discop link • #11

Group Broadcasting. According to theratings, the Diema channels are themost popular of the cable TV stationsin Bulgaria - right after the nationalterrestrial channels.Since the beginning of October,they have been presenting and implementinga new programming schemetogether with new-look logos. TheDiema channels have a new programmemanager as well - her nameis Olga Lozanova. She started her TVcareer as part of the crew on themost famous (and also the only one,at that time,) political talk-show,PANORAMA, on Bulgarian NationalTV. Later Lozanova held the position ofprogramme manager at Nova TV andfor the last couple of years she hasbeen running her own small "boutiquetype"PR agency. Now she is back onthe TV trail."It has become much more difficultto develop good channels inBulgaria because there are more qualifiedplayers on the stage with a clearvision of what makes the best TV forBulgaria" - she says. "What we are tryingto provide is 'entertainment TV ofthe highest class'. For now the productionshown on Diema channels is100 % foreign - films, sitcoms, telenovelas,animation and sport. For theprogramming needs of autumn 2007alone, two thousand (2000) hours ofnew programmes and shows werepurchased.The Diema channels are well positionedand each of them has its owndefined profile.The Diema Family is, of course, afamily channel that focuses on femaleviewers. Every day from 12.40 till6.00 p.m. animations are shown -such as TOM & JERRY, SCOOBY DOO,DEXTER, SILVESTER AND TWEETY,THE PINK PANTHER, as well as somechildren's and teenage shows fromthe 'communist' childhood of the generationwho are presently 35-40years old and are very happy andthrilled to be able to show their kidsthe shows they once adored (Bulgariais currently riding the crest of a waveof nostalgia) - for instance, the hungariananimation MEIZGA FAMILY andthe Czech series ARABELLA."The Prime-time schedule of DiemaFamily is targeting 'mums' - this is thefirst Bulgarian TV channel to broadcastsoap-operas (telenovelas) from6:00 p.m. till midnight with no interruptions.Among the first to be shownare ANGEL REBELDE, THE WINGS OFLOVE, and TWO FACES OF ANNA.Diema 2 is just the opposite - apure ‘men's channel’ based on the formula‘sports plus movies’. Futurestrategies includes the more of the socalled‘lifestyle component’.The Third of the Diemas - in fact,the original one - Diema is aiming onbecoming ‘the city channel’ by capturingthe attention of the young audienceby showing the best possibleselection of movies and programmes -sitcoms being the key-word of Diema.Some examples include: COLD CASE;PROFILER; FATHER DOWLING MYS-TERIES; MURDER, SHE WROTE; JAKEAND FATMAN. Diema is more thanproud to present the premiere of SIXmadeby the creators of LOST expectedto become a real discussion pointin Bulgaria.FYR MACEDONIA -TV A1, SKOPJEAt one point - in the middle ofnineties - FYR Macedonia was theEuropean country with the largestnumber of TV stations in comparisonto its number of inhabitans. Of course,transition in the country reduced thenumber of TV broadcasters, but thenumber of on the market is still substantialenough to oblige those thatexist to actively compete.Aneta Veterova, TV A1 ProgrammeDirector told DISCOP.Link thatwhen purchasing programmes shewas mainly oriented on titles whichgive quick results and that they werelooking for new episodes of serieswhich already have an audience, suchas LOST, DESPERATE HOUSWIFES,CSI NY, CSI MIAMI, CSI LA, THESOPRANOS, ACCORDING TO JIM, andsome other Sony packages.Disney productions also have fansamong young audience in Macedonia,so TV A1 bought MICKEY MOUSECLUB HOUSE and LITTLE EINSTEINS.TV Metropolis is not amongst thetop three most watched TV stations inSerbia (Serbian Public Service TV, TVPink and TV B92), but it doesn't meanthat it will not be in the future. Accordingto its broadcast licence, TVMetropolis covers only the teritory ofthe capital city Belgrade and the suburbs(more than 2.5 million inhabitants),but including cities covered bycable, the size of the potential audienceis enlarged. It should also beunderlined that TV Metropolis has avery clear idea about its target groupas well as an idea of how to attract it.The entire TV Metropolis film andserial range is diverse, both in genreand in concept. The diversity of thecontent includes a long list of titlesfrom the great and good of the filmindustry, Hollywood productions, aswell as high quality European films, aswell as so called 'festival' and authorfilms produced by small and lessknown production companies. Once aweek, our audience has a chance torefresh their memories, by watchingsome of the classics or some significantfilms produced in the past."By creating genre and author filmcycles, we hope for better and clearerconcept of our film programming,"states Sasa Jankovic, Head of Filmand Serial Department for TVMetropolis.According to Jankovic, in 2007TV Metropolis closed two remarkablearrangements with domestic distributioncompanies DELTA VIDEO andCENTAR FILM. The series programfocuson CEEIn sport, the main purchase was THEPREMIER LEAGUE.“This season we bought thelicense for WHO WANTS TO BE MIL-LIONAIRE, which is one of our biggest‘in house’ projects,” said Ms. Veterova.“We are also preparing our versionof UGLY BETTY for next year. Bythe end of December 2008 we shouldhave the rights to broadcast the Foxseries 24.”Acording to Ms. Veterova, TV A1is already looking for programmes fornext season. They should be titlesmade for commercial TV stations andtitles that have already achieved bigratings in other countries.SERBIA - TV METROPOLIS,BELGRADE12 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07