CEE TV industry news stories
- chrisdz3
- Apr 10
- 5 min read
Chris Dziadul, April 10, 2025
Confusion over TVN sale bid
The Polish billionaire Michał Sołowow has reportedly withdrawn his bid for the national commercial broadcaster TVN, which is currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. According to local media, this is due to the market turmoil caused by Donald Trump’s tariff policies and their negative impact on transactions. Only earlier this week other reports said Sołowow had submitted the highest bid for TVN, adding that Warner Bros. Discovery had put three packages up for sale, namely TVN, including all TVN-branded channels in its portfolio; thematic channels; and Canal+ Polska, in which Warner Bros. Discovery owns a 32% stake through TVN Media. Sołowow was apparently interested in the first two packages. As previously reported in the CEE TV industry news round-up, the other interested parties in TVN are Ringier Axel Springer Polska (RASP) and a consortium headed by Wirtualna Polska.
Senate approves Czech media law amendment
The Czech Senate has approved an amendment to media legislation that will have far-reaching consequences for the country’s public service media. Once signed off by the President, it will from next month see TV licence fees increase by CZK15 (€0.60) to CZK150 a month and for radio receivers by CZK10 to CZK55 a month. Significantly, it will for the first time also require households with no TV set but capable of watching services on PCs, smartphones and tablets, to pay the TV licence fee. Thanks to the amendment, the public broadcaster Ceska Televize (CT) is likely to see its revenues increase by up to CZK860 million a year.
Polish court overturns multiplex decision
The Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw has overturned a decision by the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) refusing a slot on the multiplex MUX8 for Polska24, a channel operated by Polskie Wolne Media, a company owned by MWE Networks. Polskie Wolne Media brought about the complaint after the KRRiT awarded licences on MUX 8 to Republika and wPolsce24. The KRRiT insists that the licence awards were in accordance with the law and is likely to appeal against the court’s decision, which is not final.
Hungarian telcos to freeze prices
Both Magyar Telekom and 4iG have announced that they will not be implementing inflation-tracking price increases for their residential customers this year. This follows negotiations with Márton Nagy, Hungary’s Minister of National Economy.
New CEO for Slovakia’s Towercom
Marcel Šatánek has been appointed the new CEO of the Slovak national transmission company Towercom. Šatánek has been in the telecom industry since 2008 and was the head of Digi Slovakia from 2013 to 2024, during which he oversaw the development of sports channels. Prior to 2013, he held several positions at Slovak Telecom, where he was involved in the development of new business opportunities, corporate strategy and acquisition projects.
Poland’s TVN ups news ouput
The Polish national commercial broadcaster TVN will launch a new service named TVN24+ on April 24. Complementing its existing news offer on TVN and TVN24, as well as being an extension of its portal tvn24.pl, it will offer in depth and exclusive content, delivered through live streams, video formats, podcasts, articles and audio articles. TVN24 GO content (TVN24 and TVN24 BiS), with a rich library of programmes, will also be transferred to the service. TVN24+ will be available in two packages, one with and one without ads. Subscribers to TVN24 GO will be migrated to the latter.
Sam Barnett to head CME
Sam Barnett has been appointed the CEO of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), effective May 1. In his new role he will succeed Didier Stoessel and free the latter to focus on his duties as chief investment officer of PPF, which also include overseeing PPF's media investments. Stoessel has held these dual roles at PPF and CME since 2022. Barnett will join PPF after more than two decades in senior management roles, including CEO at MBC Group, the leading media company in the Middle East. He will relocate to Prague, where CME is headquartered, at the start of his tenure.
Viasat World partners with United Group
The fully localised thematic channel Viasat True Crime will be available on United Group’s EON TV platforms across six countries in southeast Europe from this month. Furthermore, the channel’s operator Viasat World has secured the SVOD rights for much of the new channel’s content. Viasat True Crime made its debut in Poland in 2024 and has since also been launched in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Along with SVOD, it will now be part of the Telemach Slovenia, Telemach Croatia, Telemach Bosnia, Telemach Montenegro, Vivacom Bulgaria and Nova Greece offer. Separately, Vivacom Bulgaria has announced that Viasat World’s TV1000 will now also be available in its EON video library.
SkyShowtime expands in Poland as Polsat adds FAST channels
The streaming service SkyShowtime and Poland’s Polsat Plus Group have entered into a strategic partnership. Effective April 8, it will see its Hollywood blockbusters, exclusive series and local originals offered to new and existing Plus and Polsat Box customers, as well as Polsat Box Go customers. Polsat Box and Polsat Box Go customers will also get the opportunity to watch the TV channels SkyShowtime 1 and 2. In a separate development, Polsat Plus Group has announced it will launch 20 FAST channels on its Polsat Box Go service. Of these, seven will be thematic, covering such areas as crime, entertainment and comedy, and 13 dedicated to individual titles.
Megogo introduces vertical series
The Ukrainian-owned international OTT/VOD operator Megogo has added vertical series to its offer. According to the company, quoted by the local media, the first 19 from the rights holder Briz have already appeared on its platform. Each series has around 45 episodes and all are fully localised. Megogo users in Ukraine, Poland and Kazakhstan can receive the series as part of an SVOD subscription. Megogo notes that over a quarter (26.2%) of its users already consume content on mobile devices and vertical series are likely to increase this figure.
National Media Group eyes key acquisition
Russia’s National Media Group (NMG) has entered into negotiations to buy Medialogia, a key player in the Russian market for automated solutions for monitoring and analysing media and social media in real time. According to NMG’s CEO Svetlana Balanova, the purchase of Medialogia will complement the activities of NMG, which is one of the leading producers of information and entertainment content in Russia.
Forbes Croatia joins Nova TV
Forbes Croatia is now part of the digital media portfolio of the multimedia company Nova TV, which is owned by United Media. Nova TV brings together 12 news websites, two mobile applications and an SVOD service within its digital media portfolio. The digital edition of Forbes Croatia will be led by Vladimir Nišević, who has 25 years of journalistic and editorial experience in major Croatian media outlets.
Kyivstar Nasdaq listing moves closer
The global digital operator Veon has successfully completed the reorganisation of Veon Holdings, which is now focused solely on Kyivstar Group and its related assets, including Ukraine’s leading digital operator Kyivstar. This is expected to pave the way for Kyivstar Group’s upcoming listing on Nasdaq.
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© Chris Dziadul, 2025
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