LTV has reached a deal with the board of CyTA to manage the miVision platform from 2006 at a minimum fee of £2.5 million per year.
The co-operation agreement provides that LTV and Alfa will remain on Multichoice’s platform until 2010, while at the same time LTV and Alfa will supply miVision with entertainment content (movies, football, games etc.)
CyTA spokeswoman Sofia Yianacou yesterday confirmed that the reports were true but could not give any further details. She explained that, “only CyTA President Stavros Kremos knows the ins and outs of the deal.”
Kremos however, was unavailable for comment, as were executives at LTV.
The Cyprus Stock Exchange yesterday announced that the trading of titles of “Multichoice (Cyprus) Public Company Ltd has been suspended following the Company’s request in view of the recent report for the cooperation of Lumiere TV Public Ltd with CyTA, and due to the uncertainty that might result in relation to the trading agreements of the company with LTV.”
On Monday, the Stock Exchange received three resignation letters from Messrs. Akis Avraamides, George Xinaris and Constantinos Emilianides. They submitted their resignation from the Lumiere Board of Directors with immediate effect.
According to Avraamides and Xinaris, their resignation “is related to the revaluation by Lumiere TV Public Company Limited of the expediency of its direct participation in Multichoice (and indirect participation via Multichoice Holdings (Cyprus) Ltd).”
The reason for Emilianides’ resignation is a possible conflict of interest, given that he is the legal advisor of Lumiere TV Public Co Ltd.
The company also received a letter from Lumiere TV Public Ltd, according to which the company decided to dispose of the total 7,466,390 shares that it holds in the company. Specifically, “the disposal of the shares above will be carried out pursuant to the CSE legislation. The disposal will start in a week.” Lumiere TV also said that the decision of LTV “is related to the revaluation of the expediency of the direct participation of LTV in Multichoice and its indirect participation in Multichoice via Multichoice Holdings (Cyprus) Ltd”.
Established in 1993, LTV boasts around 65,000 subscribers, of whom 15,000 have upgraded to the Nova digital platform. Executive Chairman Avraamides has said that LTV has a 30 per cent market penetration of all households in Cyprus.
The key to the success, according to Avraamides, is that LTV offers the right product mix, which includes Cyprus, Greek, UK and European football, combined with the latest film releases, and popular series like Desperate Housewives, Joey and Lost.
