CME "ACQUIRES SECOND COMMERCIAL TV STATION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC"

Jan Culik

As the Prague "Tyden" weekly reported this week, in an article by Jaroslav Plesl (issue No. 17/1997, pp.22 - 25) the Bermuda-based Central European Media Enterprises is acquiring a majority stake in Prima TV, the secondcommercial TV station in the Czech Republic.

Since February 1994, CME has been operating NOVA TV in the Czech Republic. Nova TV is a considerable commercial success, being viewed by 65 per cent of the Czech audience.

However, CME has not been awarded a licence for operating Nova TV. Over the past year, CME has nevertheless managed to gain full control over the NOVA TV's licence holder, the Czech/Slovak group CET 21, by obtaining a full veto over all decisions madein future by CET 21.

The Czech media law states that TV broadcasting licences are untransferable. According to a number of legal experts in the Czech Republic (including the Law Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences) CME operates Nova TV illegall. The broadcasting licence should be immediately revoked, the Law Institute told Tyden Magazine.

On Thursday, 17th April, 1997, Vladimir Zelezny, Chief Executive of Nova TV informed Czech parliament that he was now purchasing shares in Prima TV.

Prima TV is owned by the Czech "Investment and Postal Bank" (IPB), which has refused to confirm the information about the deal, saying that matters were still under negotiation.

According to Zelezny, CME will acquire a stake in Prima TV. In return for this, the Investment and Postal Bank is to acquire a small stake in TV Nova. Zelezny refused to give concrete percentages. Tyden magazine says that CME wants to acquire a majority stake in Prima TV, so that CME has the right to decide what programmes will be broadcast on Prima TV.

Immediately after making his announcement in Czech parliament, Vladimir Zelezny left the building.

According to members of parliament, participating in the session, pandemonium broke out. Deputies pulled out their mobile telephones and started telephoning round their party headquarters.

Then, representatives of the individual political parties quarrelled among themselves and also with the present members of the Council for Radio and TV broadcasting. Everyone started accusing everyone else of being responsible for the growing domination of CME on the Czech media scene. The members of Czech parliament had realised that by acquiring Prima TV, CME has fully mastered all private television broadcasting in the Czech Republic, said one witness who does not wish to be named.

Last year, Czech parliament abolished practically all regulation of private television stations.

Apart from NOVA TV, CME also owns a nationwide radio station, a magazine and has a stake in a daily newspaper in the Czech Republic.

Tyden Magazine also reported that according to the New York Times of 4th April, 1997, in the Ukraine CME's business partner is one Vadim Rabinovich, a local millionaire who had been imprisoned for theft. CME representatives told the NYT that they had known about Rabinovich's imprisonment prior to making a deal with him, but apparently the US Embassy in the Ukraine had no objections to CME setting up a joint venture with Rabinovich. The US Embassy in the Ukraine has resolutely denied this allegation.

NYT also states that the broadcasting licence for the American-Ukraine firm 1+1 was allegedly granted under suspicious circumstances last year.

Mr David Stogel, a CME director who offered to clarify matters concerning his company to the readers of this list, has to date failed to answer the five questions about CME's activities in the Czech Republic, posed to him by Jan Culik on 2nd April, 1997.