Having launched in Sweden, cloud-based TV operator Magine is ready to take its mix of over-the-air and cable channels to the German and Spanish markets later this year, then move across the English Channel into the U.K. sometime next year.
Magine's channel lineup, which also features cloud PVR, includes national Swedish public broadcaster SVT and private broadcaster TV4, as well as international channels like CNN International, BBC, Eurosport, National Geographic, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network for about €11.50 ($15 U.S.) a month, according to Broadband TV News. The service launched in Sweden last week.
Magine, the article said, calls itself "a pure TV service that has removed the complicated installation of set-top boxes, dishes and cables by engineering a secure cloud-based architecture."
"Magine redefines TV by combining cloud-based live TV, catch-up and on-demand programming in the same place," company chairman Michael Werner said in the story. "The company has pioneered technology that has never existed before and we are proud to have been accepted as a service that both viewers and content providers consider excellent."
The model has its supporters from among the eclectic group of content providers who are already part of the channel lineup.
"The service at launch looks really high class and this seems to be the viewers' perception of Magine as well," Ramon Zwartkruis, Turner Broadcasting System's director of distribution the Nordic countries told the magazine.
Although it describes itself as a subscription service offerings live and recorded programming on TVs, smartphones, tablets and computers, Magine, at the start at least, isn't for everyone based purely on technical reasons. It is available on Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) devices and in Samsung smart TVs but so far more TV platforms and Android tablets are still in the future.
For more:
- Broadband TV News had this story
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