RMF FM launches campaign to counter KRRiTV decision
RMF FM radio launched an information campaign last week protesting the National Radio and Television Council's (KRRiTV) decision earlier this month to strip the station of its right to split advertising and programming time among its 15 stations.
Anna Kozlowska, the station's PR manager, said RMF FM President Stanislaw Tyczynski is hopeful that by publicly explaining the radio station's position the council will change its mind and at least restore the right to divvy up programming among its local outlets. "If we aren't able to get our message across (to the council) through the campaign, we will think of other ways," Kozlowska said.
The council revoked Warsaw-based RMF FM's right to split its advertising and programming time on a local basis while preparing a new broadcasting license for the station, which KRRiTV granted last month. The media watchdog said the move is intended to level the playing field between national and local stations, which are unable to compete with national broadcasters for local ad revenue.
Joanna Stempien, press spokeswoman for Juliusz Braun, chairman of the KRRiTV, said there is no reason to change the conditions of RMF FM's new license. "Why should we?" she said. "The decision was made unanimously and Braun warned RMF FM that the council would decide (this way a) year ago. And besides, we have it on record that Tyczynski said 'no' when asked at the meeting with local and national broadcasters whether he would agree to keep the right to split programming and give up the right to split advertising time." RMF FM's Kozlowska would not say why Tyczynski had changed his position.
Last week German media group Bertelsmann and French media firm Vivendi Universal announced they are in preliminary talks to create a pan-European company focused on the acquisition of sports broadcasting rights. The new company would be the product of a merger between RTL Group's (controlled by Bertelsmann) "UFA Sports," Vivendi's "Sport Plus" channels, and JC Darmon, a sports communications group. Janusz Basalaj, director of sports programming at Canal+ Polska, a sports and movie pay-TV service whose market position could be strengthened by the deal, refused to comment. He did say the negotiating position of Polish TV channels wouldn't be strong enough without the help of their parent companies. According to Basalaj, Canal+ Polska rarely negotiates the acquisition of broadcasting rights on its own. "While we do try to purchase sports rights on our own for the Polish market, in case of international rights, it's Sport Plus, Canal+'s subsidiary, that coordinates their acquisitions," Basalaj said. "Being a pan-European pay-TV company, Canal+ has a very strong negotiating position. Cooperation with Paris helps us a lot."
According to Marcin Kubacki, director of Wizja Sport, a sports channel belonging to Amsterdam-based United Pan-European Communications (UPC), the channel also doesn't negotiate its own deals for international sports rights. "We acquire rights as part of UPC, and UPC is a large enough company to participate in various bids as a significant player," he said.
The Treasury Ministry announced last week that it had received six offers for an adviser in the sale of a 45% minority stake in the Polish Press Agency (PAP). The ministry refused to reveal the names of the bidders. PAP President Robert Bogdanski also declined to comment on the news. According to Treasury Minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska, privatization negotiations are set to begin in June and be completed by September. PAP, created under the communist regime as a propaganda machine, was transformed into a 100% treasury-owned company in 1997, and now sells content to both traditional and Web-based media.
The Opinion and Market Research Firm Organization (OFBOR), which represents Polish market research companies, last week unveiled the results of Poland's first market-research company sales audit. The 1999-2000 audit became possible thanks to an agreement signed by 17 companies last October. It was assigned by OFBOR, which is angling to become the sector's watchdog. "We now have an almost complete picture of the market," said Jerzy Gluszynski, vice president of market research company Pentor and president of OFBOR. The audit showed that the first five companies on the ranking list SMG/KRC Poland, GFK Polonia, Pentor, TNS OBOP and IQS&Quant Group hold 70% of the market. "We (OFBOR) will try to include almost all (market research) companies present on the market in the next audit," Gluszynski said. "We're talking about more than 20 companies overall."
AC Nielsen Polska, a member of OFBOR, was one of several companies that did not participate in the audit. "Some companies tend to include in their financial reports not only research sales, but also other operations, so OFBOR organized the audit to standardize those reports and thus clarify the situation on the market," said Joanna Skowronska, PR manager at AC Nielsen Polska. "But AC Nielsen Polska always reported only sales from research services, so we saw no reason to participate in the audit assigned by OFBOR. However, considering the number of companies that participated in the audit initiated by OFBOR, we will consider joining it next year."
