Focus Sat
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Satellite television |
| Founded | November 2004 |
| Founder | Valentin Ionescu, Bogdan Drăgoi, Cristinel Popa |
| Headquarters | Bucharest , Romania |
Area served | Romania |
Key people | Cristinel Popa (former president and CEO), Valentin Ionescu (former vice president of finance), Bogdan Drăgoi (former vice president of development) |
| Owner | M7 Group (Canal+ Luxembourg S.a.r.l.) |
| Parent | Canal+ Group |
| Website | www |
Focus Sat represents a satellite television platform operating in Romania, owned by M7 Group (Canal+ Luxembourg S.a.r.l.), a subsidiary of the Canal+ Group.
At its inception, Focus Sat Romania was primarily held by Focus Sat Limited (UK) alongside Romanian partners: Valentin Ionescu (previously regional director at AIG New Europe Fund), Bogdan Drăgoi (Inquam UK Limited), and Cristinel Popa (founder of Eastern Space Systems). Upon launch, Popa served as president and CEO, Ionescu as vice president of finance, Drăgoi as vice president of development, while Adrian Cojocaru and Liviu Pop held vice presidential roles in Customer Operations and Technical departments respectively.
The service debuted with a reception and installation package priced at 799 lei plus VAT, which included a Set Top Box (STB), remote control, LNB, satellite dish, and a smartcard for decoding channels.
Established in November 2004 by three founding partners, Liberty Global (then UnitedGlobalCom) acquired half of the shares in May 2005 and officially launched the platform in Romania on July 5, 2005. By April 2006, Focus Sat had become fully owned by Liberty Global.
In late 2005, Focus Sat briefly introduced satellite internet and telephone services.
The company extended its operations to the Republic of Moldova in 2008, offering approximately 50 television channels, including seven local stations. However, due to service interruptions and inadequate customer support, it faced sanctions including a six-month broadcasting ban in Moldova in 2014 and has not resumed services there since.
In February 2010, Liberty Global International created UPC DTH based in Luxembourg to oversee satellite TV services across Central Europe—operating under the names Freesat in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, UPC Direct in Hungary, and Focus Sat in Romania.
Since December 2018, Focus Sat has been part of M7 Group Europe (Luxembourg), which also manages brands such as Skylink (Czech Republic/Slovakia), Canal Digitaal (Netherlands), Diveo (Germany), Télésat (France), TV Vlaanderen (Belgium), HD Austria (Austria), and M7 Deutschland (Germany).
The acquisition process of Focus Sat by M7 Group (Canal+ Luxembourg S.a.r.l.) concluded in mid-2019. On May 2, 2019, M7 Group took over Liberty Global’s UPC DTH operations covering the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. Following this transaction, M7 Group became a subsidiary under Vivendi's Canal+ Group.
By late May 2019, Canal+ secured ownership of M7 Group Europe pending European regulatory clearance anticipated by September 2019.
Starting September 24, 2019, Focus Sat officially functions within M7 Group under the Vivendi/Canal+ umbrella. Concurrently, the www.focussat.ro website was refreshed with updated branding.
From July 2020 forward, Canal+ serves as the legal entity responsible for managing Focus Sat’s activities within Romania.
History
Focus Sat emerged as the pioneering direct-to-home (DTH) service provider within Romania's telecommunications sector, initially launching in November 2004 and officially commencing operations in spring 2005. Since April 2006, the company has been a subsidiary of UPC Romania, which is affiliated with Liberty Global International (LGI), an American multinational. Liberty Global delivers a range of cable and satellite television, internet, and telephony services across 13 nations, reaching more than 20 million households globally. The Liberty Global portfolio encompasses well-known brands such as UPC, Unitymedia, Kabel BW, Telenet, VTR, Chellomedia (part of AMC Networks International), and the investment entity Liberty Global Ventures.