After the sale of N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar, a new company was founded in Vračar. “Vremena” sources say that behind it are probably attempts to obtain a television license in Serbia
Luxembourg’s Adria News Network (ANN), an umbrella media network in which N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar, as of this Tuesday (July 21), officially has a new company in Serbia, according to data from the Agency for Business Registers.
The company is called Adria News Nova S doo Belgrade and is registered at the address in Vračar, in the building where the Danas editorial office is normally located.
Well-known names are listed as directors – first of all, the British journalist Brent Sadler, who was previously both director and editor in charge of all the listed media, as well as Wuter van Huvelingen and Janez Živko.
Reshuffles and uncertainty
The name suggests that the new company has connections with Nova S television.
“Probably, they will now transfer people from Nova S to be officially employed in the new company,” says one informed source of “Vremena”, who speculates that during this “transfer” there could be certain reshuffles, perhaps even dismissals.
Behind everything is the complicated structure of the media corporation, part of which recently passed from the majority ownership of the BC Partners investment fund to the hands of Alpak Capital, otherwise the owner of Juronuz.
Many saw in this the beginning of the end of critical journalism in the listed media, which have long been a bone in the throat of Aleksandar Vučić’s government. The replacement of Igor Božić from the head of N1 added fuel to that theory.
What is it about?
All journalists, TV personalities and others at Nova S are not officially employed by that television, but by the production company United Media Productions, located on Zoran Đinđić Boulevard, where the premises of the fragmented sports network Sport Klub are located.
Nova S television itself is actually licensed in Luxembourg, while it is officially “rebroadcast” in Serbia, which is allowed by European broadcasting rules.
However, according to our source, the holder of that license is United Group – whose remains are still owned by BC Partners and Dragan Šolak – and the license itself does not belong to the new owners of Nova S.
“I believe that the new owners in Luxembourg cannot or will not get a license. Now, through a new company in Vračar, they could request a license from the Serbian Regulatory Body for Electronic Media,” said the source.
Physically, the Nova S program is produced in studios in Košutnjak that are rented for these purposes, and there are no indications that this will change.
Journalists and editors who spoke to “Vreme” on the condition of anonymity do not see this move as a routine company action, but as one in a series that brings uncertainty.
“After all, nobody really tells us anything,” concludes one interlocutor. “And it’s their turn to finally say what they want.”
Source: Vreme
