CTAM Europe merges with Cable Europe, signs up Disney

Matthias Kurth

Cable marketing body CTAM Europe has confirmed plans to bring its activities under the umbrella of Cable Europe, with Disney joining as a joint member of both trade bodies.

As part of the merger, the two organisations will bring together their respective annual events, integrating EuroSummit into a “refreshed and relaunched” Cable Congress from 2016 onwards.

Speaking at the CTAM EuroSummit’15 event in Amsterdam today, Cable Europe Executive Chairman Matthias Kurth said that CTAM Europe together with Cable Europe would create “unprecedented intelligence and access opportunities across the entire breadth of our membership.”

“Our business is one of convergence, of innovation, of growth. Our new structure will reflect this, and it will capitalise on it,” said Kurth.

Disney joins both HBO Europe and Viacom as combined members of both bodies. The latter two became the first to sign up in March, when Cable Europe first announced it was introducing a new form of associate membership for content providers, in a bid to cooperate more closely with CTAM Europe.

Manuel Kohnstamm, president of Cable Europe, said: “Scale matters everywhere in business and this is a logical step in the evolution of our dynamic industry in Europe.”

“The integration of Cable Europe and CTAM Europe will make the consolidated group more effective in representation and best-practice sharing. It reflects the ongoing commitment of all our members to growth and investment in Europe’s digital economy, infrastructure and services.”

CTAM Europe chairman, Eric Tveter added: “This move to integrate our expertise is a win-win for our members both individuals and companies.”

Cable Europe is the trade association that represents Europe’s largest broadband cable operators.