Newsroom

BOSNIA'S ONLY COMMERCIAL TV NETWORK CELEBRATES FIRST ANNIVERSARY

September 2002

Mreza Plus, a multiethnic endeavor of private, independent TV stations and the only commercial network in Bosnia and Herzegovina, celebrated its first anniversary on August 20. Started as a joint effort to share programming and resources with initial startup grants from the USAID-funded IREX ProMedia program, Mreza Plus has quickly made solid strides in ensuring its sustainability and providing high-caliber television.

The success of Mreza Plus was clear within just two months of operation, as the network dramatically increased its market share and captured first-place ratings in many of the top-ten primetime slots. Its strong audience has now allowed the network to attract greater advertising revenue and enabled it to cover some of its own operating costs. It has entered into a new relationship with Heineken, for example, whose sponsorship of the network’s Wednesday night film showcase will cover the cost of a substantial program purchase. Having evolved into a larger and more recognized operation, Mreza Plus is now able to purchase some of its fall programming directly from the major studios, both cutting costs and improving the quality of programs. The network has also established a closer direct relationship with advertisers, reducing the dependency on and commissions paid to advertising agencies.

Mreza Plus consists of five core member stations, each one covering an important market segment and, more often than not, representing a particular ethnic group. ATV Banja Luka has worked in the past with CNN and was recognized for its evenhanded reporting of the controversial ethnic riots in Banja Luka in May 2001. TV Hayat is the leading private station in Sarajevo, Bosnia's largest market. Additional network members include RTV Mostar and TV Oscar C in Mostar, two stations in this ethnically divided city that have teamed up in the past to produce joint Croat-Bosniak productions. The fifth station in the network is TV Tuzla, one of the strongest stations in its region. With a growing number of affiliates that have joined over this first year, the network now covers 85 percent of the country’s population and reaches 17 markets in both the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska.

Under the slogan "Fun for the Whole Family,” Mreza Plus offers a blend of programming that includes movies, sitcoms, drama series, and sports. Distributed to all of Bosnia and Herzegovina via satellite, the network joins together viewers from the Republika Srpska capital of Banja Luka to the Muslim-Croat city of Mostar in enjoying popular international programs such as “The Sopranos” and “ER” from the US, soccer from Italy and Germany, and Peruvian telenovella “Pobre Diabla,” the most watched regular program in BiH.

Building on its success in shared entertainment, the network is also blazing new paths in quality journalism. Its members now exchange news stories for use on their local newscasts, an activity that the network expects to grow as it moves towards its goal of a nationwide multiethnic news team offering objective reporting from across Bosnia and the world. The network is also playing a role in regional reconciliation as it looks towards cooperation with Serbia’s B92 and the Croatian network CCN.

IREX ProMedia/USAID has worked with Mreza Plus since its inception and has provided grants for equipment and programming along with a coalition of other international donors that includes the Open Society Institute, Press Now, and the Swedish Helsinki Committee.

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