Central European Media Enterprises


AT&T completes $1.1bn sale of Nova TV & bTV owner CME

WarnerMedia owner AT&T has completed the $1.1bn sale of its stake in Central European Media Enterprises (CME), the group behind channels including bTV in Bulgaria and TV Nova in the Czech Republic. The deal, first revealed last year, will see Czech private equity firm PPF Group acquiring the majority stake held by AT&T, which had […]

CME sells Nova TV & Pop TV for €230m

CME has agreed to sell its top broadcast operations in Croatia and Slovenia for €230 million (US$262 million), in what it described as a “transformational moment” for the company. Central European Media Enterprises made a deal to sell commercial networks Nova TV in Croatia and Pop TV in Slovenia to United Group subsidiary Slovenia Broadband. The […]

CME posts strong Q3 results

CME’s underlying profits more than doubled year-on-year in Q3, with the European broadcast group reporting a rise this year in ad revenues, subscriptions and carriage fees. Announcing its third quarter results, Central European Media Enterprises said that operating income before depreciation and amortisation (OIBDA) came in at US$18 million, compared to US$8.35 million a year […]

Netflix ‘irrelevant’ in CEE

Netflix’s content has little appeal for CEE audiences, and OTT is currently only really useful as a way for pay TV providers to deliver catch-up and multiscreen services, attendees at the NEM heard this morning. Speaking on a panel on DTH and OTT at the event in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Stanislav Georgiev, head of broadcast at […]

CME: ‘turnaround phase behind us’

The co-chief executive of Time Warner-backed Central European Media Enterprises, Michael Del Nin, said the company’s “turnaround phase is now behind us” after reporting another quarter of improving results. CME is 49% backed by Time Warner, which helped to refinance the TV group as it struggled amid a region-wide downturn in TV advertising revenues. Announcing […]

Turner’s Zeiler joins CME board

Turner Broadcasting System’s international boss Gerhard Zeiler has joined the board of directors at embattled broadcaster Central European Media Enterprises. Zeiler (pictured) is joining along with Warner Bros. France president Iris Knobloch and Time Warner’s senior VP, international and corporate strategy Doug Shapiro. Furthermore, former Time Warner Cable and HBO executive John K. Billock has […]

CME boss slams ‘unacceptable’ $45m loss, warns on future

The co-chief executive officer of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), Michael Del Nin, has slammed the firm’s Q3 performance as “unacceptable” as its revenues narrowed and it reported an operating loss of US$45 million. The weak results came as CME warned that if it is unable to secure additional financing, “we will be unable to […]

CME appoints co-CEOs to replace Sarbu

Central European Media Enterprises has appointed a pair of co-CEOs to replace the departing Adrian Sarbu, one a former Alpha Media and RTL Televizija chief exec and the other a Time Warner strategy boss. Christoph Mainusch and Michael Del Nin (left) have been handed the roles, effective September 16. Mainusch has previously been CEO of […]

Sarbu plans new content business backed by CME investment

The president and CEO of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), Adrian Sarbu, has resigned after nearly two decades at the company to set up a content business that CME plans to invest in. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, CME said that Sarbu intends to develop the content business next year […]

CME hit by low Czech revenues

Broadcast group Central European Media Enterprises (CME) reported a 14.7% year-on-year drop in revenues and swung to a net loss of US$41 million in the second quarter after a poor performance in the Czech Republic. Revenues for the three months ending June 30 were US$180 million, down from US$211 million for the same period last […]