Inside CEE Television
- chrisdz3
- 10 hours ago
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Chris Dziadul, August 13 2026
Peace deal at Poland’s Polsat?
Polsat’s founder Zygmunt Solorz is understood to have reached an agreement with his children over the running of the Polish media group. According to a report in Puls Biznesu, quoted in several local media outlets, his son Piotr Żak will head the group while Solorz is likely to return to its supervisory boards as an honorary member. Solorz recently celebrated his 70thbirthday at an event near Florence in which his children, with whom he has recently been involved in a bitter dispute over the running of Polsat, were also present. Apparently, an agreement was negotiated in Florence between the parties a few weeks before the event. The dispute dates back to August 2024, when Solorz agreed to transfer control of Polsat and associate businesses to his children. He subsequently withdrew from his decision but a court in Liechtenstein ruled it to be valid, and his appeal was dismissed last month.
Slovenian pubcaster under financial pressure
The liquidity of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija has significantly deteriorated. In a statement, it says that a preliminary agreement with Slovenia’s Ministry of Culture would have seen it receive a loan of €12 million from the state’s single treasury account system in 2026. Instead, it will only receive €9.5 million due to “the upcoming 2026 budget revision and resulting uncertain available resources of loan repayments for RTV Slovenija.” Natalija Gorščak, the president of the management board at RTV Slovenija, said that the broadcaster “takes out loans every month before the money from the RTV contribution payment arrives in the account.” She added that this is the first time the Treasury Directorate, which falls under the Ministry of Finance, has not implemented the previous agreement. The broadcaster has regularly repaid loans and is now essentially being pushed into the arms of commercial banks.
Digi makes TV gains in Spain
Digi Communications has released results for its operation in Spain a day before the publication of its main results. They show that as of the second quarter Digi Spain had 300,000 pay-TV subscribers, up from 100,000 in the same period last year. TV ARPU in Q2 was €5.77, up 1% on Q2 2025, while revenues from pay-TV services in the quarter were €4.1 million, compared to €3.1 million in the same period in 2025. Digi Spain Telecom had revenue of €262,828,000 in Q2, compared to €228,406,000 a year earlier. It posted a loss of €6,350,000 compared to a profit of €4,866,000 in Q2 2025. Digi Communications is one of the leading providers of telecom services in its home market Romania and the country’s largest pay-TV operator.
Major changes at BBC Studios in Warsaw
Promotions, new hires and a structural re-organisation have taken place within the Channels & Streaming division at the BBC Studios CEE & MENAT regional office in Warsaw. Agnieszka Szozda has been promoted to head of marketing, and Aleksandra Sergiel has joined her team as marketing manager responsible for the BBC Earth, BBC Brit, and BBC Player brands. Meanwhile, the programming department has expanded to include Maria Smarsz, Julia Tyagi, Milena Domańska, Alicja Szlachetko and Adam Walkiewicz, and in the commercial department, Kinga Bielecka and Ewelina Willmann have received promotions. In recent months, BBC Studios has integrated its programming and marketing functions into a single product division led by Monika Wysocka, director of programming & marketing CEE & MENAT and the next phase of development involves strengthening the capabilities of both teams. Bartosz Witak, SVP & General Manager, BBC Studios CEE & MENAT, has pointed out that the CEE and MENAT team have almost doubled in size in the last two years.
Czech Nova gears up for Oneplay changes
The Czech Republic’s Nova Group will publish details of its plans to introduce advertising on the Oneplay streaming service this autumn. Speaking at a press conference and quoted by the local media, Nova’s CEO Daniel Grunt also said the broadcaster, which is part of PPF Group’s Central European Media Enterprises (CME), will then provide details of the Max Reach project, linking advertising in linear and digital broadcasting. Inside CEE Television notes that Oneplay currently has 1.4 million subscribers, which is well ahead of Netflix which has some 1 million. Grunt held out the possibility of cooperation with other broadcasters in acquiring sports rights. Prima Group, Nova’s main commercial rival, will be launching a proprietary sports channel name Prima sport on Monday, August 17.
End of the line for Hungarian pay-DTT
The 4iG Group subsidiary One Magyarország (Hungary) will fully shut down its One pay-DTT service at the end of November. The service was formerly known as MinDig TV Extra and operated by Antenna Hungária before the latter was taken over by 4iG Group. The Group subsequently rebranded the service One after combining Antenna Hungária’s operations with those of Vodafone and Digi, which it also acquired. Although at its peak MinDig TV Extra had just over 100,000 subscribers, One’s stood at 47,000 as of the end of last year. Despite heavy investment in infrastructure, including the introduction of DVB-T2 technology and HEVC coding, interest in pay-DTT has fallen in Hungary – Inside CEE Television notes it is one of the few countries in the region to have such services – as people have increasingly turned to streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+. One’s free-to-air offer, consisting of 10 unencrypted TV channels, will remain available to viewers after the closure of the pay-DTT service.
BBC Player to launch on prima+
BBC Studios and the Czech Republic’s Prima Group have announced that BBC Player will launch on the latter’s streaming service prima+ this autumn. BBC Player is a dedicated multi-genre on demand service with a library that will grow to more than 1,000 hours of premium British content. It will be available through a dedicated branded section within prima+ to both LIGHT and PREMIUM subscribers, and BBC Player content will also be featured across relevant genre collections, curated content rows and search results throughout the platform. BBC Player will be fully localised for viewers in the Czech Republic through a combination of Czech dubbing, voice-over and subtitles. All children’s programming will be available with Czech dubbing, ensuring an accessible viewing experience for families and younger audiences.
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