The Czech Republic will see the launch of a new national commercial station on October 15.
According to E15, it will be known as Petka (Five) and majority owned by the billionaire Lubos Mekota.
The news is particularly significant in that it will mark Mekota’s emergence as one of the most important players in the Czech TV marketplace.
He is already behind TV Metropol, which has operated in its current for since May last year, and it was widely assumed that it would be further developed into a national service rather than a completely new station such as Petka appearing on the market.
The Czech TV industry, though currently dominated by TV Nova, Prima TV and the public broadcaster CT, is increasingly attracting the interest of wealthy local entrepreneurs.
Aside from Mekota, they include Andrej Babis.
