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Nova Expected to Launch New Internet Portal
April 17, 2008, CME and Mlada Fronta
Czech news portal E15 anticipates that there are only a few days or weeks left at most until a new big player enters the Internet news and entertainment market in the Czech Republic. TV Nova is reportedly finalizing preparations to launch a new portal and plans to invest over CZK 100 million the project this year.
TV Nova itself has declared an embargo on any details about the portal but E15 was able to obtain a rough outline of the project and reports that the content will be ‘infotainment’, a mixture of both serious and tabloid news and entertainment. TV Nova currently employs a team of around 100 journalists and newscast is managed by Zdeněk Šámal, who previously worked for Česká Televize. A recent addition to the Nova team is Product Manager, Pavel Krbec, who came from web portal Centrum.cz.
TV Nova’s CEO, Petr Dvořák, has said in the past that Video on Demand will be a feature of any online offering from TV Nova and some sources also report that music downloads could also be made available.
Nova TV is reported to be aiming for a top five viewership ranking in the internet market by the end of the year.
Internet experts in the Czech Republic believe the prospects for TV Nova being successful in this new line of business are good. Ondřej Tomek, who sold his share in Centrum.cz to American fund Warburg Pincus at the end of 2007 said, ‘Nova certainly has a good chance in this respect, however, it depends to the realisation of the product. Most importantly it must be focussed’.
Existing players are preparing themselves for a new competitor to enter the market. Jakob Unger, Director of News and Content Services at Centrum.cz said, ‘You can expect our 100 per cent reaction’. Centrum.cz recently merged with Atlas.cz to strengthen their position in the market.
Other television stations in the Czech Republic are not intending for their portals to compete with that of TV Nova. ČT24 launched its news website at the beginning of February but Newscast Director Milan Fridrich describes it as being complementary to the channel’s TV service.
For additional information, please contact:
Romana Tomasova
Director of Corporate Communications
Central European Media Enterprises
+44 (0)20 7430 5357
romana.tomasova@cme-net.com
