The first quarter has been anything but quiet in Central and Eastern Europe’s TV industry.
One of the most important developments was undoubtedly the acquisition of a majority (52.7%) stake in the Polish national commercial broadcaster TVN by Scripps Networks Interactive. The deal, which was announced last month and has yet to receive regulatory and other approvals, was significant on a number of levels and if anything served to underline Poland as a mature TV market.
A much less publicised, though undoubtedly also important, deal – also towards the end of the quarter – saw a 43% interest in the Bulgarian incumbent Vivacom sold for a nominal one euro to the European investment group LIC33.
Those who have followed Vivacom over the years know only too well of the number of ownership changes it has undergone and it will be interesting to see if this one has any particular impact on the company and its strategy in what is a highly competitive market.
Meanwhile, in Russia the focus has been very much on controversial new rules that came into effect at the beginning of the year effectively banning commercials on cable and satellite delivered channels. These has since been modified, if only slightly, and further changes could be in the offing.
Alongside this, the market, and in particular MTG-backed CTC Media, has been preparing for new rules limiting the level of foreign ownership in media outlets to 20%.
MTG has certainly found itself under pressure in the country, having effectively had to close its jointly owned DTH platform Raduga TV at the end of last year, and it remains to be seen how things will go with CTC Media. The broadcaster will almost certainly survive, though with a significantly different ownership structure to the one it has at present.
One surprising development in Russia was CNN’s decision to leave the country at the beginning of the quarter, only to last month secure a licence to re-establish its presence there.
Elsewhere, the Romanian DTT licensing process, which should effectively have finished last year, continued in the quarter with the announcement of a new tender.
In Hungary, the dispute between RTL and government over a controversial ad tax seemed to be drawing to a close but has still be resolved.
Markets to watch were Slovakia, which is bracing itself for the launch of not one but two more DTH platforms, while Telekom Austria put markers down as a company to watch in CEE for the rest of the year.
All in all, Q1 was an eventful quarter in the region and we can expect to see a lot more in the rest of the year.
