EU Gives Clearance to HBO & Ziggo JV

BRUSSELS: The European Union has cleared the way for HBO and the Dutch cable giant Ziggo to launch the joint-venture pay-TV network HBO Nederland.

The EU’s competition watchdog, the European Commission, declared that the deal would not bring up an competition issues. "On the contrary, the proposed transaction will increase competition in the acquisition of pay-TV content and in the wholesale of pay-TV channels in the Netherlands," it said in a statement.

The plan is for six premium channels to roll out under the HBO Nederland brand. No carriage announcements have been made yet.