SBS challenges De Mol over TV name

27 April 2005

AMSTERDAM — SBS Broadcasting has demanded that John de Mol’s company Talpa change the name of its new television network.

To much fanfare, De Mol announced last week that his new channel — which will takes to the airwaves in August — will be called ‘Tien’ (Ten).

However, SBS said two days later that it planned to launch a new digital broadcaster under the name ‘TV 10’, a name it secured several years ago.

A spokesman for SBS — which operates SBS 6, Net 5 and Veronica — said on Wednesday that Tien too closely resembles TV 10 and De Mol has been asked to change its name.

The letter sent to De Mol had given Tuesday as an ultimatum. As De Mol has not responded to the letter, SBS is now considering legal action.

But a spokesman for Tien said the matter is too silly for words.

“Our name is completely made up of letters and TV 10 is not. It is also very difficult to claim a number as a name, so we are confident of the outcome of any possible legal action,” he said.

TV 10 is scheduled to be launched on 1 September and will broadcast news from the world of showbiz, entertainment, television and theatre seven days per week.

The basis for the channel will be the celebrity news programme Shownieuws, which is already being broadcast on SBS 6. Shownieuws will be broadcast seven days a week on TV 10, with more news and up-to-date information.

Tien is expected to start broadcasting in August and has won the rights to Dutch first division football matches and will produce another Big Brother series. It will be broadcast at night on the children’s television network Nickelodeon.

Subject: Dutch news