Central European Media Enterprises (CME), the US-based broadcasting company that controls PRO TV aims to expand through acquisitions on new markets in Central and Eastern Europe, in case there are willing sellers, says Michael Garin, CEO of CME.
"We have an aspiration to expand, but we cannot talk of real plans, because we have to find willing sellers first. We are a willing buyer if TV stations become available for sale. There won't be any sales in the region without our knowledge or without us being contacted because our growth interest is known," Michael Garin told ZF at the Investor Day that CME organised in Bucharest yesterday.
He says the company's strategy is to improve its portfolio with as many TV channels as the advertising market can absorb, and the regulation authorities allow.
Until a TV opportunity arises on a market in the region, CME intends to implement the multi-channel structure model already developed in Romania in the other five countries where it is present, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Ukraine.
"We have the most diversified multi-channel platform in Romania, with five stations and all the developments on our other markets are based on this model. We already have two channels in Slovenia, as well as in Slovakia and Czech Republic and three in Ukraine."
Adrian Sarbu, who was recently appointed chief operating officer of the group says that the Romanian platform operates as a one-stop-shop, whereby advertisers can reach all their audience targets by using CME's TV stations exclusively.
"We will continue to develop the multi-channel strategy. This allows us to have a diversified sales strategy built around packages that cover all the needs of the advertising market. We will also implement a Media Asset Management system to support multi-platform distribution," Sarbu says.
Michael Garin trusts the local management on the markets where CME is present and relies a great deal on each market-specific expertise.
"Adrian Sarbu is not just a man who has got ideas and is good at organising things; he also knows how to build teams. His promotion to COO of the group is also a compliment to the management team in Romania which I trust will continue to develop the business," Garin says.
He adds that the new media market will be a strategic front for CME over the coming period.
"New media is the future and we intend to make substantial investments in the Internet. Our goal is to become one of the top three players in this field in every country where we have a presence, using the models that already work in the West."
Adrian Sarbu believes that all the markets the group operates on will maintain a fast growth rate over the next five years. "I strongly believe in fast-paced growth. The financial turmoil in the USA could have caused a slowdown, but one can see the markets in our region were not affected at all."
He notes that the TV market in Romania is crowded, yet estimates the very high speed of growth on the retail segment will also induce fast-paced growth on the advertising market.
"35 channels are vying over audience but this is sometimes like water in the desert, because all stations have witnessed a decline in ratings this year because of the hotter weather, which reduces the time people spend in front of the TV."
Sarbu says that the TV stations that CME operates in Romania will increasingly focus on local content, yet carefully control their costs, as investments in local productions may turn out to be expensive.
"The audience does not give us any chance: the public wants local content with western quality."
He adds that, in his new position as chief operating officer of the group, he will try to do for other CME stations what he has done for those in the Czech Republic and Slovakia over the past few years, which he supervised. He will also supervise the "future operations that CME will include in its portfolio."
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