Tele2 division Com Hem said it is urging Telia CEO Christian Luiga to make a last-ditch effort at serious negotiations over carriage of Bonnier Broadcasting's TV4 channels. It said talks in the morning of 10 December found that the offer to extend provision until after Christmas did not cover rights for Com Hem customers to watch TV4 on their own choice of screen. Com Hem is poised to switch off Telia’s channels at midnight.
TV4 said it had offered Com Hem the rights to distribute the channel until 10 January.
Com Hem said it has been trying to discuss the matter for over six months and the offer of an extension over the festive period turned out to be a delaying tactic so that TV4 could secure advertising revenue at this important viewing time of year. It claimed that Telia and TV4 still do not want concrete talks about the rights its customers need to watch TV4 channels and the C More streaming service now and in the future.
Com Hem said it has made it clear that it cannot delay talks until after 10 December, as it has long been planning service digitisation for 1.6 million households. The operator stressed that it is willing to pay for rights. It said it has never been a matter of price to Telia, but rather that it wants to keep the rights to itself.
Tele2 CEO Anders Nilsson said it has become clear that TV4 has no mandate to negotiate, which is why it is now urging Telia itself to begin a serious dialogue.
