TVN (Polish TV channel)

TVN (Polish pronunciation: ) is a Polish free-to-air television station, network and a media and entertainment group in Poland. It was co-founded by Polish businessmen Mariusz Walter, Jan Wejchert and Swiss entrepreneur Bruno Valsangiacomo.
It is owned by TVN Group, which as of April 2022, is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Current CEO is Kasia Kieli (who is also president and managing director of TVN Warner Bros. Discovery).

TVN is available by satellite, cable television and digital terrestrial television.

In 2004, with its debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the company became a public limited company. In March 2015, U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive bought a 52.7% majority stake in TVN for €584 million. In July 2015, SNI bought out TVN's remaining owners, ITI Group and Canal+ Group, for €584 million, giving it full ownership.

On March 6, 2018, SNI was, in turn, acquired by Discovery, Inc. for US$14.6 billion. Liberty Global, which operated pay television provider UPC Polska, is a major shareholder in Discovery. The European Commission thus required TVN to ensure that TVN24 and TVN24 BiS remain available to third-party television providers.

History

In March 1997 TVN obtained permission from The National Council of Radio Broadcasting and Television to broadcast in central and northern parts of Poland. A few months later TVN merged with Telewizja Wisła, which had a license to broadcast in southern Poland.

The channel was launched as TVN on 3 October 1997. During the first four years the network was run by its founder Mariusz Walter. In 2001 Piotr Walter became chief executive officer, replacing his father.

In 2004 TVN was available in 86% of Polish households. Since 2004 TVN has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. On 29 April 2004 TVN launched TVN International, an entertainment and news channel for Polish viewers living abroad. In 2005 TVN acquired rights to organise and broadcast Sopot International Song Festival until 2010. In 2006 TVN launched its high definition version, TVN HD, which was first HD programmed broadcast from Poland.

TVN is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface, and conducted the first tests of HbbTV services in Poland in March 2012.

On 16 March 2015, TVN announced a sale of a 52.7% controlling stake to the U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI) for €584 million, subject to regulatory approval. In July 2015, SNI bought out the remaining owners for €584 million. SNI was, in turn, acquired by Discovery Communications (now Discovery Inc.) for US$14.6 billion, in a sale completed 6 March 2018.

Conflict with Law and Justice government (2021)

TVN tends to be strongly critical of the Polish government under the Law and Justice (PiS) party, since it was sworn to power in 2015. Historian and columnist Timothy Garton Ash, writing for The Guardian, praised ''Fakty TVN'''s critical coverage of government issues when harshly criticising Telewizja Polska's ''Wiadomości'' (''News'').

The ''Facts'' is not BBC
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