to its monopolisticMonopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
position.
The company might be considered a Portuguese dot-com
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...
. In the PT Multimédia days, it brought Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
SAPO (a successful web portal and search engine, sold to its parent company in 2005), Lusomundo
Lusomundo
Lusomundo is a Portuguese integrated media corporation founded in 1953, which has major interests in movie distribution, cinema theaters and media assets....
(a successful movie distribuitor, movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
operator included in the spun off company and, formerly, the owner of the Diário de Notícias
Diário de Notícias
Diário de Notícias is a Portuguese daily newspaper, founded in Lisbon, on December 29, 1864 by Tomás Quintino Antunes and Eduardo Coelho. It gradually became one of the best known Portuguese newspapers...
newspaper and the TSF
TSF (radio)
TSF is a Portuguese radio station headquartered in Lisbon. It is a news focused radio station. It was legally founded in 1989, but its first emission was on February 29, 1988....
radio, which were sold to Controlinveste the same year as SAPO was sold) and several TV channels such as SportTV
Sport TV
SportTV is the brand name for a group of seven Portuguese sports-oriented television channels. SportTV is the dominant subscription television sports brand in Portugal. The first channel, then known as only SportTV, was launched on 16 September 1998 and is produced by ZON Multimédia and...
, CNL (now SIC Notícias
SIC Notícias
SIC Notícias is the cable news channel of the Portuguese television network SIC and the second thematic channel of the station. It replaced CNL , a Lisbon region independent cable news channel owned by TV Cabo, on January 8, 2001...
) and TVCine
TVCine
TVCine is a Portuguese premium television brand used on four movie channels, operated by ZON Multimédia. They showcase recent movies and premieres from all the major studios, as well as comedy, action, classic and old movies....
(MOV
MOV (TV channel)
MOV is a Portuguese television channel operated by Dreamia S.L.U. , the spun-off media arm of Portugal Telecom. MOV was launched on December 1, 2007, on the PT Multimédia-owned TVCabo cable operator....
was only created after the spin-off).
On January 17, 2008, ZON announced it would acquire TVTEL
TVTEL
TVTEL was a Portuguese digital satellite and cable pay television service provider. The satellite service started on June 26, 2007, and it was on the Eurobird 9 satellite, broadcasting FTA and Conax-encrypted channels for the entire Europe...
, its main competitor in both cable and satellite broadcasting in Porto region. Thus, ZON is strengthening its position due to the appearance of a new significant rival, meo from Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
, using IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
and satellite broadcasting systems, and still it is one cable operator ahead (Cabovisão
Cabovisão
Cabovisão is a Portuguese private telecommunications operator, founded on September 27, 1993, and in 1995 obtains the licences to start operating.It bought Pluricanal Aveiro S.A...
) of being the sole cable television provider in Portugal.
On September 29, 2008, ZON Multimédia announced the new mobile product ZON Mobile (MVNO), the first real quad play operator in Portugal.
On November 2008, ZON
Zon
Żoń is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Margonin, within Chodzież County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Margonin, south-east of Chodzież, and north of the regional capital Poznań....
officially announced that it would enter the contest for the fifth channel that will be created at the same time as Digital Terrestrial Television
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
is introduced in Portugal.
On March 17, 2010, ZON renamed its cable and satellite television service as ZON TV, dropping the 16-year-old TVCabo name.