Viva joins MTV in targeting Polish music audiences
Viva Polska, the first Polish-language music channel created by a foreign media company, is set to begin six hours of daily programming on June 1, the company said last week.
The brainchild of Viva Fernsehen und COKG, a German music television station available in Poland since 1994, Viva Polska will be produced in Warsaw. It will be available via satellite and cable domestically and abroad.
"Last year, we decided to expand our activities throughout Europe," said Dieter Gorny, Viva's general director last week. Poland is the first market Viva is entering with programming tailored to local needs.
"The choice was easy because Viva has been very popular here," he said. According to surveys conducted by the SMG/KRC market research institute, Viva is the favorite music channel for 48% of respondents as opposed to 24% who favor MTV and 9% who prefer Atomic TV.
Gorny said Viva would invest at least $10 million in the venture.
"It all depends on the development of the market," he said. "We can expect the investment to pay back within three to four years assuming the channel reaches 3 million households."
And Viva has a good chance to reach this goal since it is a free-to-air channel, unlike its competitors MTV Europe and Atomic TV, which are available through cable networks and WizjaTV's direct-to-home (DTH) service.
Viva Polska will be produced at the Czolowka Film Studio in Warsaw. Production will start on May 15. According to Aleks Sadowski, a PR representative for Viva, the station will try to broadcast as much Polish music as possible.
"Even the German charts will be presented by Polish TV presenters," he said.
Viva Polska is one of several Polish-language music channels to be introduced this year as foreign media companies begin to focus on the needs of Polish audiences by investing in local productions.
MTV Polska, a new 24-hour music channel targeted at Polish audiences, will start broadcasting on July 8. In March, MTV Networks Europe and UPCtv, the programming arm of Amsterdam-based United Pan-Europe Communications (OPC), announced a joint venture to produce and distribute both MTV Polska and VH1 Polska. The latter will be launched by the end of this year. MTV Polska will replace MTV Europe, which is currently available to 1.4 million households, throughout Poland. Under the deal, MTV's feed will merge with UPCtv's Atomic TV to produce MTV Polska. VH1 Polska, aimed at the 25-44 year-old audience, will be produced out of Atomic's production base in Warsaw.
Atomic TV, produced by Ground Zero Media and owned by UPC, has so far been the only Polish-language music channel on the market. Launched in 1996 with a programming package lasting several hours, by 1997 it had already developed into a 24-hour program. In 1998 Atomic TV was included in WizjaTV's digital offer.
"There are several programs that are produced by Atomic TV and extremely popular among viewers, which will be moved to MTV Europe," said Iza Miejluk, head of marketing and PR at MTV Polska. "But creative control over programming belongs to MTV Europe."
The two channels will be distributed via the UPC-owned WizjaTV digital platform and PTK cable network.
Viva's Sadowski, however, isn't afraid of competition.
"MTV is different and its viewers are a group we're not targeting," he said. "We want to address our programming to a very clearly defined group of 20-30 year-olds."
Sadowski also said that the six-hour Viva Polska is not overwhelmed by the prospect of competing with two 24-hour channels. "We haven't even thought of extending our program yet," he said.
However, according to Miejluk, any differences between Viva and MTV are slight. "Both channels will address their programming to young people, so I expect the fight for Polish viewers will be fierce," she said. "I simply don't believe there is much difference."
Viva Polska and the two MTV-UPC Polish-language channels won't be the last music channels to be introduced in Poland.
According to Miejluk, MTV Networks is negotiating with UPC to distribute its four-channel digital package. The package consists of MTV Base, MTV Extra, VH1 Classic and MTV2, all focused on a specific kind of music. The package will be available in July, Miejluk said. "But I can't rule out the possibility that it might eventually be distributed via Cyfra+ (WizjaTV's competing digital platform backed by Canal+). There are no talks with Canal+ at the moment, though."
