BBC Prime has managed to retain direct-to-home satellite capacity in the German market after reaching a new agreement with the Premiere World platform. The entertainment channel had, like a number of third party channels, received a letter terminating its agreement with DF1 ahead of the platform’s merger and subsequent relaunch on October 1. "We had a great deal of support from the media authorities who liked BBC Prime and to be honest have a soft spot for the BBC in general and I think that helped our cause," said Wayne Dunsford, director of channels, EMEIA, BBC Worldwide.

Under the new arrangement BBC Prime will be available to all Premiere World subscribers, however it will not be marketed as part of a specific package. It will also be possible for German residents to subscribe directly to BBC Prime from its digital feed on the Eutelsat Hot Bird platform for an annual fee of pounds 80. Previously the BBC had not actively marketed this service in Germany. "Technically BBC Prime is not a part [of the DF1] package, but BBC Prime is available to all of the Premiere World subscribers," explained Dunsford. A carriage fee continues to be paid and despite the lack of marketing available from Premiere World, BBC Prime will still be seen in more German homes than before.

Dunsford also said he was actively looking for other distribution possibilities in Germany by cable or satellite.

For the first time BBC Prime is now being made available to DTH subscribers in the Netherlands. BBC Prime will also be made available to cable operators such as the Mediakabel digital network. "Whether we get BBC Prime onto cable or not it will only be a premium tier channel. It will not be carried in basic and we won’t seek to [have it carried]," said Dunsford. "BBC Prime is for the Dutch market a kind of catch up TV. In the rest of Europe it will remain the BBC entertainment channel as they don’t have anything else."