MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide Channels has signed a brand new distribution deal with Cablenet that will see the launch of BBC
Knowledge in Cyprus for the first time from today.

This deal follows in the footsteps of BBC Knowledge launching for the first time in Romania and Hungary in January and is the third milestone in an ambitious roll-out plan for the channel across the CEE region in 2013.

The deal with Cablenet arrives shortly after BBC Knowledge launched for the very first time on RCS & RDS in Romania, DIGI in Hungary on 1 January and Romania’s Romtelecom on 3 January.

BBC Knowledge will be available in the Basic package on Digital cable, reaching over 6,500 subscribers in Cyprus. BBC Entertainment and BBC World News continue to be available in the Basic package on analogue and digital cable reaching over 35,000 subscribers.

BBC Entertainment is already shown on Cablenet in English, and BBC Knowledge will follow its lead.

BBC Worldwide Channels SVP and GM EMEA Ian McDonough commented, "We are delighted to announce that BBC Knowledge will air in Cyprus from 1st February 2013. As we’ve already seen with recent deals in Romania and Hungary, there’s a huge appetite in the Central and Eastern European market for the kind of quality content the BBC has to offer. We are looking forward to bringing our award-winning, factual programming to viewers in Cyprus, and to this latest exciting chapter in the story of BBC channels in the CEE region.”

Cablenet MD Nicolas Shiacolas commented, “It is our constant goal to enrich our TV bouquets with quality channels, ensuring we continually offer our customers better value. The BBC has always stood for and offered the very best in TV entertainment, so we are truly pleased that BBC Knowledge has become available for Cyprus and we can add it to our digital service.”

BBC Knowledge showcases British factual and natural history programming. Programmes include the epic series Wonders of the Universe in which Professor Brian Cox explores the link between humanity and the origins of the universe, Richard Hammond’s Crash Course which follows the Top Gear presenter take on America’s biggest working vehicles and the major global viewing astronomical event Stargazing, an original co-commission exclusive to BBC Knowledge.