The linear pay-TV service, operated by German football association DFB and broadcast group Sportainment, will launch on 22 May 2026 at 15:30 CEST, ahead of the men’s DFB-Pokal final in Berlin.

DFB.TV brings together a broad range of German football content, including coverage of the senior national teams, youth and women’s football, as well as futsal, beach soccer and eFootball. The channel will also offer documentaries, archive programming, behind-the-scenes reports and live broadcasts from selected competitions and events.

Among the live rights included are matches involving junior national teams, the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga and the Finaltag der Amateure. Additional programming focuses on youth development, refereeing and the DFB campus.

The launch line-up also includes the six-part documentary series Der Weg ist das Ziel Team!, which premieres on 24 May. Produced by Warner Bros. ITVP Deutschland, the series follows the German women’s national team through the 2025 football year under head coach Christian Wück.

“DFB.TV stands for high-quality football content with unique editorial breadth. We are delighted to offer this new channel to our network operators and their customers from launch,” said Kristin Koepke, Head of Content at Ocilion. “The partnership demonstrates the relevance and flexibility of our IPTV platform in integrating innovative content offerings.”

Bendix Eisermann, Managing Director of Sportainment, added: “As we already have a long-standing and successful partnership with Ocilion, we are very pleased to expand this cooperation. We are convinced that DFB.TV will be an exciting channel for all of Ocilion’s distribution partners and will quickly win many fans.”

The Ocilion platform has been commercially available in its new generation since April 2026, with initial operators beginning retail rollout to end users, combining UI6 and the P610 set-top box which is based on Google’s Android TV Operator Tier. The new product was announced last year.

Telenec and Gemeindewerke Nümbrecht are deploying the service through a partnership with TELE AG. The arrangement allows them to offer Ocilion’s white-label IPTV platform under their own brands, including linear TV, catch-up functionality, recording, video-on-demand and access to third-party streaming services across the P610 receiver and associated app platforms.

According to Ocilion, the latest product generation is built around its multi-tenant middleware platform, designed to give operators flexibility in product configuration and upselling options, enabling service providers to launch tailored branded TV services more quickly.

“UI6 and the P610 set-top box mark the successful market introduction of the next generation of our IPTV platform,” said Oliver Soellner, Sales Director at Ocilion. “Network operators benefit from maximum flexibility, modern user experiences and the ability to offer individual TV products.”

“We are particularly pleased that, through our cooperation with TELE AG, we have been able to win Telenec and Gemeindewerke Nümbrecht as two further operators,” he added.

Belgium’s leading telecom operators are rebuilding ties with DAZN after a turbulent season for the country’s football rights market, with both Proximus and Telenet now confirming new carriage agreements ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The deals represent a major strategic victory for DAZN after months of uncertainty surrounding distribution of the Belgian Pro League, following a dispute over wholesale carriage agreements that threatened the viability of the streamer’s domestic football rights deal.

Telenet’s agreement is particularly significant because the operator has historically been one of the key distribution platforms for Belgian football through its Play Sports proposition. Under the new arrangement, all Jupiler Pro League matches will once again be available live to Telenet customers from next season onwards.

The agreement restores Belgian football to Telenet’s Play Sports package after a season in which matches were largely available only directly through DAZN’s streaming platform.

From the 2026/27 season, Play Sports subscribers will receive access to the full DAZN Total package, including the Jupiler Pro League, Challenger Pro League and Women’s Super League, alongside international properties such as LaLiga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and NBA coverage. Matches will be available through both linear television channels and the DAZN app.

“Belgian football belongs in the living room,” said Dieter Nieuwdorp. “From next season onwards, through Play Sports, customers will once again be able to access their favourite Belgian club, complemented by the best of European top football from DAZN’s portfolio.”

Telenet is also using the agreement to re-engage subscribers immediately, offering eight Champions’ Play-offs matches free to all customers with a Telenet TV box during the closing weeks of the current season.

The operator’s return is especially important because DAZN’s Belgian football strategy had come under severe pressure after it failed to secure enough wholesale distribution partners following its 2024 rights renewal.

Under the original agreement with the Pro League, DAZN was required to secure broader market distribution through telecom operators. After negotiations with Telenet, Proximus and other distributors stalled, DAZN attempted to terminate the contract in late 2025, arguing the commercial model had become unworkable.

Belgian arbitration authorities subsequently ordered DAZN to continue broadcasting the competition and honour payment obligations to the league.

The new Telenet and Proximus agreements now effectively restore the broad distribution model Belgian football relied on historically, combining direct-to-consumer streaming with traditional operator partnerships.

The developments also underline the continuing importance of telecom distribution in European sports markets, even as DAZN continues pushing its global streaming strategy.

Ziggo is adding ESPN channels 2, 3 and 4 to all digital TV packages, giving customers access to every Eredivisie match without taking an additional sports package.

From July 1, all 306 Eredivisie matches will be available to Ziggo digital TV customers. The move also brings access to other Dutch football on ESPN, including the Kampioen Divisie, Women’s Eredivisie, KNVB Cup and Jong Oranje matches.

The monthly price of Ziggo’s consumer TV package will rise by €2.50. Existing customers still within a 12 or 24-month contract will receive the additional ESPN channels free for the remainder of their contract.

Customers currently taking ESPN Compleet will move to ESPN Premium, paying €9.95 per month instead of €17.95, with access to ESPN 1-4 in Ultra HD via the Next and Next Mini boxes and Full HD streaming via Ziggo GO and ESPN Watch.

Small business customers will also receive all ESPN channels in the standard digital TV package, with prices increasing by €2 per month excluding VAT.

Frank Rutten and Marco de Ruiter, managing directors of Eredivisie Media & Marketing at ESPN, described the agreement as “a huge step for the supporters, the clubs, and football in the Netherlands as a whole”.

Robin Kroes, director of consumer market at VodafoneZiggo, said football was part of Dutch culture and should be available “in every living room”.

The linear 24/7 service will go live on 22 May 2026, on the eve of the DFB Cup final, with live coverage from the event marking its debut, unveiled DFB.TV Managing Director Gisbert Wundram in an interview with Broadband TV News. “We are creating a new media home for football fans in Germany. DFB.TV has the potential to become an important player in the country’s sports media landscape,” he said.

The channel will feature live coverage, reports, interviews and background programming across the breadth of German football. This includes the junior national teams, the amateurs’ finals, Futsal, Beach Soccer and DFB eCup. Highlights and summaries from the DFB Cup, the 3. Liga, the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga and the national teams round off the schedule, alongside historical retrospectives and classic matches. In addition to the linear channel, content will be available on demand

DFB.TV will also accompany Germany’s national teams across training camps, international fixtures and tournaments. During the FIFA World Cup 2026, the channel plans on-site coverage from the team base camp and the “German House of Soccer”, including the live broadcast of all press conferences and behind-the-scenes reporting.

The aim is to broaden the range of football content available to fans and show competitions and stories that currently receive limited or no television exposure, bringing the full scope of German football closer to audiences, said Wundram. He stressed that DFB.TV is designed as a complementary offering to the association’s existing broadcast rights partners rather than a competitor.

The venture will be led by a three-member management team comprising Kay Dammholz, Director Media Rights at DFB, and Gisbert Wundram and Bendix Eisermann, Managing Directors at Sportainment. The Hamburg-based media company brings operational expertise to the project, having launched and managed multiple sports channels including Sportdigital Fußball and Sportdigital 1+.

DFB.TV will be funded through a combination of pay-TV subscriptions and advertising, with advertising sales handled by Publicis Groupe under a broader strategic partnership covering marketing and monetisation.

The channel will be distributed across cable, satellite, IPTV and OTT with confirmed carriage at launch including Vodafone’s nationwide cable network, DTH satellite distribution on Astra (19.2° East) via HD+, TV streaming service Zattoo and sports streamer DAZN. Talks are ongoing with further platform operators including Deutsche Telekom’s MagentaTV and Sky Deutschland. The goal is to achieve universal technical availability in Germany at launch, said Wundram.

Besides the distribution partners, DFB.TV will also be offered via the stand-alone app DFB.TV+, developed with technology provider Deltatre. DFB.TV+ will be available to consumers for €5.99 per month or €59.99 annually with the subscription including access to the linear 24/7 channel and the on-demand library. The app will also be offered in Austria and Switzerland.

Sky Deutschland will begin switching a large number of channels carried on Vodafone’s cable platform from traditional cable delivery to an IP-based feed, with the migration starting on 10 February.

The change affects Sky subscribers who take the service via Vodafone cable. Sky confirmed to German trade title Digitalfernsehen.de that impacted channels will no longer be distributed “classically” via the cable network, instead being delivered as IPTV.

Customers will need an internet-connected Sky receiver to keep receiving the affected channels. Sky said it will contact subscribers using older set-top boxes and offer upgrades to Sky Q hardware, which must be connected to the internet for the full line-up. Homes already using a Sky Q receiver online are not expected to notice the transition.

Sky has already been using IP distribution for some carriage, including Nat Geo Wild since 2025. The broader shift is expected to reduce distribution costs by limiting cable feed-in fees, while Sky also points to added capacity and technical features made possible via IPTV, including interactive services such as My Matchday and additional camera angles for events including Formula 1 and MotoGP.

As part of the move, Sky is expected to extend access for Vodafone cable customers to 6 channels previously limited to satellite households: Cartoon Network; Crime+Investigation; Home channel; Jukebox; Motorvision+ and Nicktoons

Sky said not all services will move to IPTV. A number of channels, particularly the Sky Sport suite, will remain available via the cable network, including Sky Sport UHD.

The migration underlines Sky’s wider push towards IP distribution in Germany, where Sky Stream is positioned as the operator’s internet-first platform for both on-demand and linear channel delivery, while Sky Q remains available for cable and satellite households.

The new user interface has been completely re-engineered to deliver an intuitive, modern TV experience, according to the company, adding that the UI6 offers enhanced usability, improved content discovery and promotion options, and intelligent voice search. Network operators can fully customise the interface to reflect their own branding, while customers will see UI6 rolled out not only on the new P610 device but also on existing P500 and P400 models, ensuring investment protection for current installations.

To ease migration, Ocilion is maintaining existing integrations, allowing operators to adopt the new platform without any technical adjustments. The upgraded system brings a wide range of new capabilities, including extended privacy protection, self-service and upselling features for add-ons such as channel packages, storage and VOD content, as well as standardised APIs for seamless CRM integration and provisioning. Operators can also benefit from a suite of online tools for configuration, monitoring, operation and reporting.

Alongside the software upgrade, Ocilion is expanding its data centre infrastructure to increase performance, capacity and security.

The newly launched P610 set-top box marks the sixth generation of Ocilion hardware and comes with the UI6 interface pre-installed. Running on Android TV, the P610 provides operators with a fully branded IPTV product and access to a wide range of popular streaming apps including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Disney+ and other major services.

Powered by the Amlogic 905X5M processor, the device supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, 4K resolution, HDR, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Designed for high performance and low power consumption, the box is paired with a premium remote control developed in collaboration with Austrian manufacturer Ruwido.

“We are delighted to be delivering our new P610 set-top box to the first network operators, allowing end-users to enjoy our next-generation hardware and UI6 interface. With this launch, we’re offering customers a highly attractive entertainment platform and users a first-class, modern TV and streaming experience with all the relevant content available on a high-performance platform – all in the individual look and feel of the operator,” said Hans Kühberger, Managing Director of Ocilion.

The renewed agreement secures the long-term provision of the IPTV product, which has been a core element of Deutsche GigaNetz’s portfolio since its introduction. MyTV HD is available via set-top boxes as well as through apps for smart TVs, streaming devices, smartphones and tablets.

The service offers viewers a broad entertainment package with live HD channels, catch-up TV, media libraries, access to streaming services and an integrated video-on-demand library, making it a value-added component of the company’s fibre proposition.

As part of the extended collaboration, Deutsche GigaNetz will be among the first network operators to roll out Ocilion’s next-generation user interface and latest end devices.

The sixth generation of Ocilion’s set-top box (P610) is based on Google’s Android TV operating system. Through the Android TV Operator Tier programme, network operators receive a fully branded IPTV solution featuring a custom launcher, individually designed user interface, and a range of pre-installed premium apps including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and other major streaming platforms. The new UI6 interface promises improved usability, enhanced content discovery and promotion options, and intelligent voice search – all within the operator’s brand environment.

“The extension of our partnership with Ocilion is a strong signal: MyTV HD is a key pillar of our entertainment offering. Together, we will continue to develop the product and reach new audiences,” said Reinhard Sauer, CEO of Deutsche GigaNetz.

Hans Kühberger, CEO of Ocilion, added: “We appreciate the trust placed in us and are delighted to continue this successful collaboration. MyTV HD will evolve with new features and greater flexibility, supporting Deutsche GigaNetz’s customer growth and satisfaction.”

According to the newly released Astra TV Monitor 2024, 16.02 million TV households, or 44.8%, received their TV channels via satellite at the end of 2024. A year earlier, the figure was still 16.53 million households (45.5%).

The biggest loser, however, was cable television. The number of cable households dropped from 15.11 million to 13.32 million within a year, reducing cable’s share from 41.6 to 37.3%. Industry observers attribute this sharp decline primarily to the abolition of a legislation which allowed landlords to include the cable TV subscription in the monthly rent, turning tenants into cable TV households, whether they used the service or not. Since 1 July 2024, households have had the choice of whether to continue paying for cable or switch to other reception modes.

The main winner of this change is IPTV. The number of IPTV households jumped from 3.49 million (9.6%) to 4.71 million (13.2%) within a year. Terrestrial television via DVB-T2 also recorded growth, from 1.22 million (3.4%) to 1.68 million households (4.7%).

HD television is now the standard across all infrastructures. In total, 33.21 million households, or 93%, watch in HD quality. With 15.17 million HD households, satellite remains the strongest platform for HD reception, ahead of cable (11.65 million), IPTV (4.71 million) and terrestrial television (1.67 million).

“Satellite remains the most popular reception platform in Germany. Viewers appreciate that there are no ongoing reception fees, combined with a wide range of channels, stable signal quality and excellent picture quality,” said Christoph Mühleib, Managing Director of SES Germany, which operates the SES and Astra business in the DACH region. He added that SES continues to invest in innovations such as the HD+ TV app to make satellite reception even more convenient.

The Astra TV Monitor is compiled annually by market research institute Kantar on behalf of Astra. For the current edition, 6,000 households across Germany were surveyed between November and December 2024. The study considers the primary reception mode of each household.

The study can be downloaded free of charge at www.astra.de/presse/astra-tv-monitor-2024-satellit-ist-der-meistgenutzte-tv-empfangsweg-deutschland.

With this agreement, both companies will continue their close collaboration, aiming to provide 1&1 customers with a modern and future-oriented TV and entertainment experience.

Since 2017, 1&1 has used Zattoo’s TV platform as the technical foundation for its IPTV products, which are marketed under the name 1&1 TV. Since then, Zattoo has systematically supported and expanded its platform’s compatibility with various devices, such as set-top boxes, smart TVs, and mobile and web-based applications. As a result, 1&1 TV customers can now conveniently access 1&1 TV through a variety of different channels.

The 1&1 TV offering includes over 155 channels, more than 70 optional pay-TV channels, and access to the streaming platforms of public broadcasters. The integrated video-on-demand service 1&1 Cinema, with a large selection of thousands of top movies to rent or buy and plenty of free content, rounds out the comprehensive 1&1 TV entertainment program.

“We are incredibly proud to continue our long-standing partnership with 1&1,” said Roger Elsener, CEO of Zattoo. “The contract extension underscores the trusting collaboration and the shared goal of Zattoo and 1&1 to provide first-class TV and entertainment services to a broad audience. We want to continue driving innovation and offer 1&1 customers a compelling entertainment experience.”

Ralph Dommermuth, CEO of 1&1 AG, added: “Thanks in no small part to the long-standing partnership with Zattoo, we have been able to develop 1&1 TV, a product that brings our motto ‘constantly getting better’ to life. 1&1 TV is valued by our customers and independent experts alike. In the renowned tests by connect and IMTEST this year, 1&1 TV was once again awarded an ‘excellent’ rating. We want to continue on this path to success and look forward to our future collaboration with Zattoo.”