Blue Entertainment AG (formerly known as CT Cinetrade AG) is a Swiss media company owned by telecommunication provider Swisscom. The company specialised in film and sport programming rights for television.

Blue Entertainment's businesses include Blue+ (formerly known as Teleclub), which provides a group of premium-tier television channels; Blue Cinema (formerly known as Kitag Cinemas), a chain of film theatres; and Plazavista Entertainment, a home entertainment distributor.

History

Stephan Sager founded CT Cinetrade AG in 1989.

In 2005, Swisscom acquired a minority share in CT Cinetrade. In May 2013, Swisscom increased its share in CT Cinetrade from 49% to 75%.[1]

In November 2017, Swisscom acquired the remaining share of 25% in CT Cinetrade from its founder Stephan Sager.[2]

Controversies

In 2016, the Competition Commission of Switzerland fined Swisscom and what was known as Cinetrade back then an amount of 71.8 million Swiss francs "for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the provision of national football and ice-hockey coverage between 2002 and 2012". In June 2022, the Federal Administrative Court confirmed the fine. Swisscom argued that it was expanding sport offerings beyond what were offered by rivals.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Clover, Julian (6 May 2013). "Swisscom increases grip on Cinetrade". Broadband TV News. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  2. ↑ Krieger, Jörn (19 November 2017). "Swisscom takes over Teleclub operator Cinetrade". Broadband TV News. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  3. ↑ Thomson, Stuart (9 June 2022). "Swiss court confirms Swisscom fine in sports TV marketing case". Digital TV Europe. Informa. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.