Bonus for football fans as legal wrangle settled

Satellite viewers will get to see even more live matches after rivals come to an agreement over broadcasting

PAY-TV viewers are set to benefit after Multichoice Cyprus and LTV buried the hatchet, ending a lengthy financial dispute that effectively left Nova Cyprus subscribers out in the cold.

In just under 10 days the subscribers will again be able to watch private channels LTV and Alfa after losing access in the summer of 2006.

The decision was announced on the Cyprus Stock Exchange on Monday.

A statement said:: “MultiChoice (Cyprus) Public Company Ltd. (“the Company”) announces that in the best interest of the Company, the Company was a signatory to a comprehensive Settlement Agreement on February 16, 2008, between NetMed N.V., MultiChoice Hellas S.A., MultiChoice Holdings (Cyprus) Ltd., Messrs. Akis Avraamides, George Xinaris, Constantinos Emilianides and Lumiere TV Public Company Ltd., by which all pending Court cases between the Parties have been withdrawn.”

The settlement agreement paves the way for the inclusion of the LTV and Alfa channels on the Nova Cyprus subscription bouquet.

The announcement is an indication former bitter rivals, Multichoice Cyprus’ Managing Director Willem Hattingh and LTV general manager George Xinaris, have set aside their differences with plans to resume their partnership.

Xinaris said yesterday there was “nothing more and nothing less” to add to the announcement.

According to reports, immediately after signing the agreement, Nova started drawing up special packages which it plans to offer existing subscribers. The company has plans to upgrade its existing four packages – ‘Value’, ‘Cinema’, ‘Sports’ and ‘Full’ – to try and entice a larger number of subscribers. It is also said to be examining to what extent it will offer LTV and Alfa at no extra charge to its subscribers.

Commenting on the agreement, Nova subscriber Nikos Neophytou said: “This is awesome news. I was really upset when LTV and Alfa were taken away as I could no longer watch the English Premier League so I am very much looking forward to enjoying all the matches again.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.