June round-up: BBC and Free Europe go off-air, political virals, legal restrictions

• BBC Romania and Radio Free Europe Romania are to go off-air on August 1st, due to buget restrictions. BBC Romania offered employees several month’s wage as a compensation

• Two senators proposed and got a modification of the Audiovisual Law that asks television stations broadcasting positive and negative topics news in equal proportions. If promulgated by Romania’s president, Traian Basescu, the law will become effective
• Evenimentul zilei, one of the leading quality newspapers and a phenomenon in the nineties, got a management: Horia Ghibuţiu as an Editor-in-Chief and Vlad Macovei as a Deputy, after Răzvan Ionescu and Grigore Cartianu’s resignal, several weeks ago
• The two candidates for the 2nd round of the local elections in Bucharest, Romania’s capital, released two viral materials in youtube. Sorin Oprescu, the winner of the June 15th vote, scored over 26,000 views:

  In the video, Sorin Oprescu, an independent (former social-democrate), pretends to keep a speech about political independence, while chasing a bulldog, his opponent’s impersonation. Oprescu’s opponent, Vasile Blaga, is suspected to follow president Basescu’s directions too closely. “Go to your master”, Oprescu says in the movie. Oprescu won the Bucharest mayor elections.

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1. CME makes Bulgarian acquisition

   CME is buying 80% of TV2 (a national terrestrial channel started in 4Q07) and of Ring TV (a sports cable channel) in Bulgaria, for USD 172 mil cash (before adjustments). The deal is set to close within two weeks.
   This is CME’s first new market entry for three years. CME’s stated target is to achieve Bulgarian market leadership within five years, through the development of local programming and synergies with the Romanian business. TV2 is still in a very early phase of operations. It has 70% technical reach of the country and is one of four national free-to-air channels, one of which is a state-owned channel.
   CME is retaining the existing owner, Krassimir Guergov, as a consultant; CME and he both have call (CME; 14%)/put (Guergov; 20%) options over most/all of the remaining 20% from 2013. The Bulgarian TV ad market was USD 168 mil net last year, and CME thinks its CAGR will be 20% over the next four years.

   Comment by Mihai Bobocea — July 29, 2008 #

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