MTG Buys Bulgarian Broadcaster

STOCKHOLM, July 31: Modern
Times Group is acquiring the parent company of the Bulgarian broadcaster Nova,
which had an 18-percent audience share of the 18-to-49 set in the first half of
this year, for 620 million euros in cash.

MTG is taking 100-percent
control of Nova Televisia Bulgaria, which operates the market’s second-largest
channel and owns 80 percent of the women’s magazine Eva. The broadcaster had a 32-percent ad market share
last year. The deal was concluded with Antenna Bulgaria, a member of the
Kyriakou-owned Antenna Group.

Nova has an urban, young
and predominantly female audience, featuring properties such as Big Brother, CSI,
House, Prison Break and Ugly Betty. Nova is broadcast under a national terrestrial
free-TV license, as well as on cable and satellite networks, and is available
to 99 percent of people meter panel households in Bulgaria.

MTG already operates the
family of Diema channels in Bulgaria through its 50 percent controlling
interest in Balkan Media Group. The Diema channels had a 10-percent combined
share of viewing in the 18-49 demo in the first half of 2008.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, the president and CEO of MTG, commented: “The
acquisition is our largest to date, and substantially strengthens our position
in one of Europe’s fastest growing and most attractive broadcasting markets. It
further demonstrates our commitment to expand our operations into high-growth
emerging markets, and to extend our successful multichannel multi-country
business model. Nova has outperformed the growth in the Bulgarian advertising
market and generates healthy margins. Its market position as the primary
challenger to the incumbent, as well as the channel’s complementary programming
mix and audience profile, fit well with our existing operations. We look
forward to further accelerating the channel’s development and capitalizing on
its potential.”

He continued: “The
acquisition will create significant synergies for us as a media house, as we
already operate the Diema group of TV channels in Bulgaria. It will not only
boost MTG’s sales growth and operating margins, but also accelerate our
progress towards the achievement of the five-year strategic objectives that we
set last year.”

—By Mansha Daswani