PolskaPlus.com

Polska + is a new television platform targeting the estimated two million Poles currently living and working in the United Kingdom.

This community has grown rapidly in the years since Poland joined the European Union but is under-served by conventional digital TV platforms in the UK – none of the three main platforms carries a single Polish language channel. Polska + intends to address this gap by aggregating the best indigenous Polish broadcast channels, Polish-dubbed channels from major international TV distributors, a large library of on-demand films and other content and a unique local channel focusing on the Polish experience in this country. Using the latest internet TV technology, Polska+ will stream broadcast-quality video to users over their existing broadband internet connections for viewing on PC or more importantly, TV. The platform will make money from a combination of a small access subscription, premium revenues from pay-per-view content and advertising. In addition, the platform will become the natural home for a wide range of commercial and government partners seeking to communicate and interact with this increasingly important community in their own language.

Fortis Media is the leading Polish language media brand in the United Kingdom. It publishes the leading Polish language weekly newspaper, Polish Express which has a  readership of 300, 000. Its sister publication, Panorama, a glossy magazine has a readership of 200, 000.

Established in London in 2003, Fortis Media Ltd and its titles are widely recognised by advertisers as the most effective gateway to the Polish community in the United Kingdom. Fortis Media will provide the essential media launch pad for Polska +, advertising it heavily to its readership. In addition to this, it is leveraging its existing journalism resources to create professional video around key stories it covers. This content forms the basis of a unique new channel focusing on Polish life in the UK, which will be exclusive to Polska+.

Vision IP is the product development business of broadcast TV service provider, Playout 247. Playout 247 has developed an innovative technical platform for delivering broadcast quality TV at full screen resolution over the public internet. The internet TV portal is exceptionally flexible, enabling all modes of video delivery including streaming, automated catch-up TV via broadcast channel schedule and video on demand. It also supports all possible billing mechanisms including pay-as-you go per minute billing. The portal has been designed from the outset with TV viewing in mind. Computers can be connected to TV sets via a simple low cost cable – our media player can be easily dragged to the TV screen and content watched full screen. At the same time, the portal itself can be closed on the computer, allowing others to use it whilst the player continues to display the content on TV.

Re-broadcast of linear channels

Polish TV channels will be down-linked from satellite at our London play out centre, encoded to WM9-VC1 and distributed to subscribers all at Polska + expense.

Unrivalled picture quality at full D1 screen resolution

Automated “catch up” TV facility – we can record broadcast content and then make this available for later on-demand viewing.

Local market version of the channel – we understand that TVP may not have international broadcast rights for some programs shown in its Polish channels. Polska + can replace these programs with other rights-cleared content during the internet play out process.

Local advertising insertion – our facilities can enable local advertising to be inserted over existing ad breaks in the broadcast stream giving you the ability to re-sell this space to companies in Western Europe seeking to target the Polish market.

Video on demand

TV can exploit its large library of movies and other content through a simple video on demand service.

Polska + will ingest and encode content at its expense and then make this available via a powerful search interface to customers.

Content can be streamed or downloaded with full DRM protection if required.

Content will be available on a pay per view or a pay-as-you go basis in which customers load some money into their account which is then debited for each minute of viewing.

Viewers will be encouraged to connect their computer to their TV set to enjoy the content in its natural setting. Polska + will invest in significant marketing activity both in print and video format to demonstrate to viewers how easy this is to achieve.

Polska + aims to become the first-choice platform for a range of national and local government bodies seeking to communicate and interact with the Polish community. The interactive, video-rich capabilities of our TV portal make this the perfect environment to communicate complex information to this community. Public service providers are desperate to find new interactive video channels which can help take some of the pressure off front-line public service providers caused by the rapid influx of Eastern European nationals in recent years. Face to face transactions with the public cost around £25 - £50 on average – this is exacerbated if people have limited English language skills.  For example, one local authority we spoke spends around £400,000 per annum on translation services about half of which was for Polish language. We will enable public bodies to have their own video channels within Polska + together with promotions elsewhere in the portal highlighting their content. Putting this public service content together with mainstream TV gives a much higher likelihood that people will actually view it.