Serbia's Pink Buys Macedonian Alfa TV

[Big Bad Sven]

Serbia's Pink Buys Macedonian Alfa TV

Serbian media mogul is adding Macedonian TV station to his empire, Balkan Insight has learned.

The Serbian media group, Pink, has bought Alfa TV, employees of the Macedonian station learned from management on Friday, which means that Pink will take over the TV on November 12.

"We were told that Pink has bought Alfa but that no major changes [in news programmes] are expected," an Alfa employee told Balkan Insight.

No details were released concerning how much Pink paid for the station, or whether the Serbian company has bought a controlling package of shares or will be sole owner.

Tanja Vojtehovski, from Pink's Belgrade office, refused to confirm the purchase reports but said the company would soon issue a statement.

Alfa started broadcasting in June 2008. The management pledged to create an "urban" TV station that would shy away from popular soaps and reality shows and win over viewers with quality programmes and high professional standards.

Widely considered as pro-opposition in its leanings, the station has gained only a modest viewing audience, mainly concentrated in the capital, Skopje.

It remains unclear what changes will follow the buyout. PInk TV is well known throughout the region for populist programming, concentrating on so-called "turbo-folk" music, entertainment shows, soaps and reality shows.

Founded in 1993, Pink has dominated the viewing landscape in the Balkans since the late 1990s, annually ranking at the top of the region in terms of its audience share and ratings.

According to the company website, Pink International also leads the regional broadcast media advertising market, annually garnering 40-45 per cent of the total marketing share for television and radio.

It is one of the most popular networks in Serbia and broadcasts worldwide via satellite, covering the Balkans with subsidiaries in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

TV Pink's owner, Zeljko Mitrovic, was formerly a member of the political party run by Mira Markovic, wife of Serbia’s late strongman, Slobodan Milosevic, and critics have linked his company's initial rise to the ties he once enjoyed to the Milosevic regime.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbia-pink

Looks like another macedonian TV stations is going down the gutter (again).

Slowly but surely macedonia is being secretly infiltrated by serbs and bulgarian slavs, and lets not forget the cocky shiptars that run the country as well......

Oh well, i guess this means more serbian movies and music, which is like christams coming early for macedonian people anyway, so its all good

[Prolet]

You're about 5 days late BBS

Zeljko Mitrovic pulled out of the talks, but he did say that he wants to buy a Macedonian TV station it will most likely be K-15 which is pretty small. What he wanted to do is buy Alfa TV spew his Serbian propaganda via Belgrade and all the workers in Stari Kraj had to do is put in the subtitles. If he wants to do that why not open up his own Pink TV station in Stari Kraj? He can play as much Turbo Folk as he likes on there.

[Prolet]

TV Pink Media Group headed by Zeljko Mitrovic will be holding a press conference at the Holiday Inn on Tuesday 16/11/2010. Lets see what he has to say for himself.

[makalek]

Mitrovic: I’m starting new reality in Macedonia

Serbian Pink TV owner Zeljko Mitrovic has confirmed he has signed a precontract with Macedonian television station K15, which will soon be rebranded to Pink 15, and that he is preparing an alternative concept of the channel comparing with other existing media in Macedonia.

In its core, Pink 15 will be an entertainment-oriented channel.
- “Our investment into Pink 15 will have risen to €8 million over the following 18 months, which means 60 per cent of its programme will be created in Macedonian language,” said Mitrovic.
He has also announced his launch of a new reality show entitled Dvor [Court], which revolves around its contestants living in a castle.

http://english.blic.rs/Culture-Showbiz/7111/Mitrovic-Im-starting-new-reality-in-Macedonia

Here is a more detailed description from a Serbian newspaper:

Televizija Pink i u Makedoniji

Vlasnik kompanije Pink medija grup (Media Goup) Željko Mitrović najavio je danas dolazak njegove televizije Pink u Makedoniju, zahvaljujući potpisanom predugovoru sa televizijom K 15

"Uspešno smo se dogovorili sa ovdašnjom televizijom K 15, tako da će se naša najnovija televizija zvati Pink 15...Naše ulaganje u Pink 15 će u narednih 18 meseci iznositi pet do osam million evra", rekao je Mitrović na konferenciji za novinare u Skoplju.
Prema njegovim rečima, Pink 15 biće u osnovi zabavna televizija, sa informativnim programom, uz emisije poput onih "Grand produkcije" i rijaliti šoua "Farma", a potpisan je i ugovor sa velikim holivudskim kompanijama za emitovanje filmova i serija.
Naglašeno je da će Pink 15 biti makedonska televizija, a ne srpska televizija u Makedoniji, i da će 60 odsto programa biti proizvedeno na makedonskom jeziku, dok će "ostatak programa biti američka produkcija i najbolje iz celog regiona, iz svih država gde se Pink emituje".
Mitrović je najavio i novi rijaliti šou koji "može da prevaziđe dosadašnje slicne formate kao što su 'Veliki brat' i 'Farma'".
"'Dvor' je jedan novi rijaliti, bazira se na životu takmičara u kući, tačnije dvoru. To podrazumeva da će se birati kralj i kraljica, ali svakako i dvorska luda, jer je i ona potrebna da bi sve na dvoru funkcionisalo", rekao je Mitrović.
Kako je najavljeno, Pink 15 će uskoro raspisati javni konkurs za voditelje i novinare, "rukovodeći se time da nije potrebno da imaju veliko prethodno iskustvo u radu, već veliku i pozitivnu energiju, kao i želju da rade i uče".
"U narednih 60 dana uspostavićemo programsku semu i doneti kadrovska rešenja", rekao je Mitrović. Televizija Pink je posle Srbije, Crne Gore i Bosne i Hercegovine, nedavno počela da emituje svoj poseban program i za područje Slovenije.

http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/dzet_set_svet/story/140761/Televizija+Pink+i+u+Makedoniji.html

English translation using google translate:

TV Pink and in Macedonia

The owner of the company Pink Media Group (Media Goup) Zeljko Mitrovic, today announced the arrival of his TV Pink in Macedonia, owing to the executed contract with TV K 15

"We have successfully agreed with the local TV K 15, so that our latest television called Pink 15th .. Our investment in Pink 15 in the next 18 months be five to eight million euros," said Mitrovic at a press conference in Skopje.
According to him, Pink 15 will be the basis of entertainment television, the news program, with shows such as "Grand Production" and the reality show "Farm", and signed a contract with major Hollywood companies to broadcast films and series.
It was pointed out that 15 Pink will be the Macedonian television, and not Serbian television in Macedonia, and that 60 percent of the programming is produced in the Macedonian language, while the "rest of U.S. production and be the best from across the region, from all countries where broadcasts Pink ".
Mitrovic has announced a new reality show, which "can overcome the previous similar formats like 'Big Brother' and 'Farm'."
"'Palace' is a new reality, based on the life of the competitors in the home, specifically the court. This means that the elected king and queen, but certainly the court jester, because she needed to keep everything on the court functioned," said Mitrovic was.
As announced, Pink 15 will soon announce a tender for the leaders and journalists, "guided by the fact that it is not necessary to have extensive previous experience in the work, but a great and positive energy, and desire to work and learn."
"In the next 60 days we shall establish program schedule and make personnel decisions," said Mitrovic. Television Pink after Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, has recently started to broadcast its special program for Slovenia.