CEE TV industry news stories

Chris Dziadul, August 8, 2024

 

 

Could TVN be sold?

Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly considering the sale of some of its smaller assets, including the Polish broadcaster TVN. According to the FT, the company was earlier mooting a possible break-up of its business, though this would be considerably challenging and a “nuclear option”. Warner Bros. Discovery has seen its stock price fall by 67% since it was formed by the merger of the WarnerMedia and Discovery in April 2022. Meanwhile, results published earlier this week show that it had a net loss of nearly $10 billion (€9.16 billion) in the second quarter.

 

Piracy a major problem in Slovakia

Nearly one in five (19.16%) Slovaks admits to illegally watching or downloading video content. According to a study by the Association of Television Broadcasters of Slovakia (ATVS), 10.63% say they watch such content on the internet both legally and illegally and almost 9% watch movies, series or music exclusively from pirated sources. ATVS also notes that despite this the number of Slovaks who pay for on demand services is growing, with at least 47% opting for at least one. Furthermore, of the 56.17% of Slovaks who watch or download content from online platforms, 48.39% do so at least once a week and 23.21% daily. 

 

Telekom Srbija set to expand

The Serbian incumbent Telekom Srbija is reported to be on the verge of buying the media group Kurir, whose assets include a national newspaper of the same name and the television station Kurir TV. Kurir is owned Mondo Inc – Wireless Media Group, in which Igor Zezelj holds a 100% stake. Last October controversial new legislation was adopted in Serbia that allows Telekom Srbija to establish media outlets in the country.

 

Digi to buy Portugal’s Nowo

Romanian-owned Digi Communications has agreed to buy Portugal’s Carbonitel from the Spanish joint venture LORCA for €150 million. The transaction, which is subject to competition clearance, includes Nowo Communications, Portugal’s fourth largest mobile and fixed telecom operator. Nowo has around 130,000 fixed telecom clients and holds spectrum licences in the 1800, 2600 and 3600 MHz frequency bands. Digi also holds 5G licences in Portugal and is expected to launch commercial services in the country by the end of this year. Nowo was previously a take-over target by Vodafone, but the transaction fell through due to competition concerns.  

 

Key changes at Slovenia’s ProPlus

Ales Muhic, who is currently the marketing director at Slovenia’s ProPlus, has reportedly been assigned the additional role of executive co-director. At the same time, Tilen Ribic has been promoted to the position of finance director. ProPlus is part of PPF Group’s Central European Media Enterprises (CME).

 

Vectra and Polsat lose legal appeals

Poland’s Court of Competition and Consumer Protection (SOKiK) has dismissed an appeal by the leading cable operator Vectra and upheld a fine of PLN22 million (€5.1 million). It was imposed on the company by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) in 2022 for unilaterally changing the provisions of contracts for indefinite periods and then increasing subscription fees. The judgement is not final and Vectra says it will appeal. Separately, the Warsaw Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Telewizja Polsat against a decision by the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) in 2018 to fine the broadcaster for refusing to provide a housing cooperative in Grudziadz the channels Polsat and TV4 free of charge.

 

Czech streamer Prima+ gains subs

The Czech streaming platform Prima+ currently has nearly 1.2 million registered users. However, only 160,000 are paying customers, with the remainder opting for other levels of the service. Prima+, which is operated by the national commercial broadcaster FTV Prima, was launched in February 2023. It is currently available in ‘Free’, ‘Light’ and ‘Premium’ versions, with the latter two costing CZK 99 (€3.99) and CZK149 a month respectively. ‘Free’ carries advertising and ‘Light’ half as many commercials as ‘Free’, while ‘Premium’ is ad-free.

 

 

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© Chris Dziadul, 2024