Advanced Television

CNN-backed news for Yugoslavia

September 11, 2013

By Chris Forrester

N1, described as the first regional news channel for parts of former Yugoslavia, will start transmissions in the New Year.

The new channel will serve Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, and Serbia, and an estimated 15 million viewers. A BBC Monitoring report states that the new TV station will broadcast its programme from three major news and production centres in Sarajevo, Zagreb, and Belgrade, as well as from local centres in cities in the region.

N1 General Director is Brent Sadler, a well-known senior international reporter on CNN, who says that the cooperation with CNN brought valuable experience in the field of journalism, news editing, and programme production.  The former CNN journalist is seen as counter-balancing the impact of Al Jazeera Balkans which is now on air over the region.

“Cooperation with CNN brings us valuable experience in the field of journalism, editorial and  programme producing,” Sadler said in a statement, adding that N1’s agreement with CNN enables broadcasting of selected CNN content translated into local languages​​.

“N1 is going to develop a special product based on the regional news that we are going to report about from the three capitals simultaneously. We will give our viewers the latest, accurate, and independent news. Our state-of-the-art technology and a team of dedicated professionals will determine the future reputation of the N1 channel,” added Sadler.

Rani Raad, the executive vice president and chief commercial officer of the CNN, said that the agreement that they had with N1 allowed it to broadcast CNN’s selected programmes translated into the local languages.

“This agreement proves our dedication to spread knowledge and experience in all parts of the world. It also shows how important information from this region is. The agreement enables us to provide support to local partners through training and expertise,” Raad said.

The principal investor in the N1 channel is United Group, the leading “pay TV” platform in Southeast Europe, which comprises Telemach B-H [cable operator] and Total TV, the largest satellite platform in the region.  “We are very excited about taking part in the creation of this channel,” Cameron Munter, senior adviser to United Group and former USA ambassador to Serbia, said.

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