America Online Inc is hinting that its AOL TV Web-TV service, due to launch next year in the US, could also go to Europe. In an interview with Germany’s Focus magazine, CEO Steve Case said it was possible that a partnership with media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG could bring the service to Germany, the country in which AOL Europe, also a Bertelsmann joint-venture, has been the most successful.
Any plans are in early stages. In the US, AOL has partnered with Hughes Electronics Inc to bring AOL to TV over Hughes’ DirecTV satellite service. Although Hughes subsidiary HOT Telecom Ltd sells PC-based satellite internet access product, DirecPC in Europe over a Eutelsat bird, DirecTV is not available. A spokesperson for HOT and AOL in the UK said there were no immediate plans to bring either TV services to Europe, although nothing could be ruled out.
