Stofa adds Viasat Ultra HD to content line-up

Ole Fruekilde Madsen

Danish cable operator Stofa has made Modern Times Group (MTG)-owned Viasat Broadcasting’s Ultra HD channel, which was launched on in September available to its viewers.

Stofa is making Viasat Ultra HD available via its Extra Channel, used to trial services. The UHD channel will be added to the cable operator’s 3 package from January 1.

Stofa said the launch would make it the first cable operator in Europe to offer a live UHD channel without the need for a separate receiver.

The company said it expected up to 20% to have a UHD-capable TV set by the end of this year.

Stofa CEO Ole Fruekilde said he did not know of any other European distributor that offered a UHD TV channel to all customers via cable without the need for an additional set-top box.

MTG launched Viasat Ultra HD as the first UHD TV channel in the Nordic market in May. The service offers a mix of premium sports and is available via the SES-5 satellite at 5° East. The pay TV operator launched a new UHD-capable set-top from Samsung and also made the channel available to UHD sets via conditional access modules.