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Central European Media Enterprises (CME) announced on July 28 that it had entered into an agreement that would give it an 80 per cent interest in two Bulgarian TV stations. The two stations are TV2, established in November 2007, and cable sports television station Ring TV.

The agreement between CME and Top Tone Media Holdings Limited, was expected to be worth about $172 million (110.2 million euro).

Bulgarian weekly Kapital said on July 25 that Top Tone Media Holdings Limited had been created as a vehicle for the sales of TV2. Head of Top Tone Media Holdings Limited is Ognyan Dimov, who is also the general director of TV2. Gergana Dakovska, original owner of TV2, was quoted by Kapital as saying that the transfer of her shares to Top Tone Media Holdings Limited was still underway.

CME announced that it would enter into a consulting agreement with Krassimir Gergov, the chairperson of the Bulgarian Association of Advertising Agencies, who, in Bulgarian media, is also associated with both TV stations.

Michael Garin, chief executive officer of CME, was quoted in a media statement of the company as saying: “This acquisition is an important next step in the continuing expansion of our free-to-air broadcasting operations in Central and Eastern Europe. Our entrance into the Bulgarian market represents the first new CME territory in three years and demonstrates our ability to continue our growth strategy within the region. The TV2 Group, with a core free-to-air national network and supporting assets such as niche cable channels, is an exceptional fit with our multi-channel business model. We look forward to entering Bulgaria, which has a dynamic economy and a rapidly growing television advertising market.”

TV2 broadcasts free-to-air using 27 separate licences in as many different cities, according to Kapital. These licences were said to be temporary licences and their status has been under discussion. A member of the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) who had asked to remain anonymous was quoted by Kapital as saying that when the first 14 cities in late 2008 or early 2009 would switch to digital broadcasting, TV2 would have to stop broadcasting on those frequencies.

CME spokesperson Romana Tomasova told The Sofia Echo that CME “expects to be fairly treated in the digitisation process and to be given alternative frequencies”.

July 30 2008, Source: sofiaecho.com