In this monthly Southern Europe video spotlight feature, S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a roundup of news related to over-the-top, video-on-demand and other online video initiatives in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Turkey.
TOP NEWS
* Vodafone Group Plc's Vodafone Italia will add Sky Italia SRL's Now TV content into the upcoming Vodafone TV service, Telecompaper reported Dec. 16. Vodafone TV will broadcast the Sky plc unit's channels such as Sky One, Fox Life, Nat Geo Wild, History and Sky Sport 24, as well as Eurosport 1 and 2, live and on demand.
* Amazon.com Inc.'s U.S. Prime Video service is now available in Spain, Rapid TV News reported Nov. 30. According to the report, the launch comes ahead of an expected debut of Prime Video in Spain as a stand-alone offering in the first quarter of 2017. The availability of the U.S. Prime Video platform comes after Time Warner Inc.'s HBO launched its streaming service HBO España in the country.
OTHER NEWS
* Italian public broadcaster RAI made its over-the-top service RaiPlay available on smart TVs, Advanced Television reported Dec. 21. Viewers will be able to access content from various RAI channels via the RaiPlay platform.
* Vodafone Greece struck a content deal with CBS Corp. for the Vodafone TV service, Telecompaper reported Dec. 20. Under the deal, several CBS series such as "The Good Wife," "Californication" and "The Borgias" will be included in Vodafone TV's on-demand offer.
* Spanish public broadcaster RTVE created an online interactive documentaries unit under its audiovisual department, Rapid TV News reported Dec. 14. The unit is tasked to make five web documentaries, the first of which is set to premiere before the end of 2016.
* Portugal's NOS rolled out its new Nos N Play on-demand film and TV mobile app, Telecompaper reported Dec. 13. NOS subscribers will be able to access the service for free during the Christmas week.
* Viacom Inc.'s Viacom International Media Networks launched a dedicated app for Paramount Channel in Italy, which will enable users to stream content on their mobile devices, Telecompaper reported Dec. 13. The channel has been available since early 2016 in Italy via digital terrestrial television and the TivuSat direct-to-home platform.
* JustWatch launched in Italy giving its users the capability to search for video content that can be viewed, rented or purchased online, Advanced Television reported Dec. 12. The video streaming aggregator has teamed up with major content providers such as Netflix Inc., Apple Inc.'s iTunes, Alphabet Inc. unit Google Inc.'s Google Play Movies, Sony Corp.'s PlayStation and Sky GO.
* AMC Networks International Iberia partnered with online gaming network Machinima to roll out a subscription video-on-demand channel dedicated to video games, e-sports and animation, Telecompaper reported Dec. 7. The channel, to be also called Machinima, will be made available on smart TVs and mobile devices. AMC Networks International Iberia is a unit of AMC Networks Inc.
* Microsoft Corp. locked a deal with La Liga to improve the Spanish soccer league's online visibility to its fans through communication- and content-related tools such as a chat-bot technology and visualisation tools, respectively, Rapid TV News reported Dec. 2. La Liga will also use Intel Corp.'s 360-degree replay technology enabling the viewers to watch the game in multiple angles.