Why did the Turks save Balkan "attention sellers"? - What does media scanner of the region show and what is successful recepie for domestic TVs?

Where the citizen Kein is today, why television is not just a show but business also, how the Turks saved, how public manages program and how attention sellers can profit were the topics discussed in Novi Beograd by the representatives of Pink, Nova TV, Al Jazeera , RTS, N1 and Regulatory institution for electronic media of Serbia (former RDA).

A few days ago, Serbia officially started with the transition period of long awaited digitalization and on Tuesday, September 9, 2014,, the first meeting of the minister for telecommunications and emitters was held. After that, at the Digital 2014 event at the Hyatt hotel in Novi Beograd, representaivs of televisions and the state “scanned” media sky in the region.

"Do not broadcast every match and every rural fair”

Crisis affects everybody and advertising costs are first to cut. How to survive, how to sell yourself and what to sell? What is the current situation and expectations form media market by the end of 2014 and in 2015? Neither Serbia nor the region is at its prime time.

Croatian TV market has been generating a significant fall in the past five years, Drazen Mavric from Nova TV from Zagreb says.

- The main challenge we are facing is to keep the audience. I do not expect any significant moves this or next year – Mavric says.

Although there is no doubt that TV, as Zeljko Mitrovic, the owner and head of Pink, says, an attention seller” ("We take funds from advertiser who pays for audience attention so that we could create program which attracts attention”) , things have significantly changed with the arrival of new media. The thing which could move televisions in the region is contents production which could be sold as such since TV today is not what it used to be once.

(Photo: Ivana Vuksa)

Zeljko Mitrovic, owner and head of Pink is not hiding that transformation from “classical TV ”into production helped them survive. Televisions had to start producing, Mitrovic thinks. Almost 40% of profit is generated through contents sale.

However, are there funds and who will pay for it? The idea is great and it will definitely develop in the future but since it is crisis, no one wants to buy, everybody wants to exchange the program, Tatjana Citic, responsible editor of the RTS Digital program.

If there are no buyers in the country or in the region, there might be in the world - Goran Milic from Al Jazeera Balkans says. Instead of transmitting every match or rural fair, why doesn’t it create quality product and export it?

As Milic says, we have to stop being "victims of globalism and start being profiteers a bit”. There might be no funds here but there is somewhere, across the border.

(Photo: rts.rs)

How did the Turks save us?

It is not a disputable thing that one’’s own product is an advantage but it takes funds. Domestic production is the most expensive production, Mavric from Nova Tv Zagreb thinks.

- Thank God for Turkish program. It saved us and I believe many other televisions as well.

Mavric thinks cooperation between regional televisions could help produce more quality program.

Mitrovic also agrees that regional cooperation is good and mutual resources can be exploited to shoot something more quality.

"Television is show business. If it weren’t business it would be called show show”

However, when the funds are provided and TV operates positively, very important question pops up – what are we going to watch really? Will money dictate everything and is it possible that quality program is only responsibility of the public service?

- The program quality is a huge problem. Woody Allen said: "TV is a show business. If it weren’t business, it would have been called show show”. Since television became business, public became editors.. When TV finds "a clue", it follows it. The public is to be satisfied today without paying attention to quality too much –Goran Karadzic, president of the Council of Regulatory institution for electronic media (former RDA).

(Photo: Ivana Vuksa)

- There is no educational role if we leave out public service in some segments. Educational role of televisions is only the fact whether we in Serbia started speaking in Spanish or Turkish – Karadzic says.

Researchers are our editors but we are commercial televisions and it fits us, Zeljko Mitrovic says.

However, it is not the question of synonyms which go along with Pink program. More important question is what is with our public service. Whether criticized or no, it is clear that compared to commercial TVs, there is plenty of quality program it is far from the right thing. When a responsible editor of digital RTS program, Tatjana Citic, when asked why from 08, 00 p.m. until 9 p.m. the First channel broadcast program older than 18”says: “But, Happy people (Srecni ljudi) are the most popular to watch in Serbia ", then it is clear where we are. Then, you should add to that a saga on subscription and 4.300 employees at RTS

We have to hope that with this “new era of TV in Serbia” one part of their problems will be solved as well.

M.S.