Luxe.tv
Encyclopedia
Luxe.TV is a worldwide TV network broadcasting content related to "luxuries". The channel is based in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

 but broadcasts across the world.

History

Luxe.TV was started by Jean Stock and his son Jean-Baptiste in June 2006. Jean Stock is known in the media industry as co-founder of French leading private channel M6, his early work with RTL Radio
RTL RADIO
In 1992 Radio Luxemburg, the German version of Radio Luxembourg, changed its format and profile to become RTL Radio. ....

 and RTL Télé Luxembourg
RTL9
RTL9 is a Luxembourger television channel shown internationally to viewers in Luxembourg, France, Belgium and francophone Switzerland.- Télé-Luxembourg :...

, his position as general secretary of the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...

 and his time as Chairman and CEO of international French-speaking channel TV5MONDE
TV5MONDE
TV5MONDE is a global television network, broadcasting several channels of French language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union.-History:...

. Luxe.TV HD was one the first HD channels in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Sergey Pugachyov
Sergey Pugachyov
Sergey Viktorovich Pugachyov is a Russian "oligarch", formerly also a politician.-Early life:The son of an army officer, Pugachyov was brought up in Saint Petersburg, where he studied art. As a young man, he became a friend of Vladimir Putin....

's OPK Luxadvor S.A. holding company acquired a 72% controlling stake in the channel from its founders in April 2009. The remainder of the company was held by European media industry personalities including Jean Stock and Charles Ruppert. On 24 September 2010, Jean Stock resigned as president of DVL.TV, while remaining as a member of the board of directors.

In early August 2010, twenty-four of the thirty-seven employees of the TV station had been fired and all production activities had been stopped. OGBL, the Luxembourg Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, was told that the business model didn’t work out.

In mid-October 2010, Jean Stock asked the Luxembourg Commercial Court to declare DVL.TV S.A. bankrupt after rejecting a proposed rescheduling of €2.6 million of a €3.25 million loan owed to him by DVL.TV following the takeover by Pugachyov, investors stood to loose €30 million. On 20 October, DVL.TV was declared bankrupt in the Luxembourg Commercial Court, with provisionally estimated liabilities of €4.3 million and all of the remaining staff released. At the same time the channel was rebranded as Luxury Life in some regions. Sergey Pugachyov could not assume the burden of debt.

On 29 October 2010, Jean Stock was chosen by the Luxembourg Insolvency Administrator in charge of the winding-up
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...

 process of DVL.TV, as the exclusive party to become the new owner of the network, after submitting the highest bid. On 1 November 2010, Stock took control of the broadcaster. Stock decided to continue operations under the original name of Luxe.TV. On 15 November 2010, authorization for the sale to Stock's Opuntia S.A. was granted by the District Court of Luxembourg, Opuntia now own assets including the name and the entire Luxe.TV library of programming.

Opuntia S.A. soon put in place a new management structure, with Paul-René Heinerscheid as Managing Director and attracted a major outside investor, the Crédit Mutuel
Crédit Mutuel
Crédit Mutuel is a major French bank, with headquarters in Strasbourg, Alsace. Its slogan is "La banque à qui parler" . It is currently run by Michel Lucas and Alain Fradin and has 7.4 million customers - roughly half of whom live in the Grand-Est, i.e...

-CIC
Crédit Industriel et Commercial
Crédit Industriel et Commercial is a financial services group in France, founded in 1859 With its parent-company, Crédit Mutuel it is the fourth largest bank in the country...

 bank. The company turned Luxe.TV into a pay-TV channel, and concluded major new distribution agreements in Europe and Asia. It moved its facilities from the city of Luxembourg
Luxembourg (city)
The city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...

 to a new location outside in Bascharage
Bascharage
Bascharage is a commune and a town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Capellen, which is part of the district of Luxembourg., the town of Bascharage, which lies in the centre of the commune, has a population of 7,495...

 in late June 2011.

It is commercially represented by Thema TV in Asia and Russia, and by Lagardère Active in several European markets.

, Luxe.TV is available in 107 countries in the world. 92 millions homes have a direct access to the channel (6 millions in France, 1,8 millions in South Korea and 1,3 millions in Portugal). It is distributed by fiber optics, many cable operators in Europe, Middle East and Asia, DTTV channel 7 in Luxembourg and by satellite on Eutelsat’s EB-9A (Ku-band), on Arabsat Badr-6 (Ku-band), and on AsiaSat 5 (C-band).

Content and programming

The content mainly consists out of three kinds of formats: documentaries, magazines and news programmes. Although other content is shown, Luxe.TV mainly covers six sectors of the "luxury” and lifestyle market:
  • Real Estate & Home Design
  • Sports & Leisure
  • Hotels & Gastronomy
  • Beauty & Fashion
  • Cars & Yachting
  • Jewellery & Watches


Luxe.TV produces and distributes all its programmes in high definition (HD) with their own production teams or through external production companies. Some local CATV operators may choose to distribute the channel in standard definition.

From Monday to Thursday, the Luxe.Today section broadcasts news on the luxury world and lifestyle. These programmes are produced with the cooperation of AFP. From Friday to Sunday the Luxe.Week section proposes a selection of the best of the previous week's programming.

Some exceptional life-style reports are broadcast live, such as the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
The wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London. Prince William, the eldest son of Charles, Prince of Wales, first met Catherine Middleton in 2001, when both were studying at the University of St Andrews. Their...

 and the wedding of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock
Wedding of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock
The wedding between Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock took place on 1 and 2 July 2011 at the Prince's Palace of Monaco. It has been described as Monaco's "biggest party in 55 years" since the wedding of Albert's father, Rainier III to Grace Kelly. Prince Albert and Wittstock first...

. Luxe.TV was the only television channel to present these two ceremonies live in HD in Asia via Asiasat satellite and in the Middle East via Badr5 satellite.

Reach

The programs, all produced in high definition and are transmitted in both SD and HD formats. The channel broadcasts in six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian with further languages planned in the future.

Luxe.TV can be received free-to-air by satellite in Europe over the satellites Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...

and Hotbird, in the Middle East over Arabsat, in Asia over AsiaSat-2 and Eutelsat W5 and in Russia over the satellite ABS1.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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