Fashion TV remains true to style
Stanislav Kimchev met with Fashion TV's founder and president Michel Adam during NEM 2017 in Dubrovnik. Adam talked about the history of the first TV channel dedicated to fashion as well as his future plans for the network.
Fashion TV is one of the leading broadcasters for fashion and lifestyle programming. Your channel was founded back in 1997. How did it start and what have been the most important developments for FTV in the last 20 years?
The history of Fashion TV begins 20 years ago. At that time, I was in the fashion business, operating a big factory producing my own brand of clothes for a huge retail chain of shops. In the years of 96-97, the music industry was flourishing and everyone was watching MTV. The music videos on the TV were, however, much different than the music that was modern and fashionable in Paris in those years. DJs such as David Getta and Bob Sinclair were often invited to create music and sound big fashion events. So it occurred to me that I can use their music as the background of fashion videos. Back in 1997 there was a lot of digital space, but very little content. So we approached Eutelsat and introduced the concept, we made some pilots and they loved it, we got the satellite space and get the business going. Within few weeks we were on Astra and 20 other satellites. That's how it all started.
We are always trying to keep ahead with technology and to follow the latest trends in which the modern viewer is consuming the TV content. As Fashion TV's audience today are savvy Smart TV, smartphone and tablet users we made our brand accessible and more pleasurable across all devices and with best ultra-high definition picture quality.
When I said that, in the beginning of the year we launched 12 linear thematic OTT channels which can be received through satellite, IP or mobile application. This is to prove that we never stop innovating and updating our products to the needs of the modern viewer.
How many channels do you currently have?
We have our SD channel, HD channel and this year we did a double job because we launched a whole group of 12 linear OTT channels and a 4K (UHD) channel as well. The SD channel in India and China is not the same like the one in Europe for example, because of the cultural preferences, censorship and time zone so all together we have about 25 feeds including the 12 OTT channels.
The f+ multi content platform features 12 visually stunning streams with all types of themes such as Fashion weeks, Swimwear, Models, Designers, Bridal, Hair and Makeup, Fashion Men and more. The channels are available in SD, HD, UHD and VR and can be received through satellite, IP or mobile application. The f+ application is available on the web, Apple Store, Google Play, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon TV, Roku and on many OTT platforms.
You have vast coverage in a number of territories around the world. What is your current footprint and how many viewers you reach now?
We are number one TV channel that provides entertainment with emphasis on the latest fashion trends and we are always striving to present our audience with world class production, exclusive shows and the hottest up-and-coming fashion trends. Our footprint is global especially when we add the IP, Smart TV applications and mobile applications, so the answer is wherever there is a smartphone, Smart TV and on most of the cable distribution – there is Fashion TV. We are one of the most widely-distributed satellite channels in the world: 31 satellite and 2,000 cable systems, with a total of 500 million households in 192 countries across the five continents.
Which are the most important markets for FTV? Have you planned to enter new territories that currently don't have your channels?
Most important markets are India and Asia, because of their high population. There is a big interest and movement towards the mobile technologies going on there and the luxury brands like Fashion TV are intriguing for these nations. The market that we're entering currently is the OTT market. More importantly our channel is not entering the markets by territory rather by technology.
Speaking about technologies the Fashion TV channels are encoded in HEVC (high efficiency video compressing) format which is the most innovative, most modern technology in broadcasting content and it offers near lifelike picture quality. Thanks to this revolutionary technology the channels don't take much bandwidth and any operator can downlink and serve them in the line easily. Currently, we are testing the 12 OTT and the 4K channels with the big operators worldwide, like Telecom Austria, Deutsche Telecom, Korean Telecom, China Telecom and others.
Part of our business development strategy is to work with Austrian Telecom, who are very open and thanks to our mutual collaboration we were able to move a lot of our broadcasting and base it to one place in Europe. We signed a contract with Austrian Telecom and Apstar which is a major Chinese satellite group and they put our content all over Asia. This partnership gives us a real control over the system and besides our SD, HD and 4K we were able to launch on Apstar the brand new thematic 12 HЕVC OTT channels.
The history of Fashion TV begins 20 years ago. At that time, I was in the fashion business, operating a big factory producing my own brand of clothes for a huge retail chain of shops. In the years of 96-97, the music industry was flourishing and everyone was watching MTV. The music videos on the TV were, however, much different than the music that was modern and fashionable in Paris in those years. DJs such as David Getta and Bob Sinclair were often invited to create music and sound big fashion events. So it occurred to me that I can use their music as the background of fashion videos. Back in 1997 there was a lot of digital space, but very little content. So we approached Eutelsat and introduced the concept, we made some pilots and they loved it, we got the satellite space and get the business going. Within few weeks we were on Astra and 20 other satellites. That's how it all started.
We are always trying to keep ahead with technology and to follow the latest trends in which the modern viewer is consuming the TV content. As Fashion TV's audience today are savvy Smart TV, smartphone and tablet users we made our brand accessible and more pleasurable across all devices and with best ultra-high definition picture quality.
When I said that, in the beginning of the year we launched 12 linear thematic OTT channels which can be received through satellite, IP or mobile application. This is to prove that we never stop innovating and updating our products to the needs of the modern viewer.
How many channels do you currently have?
We have our SD channel, HD channel and this year we did a double job because we launched a whole group of 12 linear OTT channels and a 4K (UHD) channel as well. The SD channel in India and China is not the same like the one in Europe for example, because of the cultural preferences, censorship and time zone so all together we have about 25 feeds including the 12 OTT channels.
The f+ multi content platform features 12 visually stunning streams with all types of themes such as Fashion weeks, Swimwear, Models, Designers, Bridal, Hair and Makeup, Fashion Men and more. The channels are available in SD, HD, UHD and VR and can be received through satellite, IP or mobile application. The f+ application is available on the web, Apple Store, Google Play, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon TV, Roku and on many OTT platforms.
You have vast coverage in a number of territories around the world. What is your current footprint and how many viewers you reach now?
We are number one TV channel that provides entertainment with emphasis on the latest fashion trends and we are always striving to present our audience with world class production, exclusive shows and the hottest up-and-coming fashion trends. Our footprint is global especially when we add the IP, Smart TV applications and mobile applications, so the answer is wherever there is a smartphone, Smart TV and on most of the cable distribution – there is Fashion TV. We are one of the most widely-distributed satellite channels in the world: 31 satellite and 2,000 cable systems, with a total of 500 million households in 192 countries across the five continents.
Which are the most important markets for FTV? Have you planned to enter new territories that currently don't have your channels?
Most important markets are India and Asia, because of their high population. There is a big interest and movement towards the mobile technologies going on there and the luxury brands like Fashion TV are intriguing for these nations. The market that we're entering currently is the OTT market. More importantly our channel is not entering the markets by territory rather by technology.
Speaking about technologies the Fashion TV channels are encoded in HEVC (high efficiency video compressing) format which is the most innovative, most modern technology in broadcasting content and it offers near lifelike picture quality. Thanks to this revolutionary technology the channels don't take much bandwidth and any operator can downlink and serve them in the line easily. Currently, we are testing the 12 OTT and the 4K channels with the big operators worldwide, like Telecom Austria, Deutsche Telecom, Korean Telecom, China Telecom and others.
Part of our business development strategy is to work with Austrian Telecom, who are very open and thanks to our mutual collaboration we were able to move a lot of our broadcasting and base it to one place in Europe. We signed a contract with Austrian Telecom and Apstar which is a major Chinese satellite group and they put our content all over Asia. This partnership gives us a real control over the system and besides our SD, HD and 4K we were able to launch on Apstar the brand new thematic 12 HЕVC OTT channels.
