Mreža ("net" in Croatian) was the first private

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...

. It was founded in 1997. From its

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

studios, it produced original programs that were later aired on various local and regional stations. The arrival of Mreža was quite a notable event in Croatian media history, because it was the first time the media monopoly of state-owned

Croatian Radiotelevision ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...

(HRT) was significantly challenged. Mreža produced original programs in the form of its own news, as well as lavishly produced shows. Mreža also poached some important talent from HRT, including Denis Latin and his popular '' Latinica'' talk show. One of the owners of Mreža was the controversial tycoon

Miroslav Kutle Miroslav Kutle (born October 6, 1957) is a Bosnian Croat entrepreneur. He became notorious for his involvement in the Croatian privatization controversy and has since been sentenced to jail time for embezzlement on two occasions. Education Kutle ...

, and his activities caused the network to fail. Burdened with debts and financial mismanagement, Mreža disappeared from the Croatian airwaves in 1998, taking a few of the local affiliates with it, including TV Marjan from

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

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Defunct television channels in Croatia Mass media in Zagreb {{Croatia-tv-stub