Media business operations

Employees in TV Cacak have decided to demand that the owners of the television station and Radio Cacak make one-time payment of all late salaries, or otherwise they will begin a strike. The employees in the regional TV station held a meeting yesterday and pointed out that they had received last salary in October. Before their privatization, these media outlets functioned as a public service broadcasters of the city. The new owner was obliged to invest 1.7 million and 6.1 million dinars in TV Cacak and Radio Cacak, respectively. Only four out of 25 employees remained in Radio Cacak after the privatization. Bojovic family also owns the weekly magazine Cacanski Glas, which was founded 80 years ago.
(B92 online, NUNS, UNS, 16.03.2012)

The strike in Radio Cacak conforms to the demand for minimal fulfillment of responsibilities and the programme of the station contains music and advertisements, while all other programmes are not being broadcast. The trade union of the radio station demanded that the Privatization Agency terminate the privatization of the station, but during the last auditing the Agency gave the owner the period of 60 days to pay the late salaries, which he has failed to do.
(B92 online, UNS, 26.03.2012, Beta, Danas, Pravda, Večernje Novosti, NUNS, 27.03.2012)

Stockholder company Politika from Belgrade, which operates under the management of the state, has suffered major losses in the previous year. Politika achieved business revenue in the amount 1.1 billion dinars in the previous year, which is 37.6% less than in 2010. The lowered volume of business operations increased the losses of the company, which grew from 206.9 million dinars in 2010 to 313.9 million dinars in the last year. Unlike in 2010, when a positive financial result was achieved, in the last year Politika suffered a large net loss amounting to 202.8 million dinars.
(Sinteza Invest Group, E-kapija, 22.03.2012)

Judicial expert in the field of finance and economy has established that TV channel SOS, which is in dispute with the Republic Agency for Electronic Communication (RATEL) and the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) regarding the allocation of broadcasting frequency, has suffered damages in the amount of 650 million dinars. If the court passes verdict in favor of the TV station, the two regulatory bodies would have to pay damages in this amount. The signal of the SOS channel on the frequency intended for the territory of Belgrade has been suffering from interference originating from the state television of Romania for almost six years. At the same time, the TV station has been broadcasting programme despite the RRA's decision to revoke its license before its expiration. TV SOS won three Belgrade broadcasting frequencies at the public contest organized by RRA in 2006. As soon as the transmitter began operating, "huge interference from the signal of the state television of Romania" became obvious on the channel 36, which covers more than 80 percent of the planned territory. RATEL rejected the possibility of out-of-court settlement offered by SOS.
(Danas, UNS, NUNS, 23.03.2012)

In its response to the article published by the daily newspaper Danas, which claimed that TV SOS suffered damage in the amount of more than six million euros, the Republic Agency for Electronic Communication (RATEL) pointed out that the legal case was ongoing, that the first-degree verdict had not been passed yet, and that "in this way one of the parties in the dispute is exerting pressure on the court which is adjudicating the case".
(Danas, 24.03.2012)

The Democratic Party (DS) i.e. the electoral list "Choice for Better Life – Boris Tadic" projects that it will spend around three million euros during the election campaign, while the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) estimate that their expenses will amount to around million euros for each party. According to analyses, political parties need to invest million euros in the campaign in order to enter the parliament, while bigger ambitions require up to three million. The head of the electoral campaign of DSS, points out that the largest expense involves electronic media, especially TV stations with national coverage. SRS plans to spend "100 million dinars in total" until May 6.
(Danas, 20.03.2012)

TV Pink offers the most expensive seconds of airtime for advertising of political parties during the election campaign, while the most expensive paid time slots are offered by B92. Seconds are cheapest on TV Happy. The Democratic Party (DS) will spend 250-300 million dinars on advertising in the media and billboards, while the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) will spend 100 million dinars "out of which a small sum will be spent on the media". The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) say that they have not yet allocated funds for the purpose.
(Danas – special supplement, 28.03.2012)

Privatization and state-owned media

Municipal Radio-Television Homolje was launched at a ceremony held in the Cutural and Educational Center "Jovan Serbanovic" in Zagubica. In this way, Radio Homolje, which has been airing its programme for 15 years, has grown into a news center. The new media outlet, which will operate under the auspices of the Cultural and Educational Center, was opened by the president of the Municipality of Zagubica, Dragi Damnjanovic.
(Pravda – Serbia, UNS, 28.03.2012)

Annulment of the quite bizarre privatization of Radio Sombor has not saved the station, reports daily newspaper Dnevnik from Novi Sad. The remaining five employees want to know what happened with the eight-point agreement reached with the representatives of the Government of the Province and the public service broadcaster of Vojvodina, RTV, and why no one wants to comment on the public petition signed by 6,000 citizens of Sombor who have expressed their desire that Radio Sombor should survive.
(Dnevnik, UNS, 28.03.2012)