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Transactions - and speculation thereon - always attract considerable interest. Media watchers in the Baltics could barely contain their excitement after an unsourced report from news agency BNS (November 30), Modern Times Group (MTG) subsidiary Viasat retaining big Swedish bank SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken) to find a buyer for its television and radio assets in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Viasat, of course, had no comment.
Viasat owns TV3 and TV6 brands in the Baltics plus LTN in Latvia, TV8 in Estonia and a scattering of various digital TV channels. Distribution is by satellite, operating under UK law. It also owns national radio channels Star FM and Power Hit operating in the three Baltic countries.
Unsurprisingly, MTG appears to want a single buyer, keeping the paperwork to a minimum. Asking price speculation ranged from €100 million to €200 million. Media watchers assess the Viasat Baltic assets as profitable though none expect a quick sale. A lengthy list of presumptive bidders includes existing Baltic broadcasters and, of course, telecoms and mobile operators.
The Viasat TV channels dominate audience reach in the three Baltic countries. Because of that some concerns were raised about whatever changes, if any, might occur. Latvian regulator NELPL chairperson Ayia Dulevsky called the prospect “a bad sign,” quoted by news agency LETA (December 2), “because it seems in this case economic interests may dominate political interests.” She also warned about bidders from “the East,” which, of course, means Russia, an extremely unlikely prospect.
Earlier this year MTG sold the Viasat Ukraine company to 1+1 Media Group. In May the company exited its 38% stake in Russian broadcaster CTC Media for about €100 million after Russian Federation law limiting foreign ownership came into effect. In recent months the company has invested in sports rights and gaming platforms.
Reports published about potential conflicts of interest near to heads of state are, at once, objectively distressing to those involved and the Fourth Estate’s domain. As well, it has been irregular for a major politician to rant about the journalists and editors involved, even threaten. We are in a new media world; calling it “brave” brings a few chills.
We are, of course, referring to - wait for it - Finland. What? Topping the press freedom indexes for years, its standing is a point of some pride. Finnish news media enjoy near absolute independence, granted and affirmed by the people.
Last week public broadcaster YLE reported a potential conflict of interest involving State-owned nickel miner Terrafame, industrial manufacturer Katera Steel, owned and operated by family members of Prime Minister Juha Sipila, and a €500,000 contract. At weeks end PM Sipila fired off into the night “more than a dozen” angry emails to the reporter and acting YLE executive editor Atte Jääskeläinen, reported Suomen Kuvalehti (November 30), expressing a “lack of confidence” in YLE. After that, Mr. Jääskeläinen allegedly directed YLE reporters to move on to a different subject. The day is now referred to locally as Black Friday. (See more about media in Finland here)
Needless to say, the Finnish media sphere erupted with far more coverage. PM Sipila told a press conference (November 30) that that his “confidence in YLE is quite OK.” Later YLE published extracts of the emails; the PMs last saying, "My respect for YLE is now exactly zero, which of course does not differ from yours for me. So now we're even.” At least it wasn’t on Twitter.
German public television networks ARD and ZDF will not be carrying live the Olympic Games from 2018 through 2024. Negotiations with rights holder Discovery Group for a German territorial sub-license ended this week. The deal killer was, of course, money.
ARD and ZDF bid €200 million, reported German news agency dpa (November 29). Discovery Group demanded €300 million. Nobody budged. Discovery Group will now, apparently, exercise its position as rights holder to provide those Olympic Games on its own channels, including pay-TV. Discovery Group, through its Eurosport subsidiary, paid the International Olympic Committee (IOC) €1.3 billion last year for substantial European broadcast rights to the four Olympic Games; 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, 2022 Winter Games in Beijing and the yet-to-be determined 2024 Summer Games.
The degree to which the Olympic Games - and other sports events - are offered free-to-air or via pay-TV channels impacts a range of stakeholders. Free-to-air operators, which includes public broadcasters, are giving up as pay-TV and subscription services push rights fees higher to the delight of sports organizers, leagues and teams. But this creates for the organizers a bit of a quandary: a lower exposure through pay-TV channels affects broader sponsor engagement. It risks fan engagement, too; Formula One (F1) auto racing slipping side-ways at full speed. (See more about sports and media here)
The knock-on effect on public broadcasters traditionally invested in national sports could be immense… or not. German public broadcasters spend royally for football rights, including World Cup and various other championships. During the past year, noted media portal meedia.de (December 1), the top ten television shows by audience were all European Championship broadcasts, all free-to-air on public TV.
The Aegean island of Chios was once a tourist hot spot. Over the last year it’s become, quite literally, a holding pen for refugees, mostly Syrian, who arrived too late on Greek soil from Turkey for asylum processing and transit to other parts of the European Union. Reporters have also descended on Chios and other Greek islands dutifully giving witness to the despair and deeply disturbing conditions.
While helicopter journalism in zones of conflict and crisis have been duly criticized for superficiality, most reporting offers needed context. While Greek islanders have remained generally supportive and sympathetic, less so as time wears on, right-wing groups have come to intimidate the refugees and journalists telling their story, reported Greek public broadcaster ERT (November 28). “Episodes around the Souda Castle accommodation center has made the job dangerous. There is always fear of an incident.”
That this has been a bad year for journalism is well-known, perhaps the worse in a generation. More than 400 incidents against journalists, ranging from murder and physical assault to arrest, censorship and intimidation have been annotated by NGO Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project between July and September this year, up by a fifth from April to June. “Hostility to the media is increasing globally,” said Index on Censorship advocacy officer Melody Patry, quoted by the Guardian (November 29). “When the credibility and legitimacy of media outlets starts to be questioned it can easily spread and the sentiment easily becomes one of distrust.”
“I never in a million years thought I would be up here on stage appealing for the freedom and safety of American journalists at home,” offered well-known and well-respected CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, receiving the top award from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). It was one day after US TV news executives bowed and grovelled before newly-elected Donald Trump, who suggested during the ugly campaign new libel laws to punish critical news outlets. "Like it has in Egypt and Turkey and Russia, where journalists have been pushed into political partisan corners as we see here tonight - delegitimized, accused of being enemies of the state. Journalism itself has become weaponized. We have to stop it.”
Later this week renowned French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo debuts a German edition. Though this cross-border foray with cartoons, gags and pointed jokes had been announced earlier in the month, reality struck when ad posters in the inimitable Charlie Hebdo illustrative style began appearing throughout the country. Quite naturally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is positioned front and center, seated on a toilet, looking at Charlie Hebdo. The caption: "Charlie Hebdo wirkt befreiend.”
Initial German editions of Charlie Hebdo will be translations of the French magazine. Original German material will follow, said editor Riss, real name Laurent Sourisseau, quoted by news portal n-tv.de (November 26). “I want to show Germans that they, too, can understand Charlie Hebdo and laugh with it. An American can understand him. A German can understand him. We’re not talking Chinese.”
The initial German print run will be 200,000 copies, he said. “For us this is an experiment, We want to try to build a readership abroad.”
Since the horrific murders of 12 Charlie Hebdo staff members nearly two years ago by Islamic extremists, the magazine operates from facilities in secret, guarded locations around greater Paris. Several staff members have continuous police protection. The German edition, unsurprisingly, is being produced in France.
There is a thriving satiric/comedic media in Germany, not always pleasing everybody. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempted and failed to invoke the ancient lèse-majest law that allows prosecution for insulting a head of state following a TV satirist invoking freedom of speech with a rather graphic verse. The top grossing German movie for the year - "Willkommen bei den Hartmanns” - is a comedic poke at attitudes toward refugees.
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