Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) is a media and entertainment company that operates television channels in seven geographic areas:

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

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

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. 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) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

and Prague Stock Exchange 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 Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman and pro-Israel political activist. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, are the sole heirs to the Estée Lauder Companies, Estée Lauder cosmetics company, founded by their ...

and

Mark Palmer Mark Palmer may refer to: *Mark Palmer (cricketer) (born 1967), Australian cricketer *Mark Palmer (diplomat) (1941–2013), American diplomat *Sir Mark Palmer, 5th Baronet (born 1941), British aristocrat {{hndis, Palmer, Mark ...

in Germany as CEDC GmbH (Central European Development Corporation), and later changed its name and reincorporated in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

as Central European Media Enterprises (CME). It started broadcasting its first channel in the Czech Republic in 1994. On 23 March 2009,

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

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 an agreement to sell WarnerMedia's stake to PPF. The transaction valued at $2.1 billion was completed in October 2020. In February 2010 CME has reached an agreement to acquire bTV, Bulgaria's first national private television station for $400 million from

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

. On 14 February 2022, Central European Media Enterprises announced buying RTL Hrvatska from

RTL Group RTL Group S.A. ("Radio Télévision Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate office in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 56 television channels and 36 radio stations in Germany, France an ...

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 46 television channels broadcasting to approximately 49 million people across 7 geographic segments. CME develops and produces content for its television channels, and its content is also consumed through subscription and advertising VOD. It also operates the Voyo streaming platform that provides on demand local content in all of CME’s geographic regions. Since November 2024 Voyo operates also in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Since 2021, original series and feature films have been launched on Voyo under the brand Voyo Originals, featuring content that is exclusively accessible on this platform. For example The criminal miniseires The Roubal Case inspired by the truth story of serial killer named Ivan Roubal or comedy series Sex O'Clock. On February 25, 2025, it was announced that Voyo would be merged with O2 TV in the Czech market under the new brand name Oneplay.

CME Content Academy

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

PRO TV PRO TV (, often stylized as PRO•TV since 2017) is a Romanian free-to-air television network, launched on 1 December 1995 as the fourth private TV channel in the country (after TV SOTI, Antena 1, and the now-defunct, but online Tele7ABC). It is ...

, bTV, RTL and TV Markíza and takes place in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

and

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

CME Cares

In 2023, CME launched its ESG strategy branded CME Cares. This initiative was created to communicate CME’s efforts to leave a lasting positive impact on its environment, communities, and societies. CME Cares aims to offer socially responsible content, implement sustainable production practices, aid underprivileged communities, and follow transparent business practices.

Television channels

Bulgaria * bTV * bTV Cinema * bTV Comedy * bTV Action * bTV Story *

Ring (The) Ring(s) 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 Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

Croatia * RTL * RTL 2 * RTL Kockica * RTL Living * RTL Crime * RTL Passion * RTL Adria * RTL Croatia World Czech Republic * TV Nova * Nova Cinema * Nova Action * Nova Fun * Nova Gold * 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 Sport 5 * Nova Sport 6 * Nova International Romania and Moldova *

Pro TV PRO TV (, often stylized as PRO•TV since 2017) is a Romanian free-to-air television network, launched on 1 December 1995 as the fourth private TV channel in the country (after TV SOTI, Antena 1, and the now-defunct, but online Tele7ABC). It is ...

(also broadcast in the

Republic of Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised ...

as a simulcast feed) * Acasă (also broadcast in the Republic of Moldova as a simulcast feed) * Acasă Gold * Pro Arena * Pro Cinema * Pro TV International * Pro TV Chisinau Slovakia * Markíza * Markíza Doma * Markíza Dajto * Markíza Krimi * Markíza Klasik * Markíza International Slovenia * Pop TV * Kanal A * Brio * Oto * Kino * Astra

VOD services

* Voyo

References

External links

* {{authority control Companies of Bermuda Television companies Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Pan-European media companies 2020 mergers and acquisitions Mass media companies established in 1991 Former AT&T subsidiaries Former WarnerMedia subsidiaries Private equity portfolio companies PPF Group Companies in the PX Index