Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) is a media and entertainment company that operates

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

s in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

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 ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Until its acquisition by PPF Group N.V. in October 2020, the company was listed on

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

and

Prague Stock Exchange Prague Stock Exchange (PSE; cs, Burza cenných papírů Praha (BCPP)) is the largest and oldest securities market organizer in the Czech Republic. After a 50-year hiatus brought about by World War II and the Communist regime, it was reopened in ...

under the ticker symbol CETV. It has since been delisted.

History

Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. was co-founded in 1991 by Americans

Ronald Lauder Ronald (Ron) Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman, billionaire, philanthropist, art collector, and political activist. He is the president of the World Jewish Congress since 2007. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, ...

and

Mark Palmer Robie Marcus Hooker Palmer (July 14, 1941 – January 28, 2013) was an American diplomat, who served as United States Ambassador to Hungary from 1986 to 1990. He was a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Committee on the Presen ...

in Germany as CEDC GmbH (Central European Development Corporation) and later changed its name and reincorporated in the Netherlands as Central European Media Enterprises (CME). It started broadcasting its first channel in the Czech Republic in 1994. On 23 March 2009, Time Warner (now

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with D ...

) announced it would invest $241.5 million in CME for a 31% stake. By 2Q 2013, Time Warner had acquired a controlling interest in CME in a series of transactions. In October 2019, AT&T signed agreement to sell WarnerMedia's stake to PPF. The transaction valued at $2.1 billion was completed in October 2020. On 14 February 2022, Central European Media Enterprises announced buying RTL Hrvatska from

RTL Group RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France and ...

for €50 million. The transaction was closed on 1 June 2022.

Operations

CME is the broadcast market leader in most countries where it has television stations. CME currently operates 43 television channels broadcasting to approximately 49 million people across 6 countries. CME develops and produces content for its television channels, and its content is also consumed through subscription and advertising VOD. The company operates 4 radio channels in Bulgaria. It also operates the Voyo streaming platform.

Television channels

Bulgaria * bTV *

bTV Cinema bTV Cinema is a Bulgarian television channel, showing movies and serials. It is part of bTV Media Group, owned by CME (Central European Media Enterprises). The channel starts on 7 December 2009.bTV Cinema is aimed at viewers of all ages with a ...

bTV Comedy bTV Comedy is a Bulgarian family-based television channel, airing mostly comedy series. It is part of bTV Media Group, owned by Central European Media Enterprises, a subsidiary of AT&T/WarnerMedia. Originally launched in 1997 as Television Tria ...

bTV Action bTV Action is a Bulgarian man-based television channel. The channel, along with sports channel RING, bTV, bTV Comedy, bTV Cinema and bTV Lady are part of bTV Media Group, owned by the US media conglomerate CME(through WarnerMedia/AT&T). His ...

bTV Lady bTV Lady is a Bulgarian female-oriented television channel. Along with bTV, bTV Comedy, bTV Cinema and bTV Action and RING are part of bTV Media Group, owned by the US media conglomerate CME(owned by WarnerMedia/AT&T AT&T Inc. is an Am ...

Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

Croatia * RTL * RTL 2 *

RTL Kockica RTL Kockica is a Croatian specialized TV channel for children, young people and families owned by the CME Group as of 1 June 2022. RTL Kockica started broadcasting on 11 January 2014 at 11:01 am.Radio Television RTL, 11 January 2014, Radiotimes ...

* RTL Living * RTL Crime * RTL Passion * RTL Adria *

RTL Croatia World RTL Croatia World is an international TV channel dedicated to Croats living outside Croatia operated by the CME Group as of 1 June 2022. The channel was launched on 11 July 2016. RTL Croatia World focuses its programming on news and entertainment ...

Czech Republic * TV Nova * Nova Cinema * Nova Action * Nova Fun *

Nova Gold Nova Gold (originally Telka) is a Czech free-to-air commercial TV station belonging to the Nova Group, whose program includes series and programs from the Nova station archive and foreign crime series. The station began broadcasting on February 22 ...

* Nova Lady *

Nova Sport 1 Nova Sport 1 is focused primarily on mainstream sports and broadcasts sporting events and sport-related programming in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It has broadcasting licenses for major sport leagues and events including the National Hockey L ...

* Nova Sport 2 * Nova Sport 3 * Nova Sport 4 * Nova International Romania * Pro TV (also broadcast in

Republic of Moldova A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

as a simulcast feed) * Acasă (also broadcast in Republic of Moldova as a simulcast feed) * Acasă Gold *

Pro Arena Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

* Pro Cinema * Pro TV Internațional * Pro TV Chisinau Slovakia *

Markíza Markíza (also known as Televízia Markíza) is a Slovak television channel launched on August 31, 1996. The channel was founded by a later politician Pavol Rusko, and is now part of the Central European Media Enterprises (CME). It also operat ...

* Markíza Doma * Markíza Dajto * Markíza Krimi * Markíza International Slovenia * Pop TV *

Kanal A Kanal A is the first Slovenian commercial television station. The channel, which operates within PRO PLUS d.o.o., has national coverage. In its primary target group of viewers (18–49 years), Kanal A is the second most watched TV channel in Sl ...

* Brio *

Oto Oto, Ōtō, or OTO may refer to: People * Oto (name), including a list of people with the name *The Otoe tribe (also spelled Oto), a Native American people Places *Oto, Spain, a village in the Valle de Broto, in Huesca, Aragon * Otorohanga, a to ...

Kino Kino may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters * KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S. * Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station * KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel Fictional entiti ...

* Astra

CME Content Academy

In 2022 Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. launched CME Content Academy. CME Content Academy’s two-year course is designed to provide participants with a grounding across various film-making disciplines, enabling students to become TV professionals. The practice is divided according to the production scheme of TV Nova and

and takes place in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

References

External links