United Group to launch Balkan news channel
September 6, 2013
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Balkan DTH and cable operator United Group will launch a news channel in early 2014, targeting over 15 million potential viewers in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
N1 will have three large production centers in Zagreb, Sarajevo and Belgrade, as well as smaller local centers located in other countries of the Former Yugoslavia.
Significantly, United Group has signed a contract with Turner Broadcasting System Europe Limited, making N1 the exclusive partner of CNN International in the region. CNN will be able to use all information broadcast by N1, while N1 will broadcast selected CNN international programmes, translated into the local languages, and use their video material, including live switching. Former CNN journalist Brent Sadler will be the general director of programming.
United Group operates regional DTH platform Total TV, cable operators Telemach (in Bosnia and Slovenia) and SBB (in Serbia), as well as 15 other companies in the region.