Yin and Yang. Chris Dziadul analyses two contrasting markets

Near neighbours Romania and Slovakia are in many respects at opposite ends of the region’s TV industry spectrum. While the former is generally acknowledged to be a dynamic market attractive to foreign investors, the latter is resolutely low-key and at times feels cut off from the mainstream.
These perceptions have to some degree been borne out by the latest developments in the two countries. Although Romania’s appeal to foreign investors certainly predates its EU accession earlier this month by many years – CME, SBS Broadcasting and Liberty Global, for instance, are well-established players – it is now starting to attract other, less familiar faces.
These include Dogan Media Group (DMG), which has chosen Romania for its first TV venture – an entertainment channel named Kanal D – outside Turkey. However, the news that it is now to be joined by Ringier AG as a minority partner is perhaps made all the more surprising as this will also be the Swiss group’s first investment in Central and Eastern Europe’s TV industry. To date, its interests have been confined to the print sectors in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.
An altogether different situation has developed in Slovakia, where the TV market has long been dominated by the CME-owned commercial station Markiza TV and under pressure (both financially and politically) public broadcaster STV. There, all of a sudden, it is the ‘bit-part’ players TV Joj and TA3 that have found themselves under the spotlight.
In an interesting exchange of assets, J&T Media Enterprises has bought TV Joj from Grabofal Group, while Grabofal Group has secured control of TA3, a station launched by J&T Media Enterprises.
Neither TV Joj nor TA3 are setting the market alight, with the former – and more popular of the two – commanding an audience share of just over 16%.
Both, however, could soon become potential targets for foreign investors. News Corp. and MTG having already been mentioned by local sources as possible buyers, possibly making their move later this year. (CD)