TVN reaps financial rewards from the success of Big Brother broadcast

TVN is estimated to have earned at least zl.35 million from the recently-concluded series of reality show Big Brother. This was 70 times more than the show's winner received in prize money. According to estimates by media analysts and advertising agencies, TVN may have received as much as zl.45 million from advertising and zl.3.5 million from each of its sponsors, Centertel and Coca-Cola. The channel has also earned at least zl.10 million thanks to Big Brother's SMS service, and some zl.4 million from sales of the weekly magazine "Big Brother". However, TVN's financial outlay was also significant; it paid zl.20 million for the Dutch-owned licence, and some zl.10 million on preparations for the show. As a result, head of TVN, Mariusz Walter, has complained that the series was not the financial event of the year, as has been claimed. Even so, TVN saw its overall audience grow by 50% during the period that Big Brother was being screened. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 24) M.K.