Central European Media Enterprises (CME), the owner of TV Nova group, wants to develop its business model towards digital media and paid services in the following years. It will thus focus on investments in its paid video portal, Voyo, and creation of its own content. Didier Stoessel, CEO of CME, announced this at a meeting with industry journalists on Tuesday. It was the first press conference of the new CEO of CME.
Voyo wants to be local number one in non-linear broadcasting
“We are transforming our company into a much more digital firm. Our goal is to become an entertainment media company developing, producing and distributing original local content for its audiences whenever, wherever and however they want. In the Czech market, we want to be number one in non-linear offering of paid local content,” said Didier Stoessel, describing the strategy.
CME management believes that the market with paid video services will grow in the local market in the following years. CME estimates that within several years, 50-60% of households may use of at least 2-3 paid video services. “We want to be in that market,” said Stoessel. He explained that he believed in the development similar to Scandinavia where Viaplay already has more than 3 million subscribers. It is a market that is comparable to the Czech Republic and Slovakia to some degree in terms of its size. CME assumes that Voyo could have one million subscribers in the Czech and Slovak market within five years.
Up to twenty new formats for Voyo every year
CME’s intention is to build its production capacities first. This should be work to be done in the following years according to CEO. The goal is to offer up to twenty new formats shot specifically for Voyo every year. At present, a number of original formats are being prepared. They include reality shows, crime and comedy series, true stories or dramas. As the first format prepared for Voyo, Nova announced the reality show Love Island, originally a British dating reality show. Nova demonstrates its new approach on this show where the content is first run on Voyo and subsequently in linear TV broadcasting.
Voyo intends to substantially increase its existing library to include local and foreign content. This will require higher investments to be made to the portal development. Apart from quantity, Voyo wants to focus on quality when expanding foreign content. “We will not purchase C- or D-shows, we want A and B,” said Didier Stoessel. He wants to buy from producers such as BBC, ITV, Endeavor, Viaplay, ZDF or StudioCanal+. In foreign production, he expects to add five new films per week. The total offering now includes more than 3,200 hours of foreign films and series. Kids’ shows and live sports should form a substantial part of the content offered.
O2 to help with distribution
CME wants to cooperate with the telecommunication operator O2, which is also owned by PPF, and use its know-how in distributing digital content. They can see many synergies between telecommunications and video content production. “We can use their knowledge of technology, data analyses, artificial intelligence. If we want to sell Voyo content to everyone, we will cooperate with them,” said Didier Stoessel.
Nova is aware that in order to produce a large volume of content, it needs additional funding sources. Funds should not be raised just through the increased income from subscribers. Income from TV advertising should remain to be a strong source as well. CME management does not expect that revenues from TV advertising will fall in the following years. But with the bigger focus on digital media, they want to satisfy advertisers who find digital advertising more and more important.
Silvia Majeská, TV Nova’s Programming Director, announced several new shows at the meeting that Nova prepares for its autumn broadcasting. Apart from the above-mentioned Love Island its new shows include the series Pan profesor, the quiz show The Chase, a new documentary reality show with Czech cooks and a new show with Leoš Mareš.
Source: mediaguru.cz
