TVN
TVN HQ in Warsaw, Poland
CountryPoland, Germany
Broadcast areaNationwide
HeadquartersMedia Business Centre
Warsaw, Poland
Programming
Language(s)Polish
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 576i for the SD feed)
Timeshift serviceTVN +1
Ownership
OwnerTVN Warner Bros. Discovery
ParentTVN Group
Key peopleKatarzyna Kieli (CEO)
Sister channels
History
FoundedMay 1995 (as TVN Sp. z o.o.)
Launched3 October 1997 (1997-10-03) at 19:00
Former namesTelewizja Wisła
Links
Websitetvn.pl
Availability
Terrestrial
Polish DigitalMUX 2 (SD) (Channel 5)
Streaming media
Player.plplayer.pl

TVN (Polish pronunciation: [tɛ faw ɛn][1]) (stylized in all lowercase) is a Polish free-to-air television station, network and a media and entertainment group in Poland. It was co-founded by Polish businessmen Mariusz Walter, Jan Wejchert and Swiss entrepreneur Bruno Valsangiacomo.[2] It is owned by TVN Group, which as of April 2022, is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Current CEO is Katarzyna Kieli (who is also president and managing director of TVN Warner Bros. Discovery).

TVN is available by satellite, cable television and digital terrestrial television.

In 2004, with its debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the company became a public limited company. In March 2015, U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive bought a 52.7% majority stake in TVN for €584 million.[3][4] In July 2015, SNI bought out TVN's remaining owners, ITI Group and Canal+ Group, for €584 million, giving it full ownership.[5]

On March 6, 2018, SNI was, in turn, acquired by Discovery, Inc. for US$14.6 billion.[6][7] Liberty Global, which operated pay television provider UPC Polska, is a major shareholder in Discovery. The European Commission thus required TVN to ensure that TVN24 and TVN24 BiS remain available to third-party television providers.[8][9]

History

In March 1997, Grupa TVN obtained permission from The National Council of Radio Broadcasting and Television to broadcast in central and northern parts of Poland. A few months later Grupa TVN acquired Telewizja Wisła, which had a license to broadcast in southern Poland.

The channel was launched nationwide as TVN on 3 October 1997.[10] During the first four years the network was run by its founder Mariusz Walter. In 2001 Piotr Walter became chief executive officer, replacing his father.

In 2004 TVN was available in 86% of Polish households. Since 2004 TVN has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. On 29 April 2004 TVN launched TVN International, an entertainment and news channel for Polish viewers living abroad. In 2005 TVN acquired rights to organise and broadcast Sopot International Song Festival until 2010, and has acquired said rights again from 2017. In 2006 TVN launched its high definition version, TVN HD, which was the first HD television channel in Poland.

TVN is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface, and conducted the first tests of HbbTV services in Poland in March 2012.[11]

On 16 March 2015, TVN announced a sale of a 52.7% controlling stake to the U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI) for €584 million, subject to regulatory approval.[12][13][14] In July 2015, SNI bought out the remaining owners for €584 million.[15] SNI was, in turn, acquired by Discovery Communications (now Discovery Inc.) for US$14.6 billion, in a sale completed 6 March 2018.[6][16]

Conflict with Law and Justice government (2021)

A banner with the words „Wolne Media” ("Free Media") and the TVN logo modified with the V sign during a protest against Lex TVN in August 2021.

TVN tends to be strongly critical of the Polish government under the Law and Justice (PiS) party, since it was sworn to power in 2015. Historian and columnist Timothy Garton Ash, writing for The Guardian, praised Fakty TVN's critical coverage of government issues when harshly criticising Telewizja Polska's Wiadomości (News).[17]

The Facts is not BBC-style impartial: it clearly favours a more liberal, pro-European Poland and is strongly anti-PiS. But unlike the so-called News, it is still definitely professional, high quality, reality-based journalism.[17]

Since 2020 the conflict between TVN and the PiS worsened, to a degree that, by July 2021, a group of PiS lawmakers, submitted to parliament a draft amendment that would prevent companies from outside the European Economic Area taking control of Polish radio and television stations. This would mean that Discovery, the owner of TVN, might be forced to divest its ownership.[18][19] The Agreement, then PiS' coalition partner, was opposed to this, they instead proposed a change that would allow companies from countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to own more than 49% of shares in Polish media companies, which would mean no change to the American ownership of the channel.[20][21]

However, opposition, as well as representatives from European Union and the United States criticized the law, and international observers expressed fear that the law is threatening press freedom in Poland.[22][23][24][25][26] The law has been criticized for "threatening the largest ever US investment in Poland".[22] This also led to protests within the country, with a number of demonstrations on 10 August.[22][27]

On 11 August 2021, the bill was passed via the Sejm on a vote of 228 to 216, with 10 abstentions, as a result, TVN's licence could expire on September 26.[28][29][30]

On 30 August 2021, the Chairman of the National Council of Radio Broadcasting and Television sent to the TV operators a decision to move the licence of sister channel TVN24 into the Discovery Communications Benelux B.V. license, based in the Netherlands. The decision ensures the continuity of broadcasting the TVN24 program after 26 September 2021, regardless of the results of the ongoing conflict with Law and Justice government.[31] On 24 September 2021 - two days before the expiration of the previous licence - TVN24 was granted a new Polish licence.[32]

On 18 December 2021, the bill was passed via the Sejm. The Sejm voted in favor 229-212 with 11 abstentions to override the Senate's veto. Law and Justice (PiS) party and allied opposition group Kukiz'15 voted for the bill, against was the remaining opposition with the exception of far-right Confederation, which abstained. The bill was vetoed by Polish President Andrzej Duda on 27 December 2021.[33]

Programming

Schedule (Fall 2023)

Primetime schedule

PM 7:00 7:15 7:30 7:45 8:00 8:15 8:30 8:45 9:00 9:15 9:30 9:45 10:00 10:15 10:30
Monday Fakty sports news and weather forecast and

Uwaga! and Doracda smaku

 Na Wspólnej Milionerzy Pati (Sep.–Oct.) / Behawiorysta (Oct.–)
Tuesday Ślub od pierwszego wejrzenia
Wednesday Totalne remonty Szelągowskiej
Thursday Kuchenne rewolucje
Friday Fakty sports news and weather forecast Uwaga! SUPERKINO (movies)
Saturday Top Model movies
Sunday MasterChef Szadź (Sep.–Oct.) / movies (Oct.–)

Access-primetime schedule

PM 4:45 5:00 5:15 5:30 5:45 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:45
Monday Detektywi Ukryta prawda
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday Zapisane w gwiazdach (Sep.) / Detektywi (Oct.–)
Friday Zapisane w gwiazdach

Late night schedule

PM 10:45 11:00 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 AM
Tuesday Kuba Wojewódzki Superwizjer
TVN HQ in Warsaw, Poland
TVN's helicopter registered as SP-TVN

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Fakty TVN 19:00 news show". Fakty TVN (in Polish). 27 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  2. ↑ "Jan Wejchert passes away aged 59". Warsaw Business Journal. 2 November 2009. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  3. ↑ "Scripps buys majority stake in TVN". C21media. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Scripps Networks Interactive sfinalizował przejęcie TVN". Tvn24. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Dickens, Andrew (2 July 2015). "Scripps completes TVN purchase". C21media. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 Szalai, Georg (6 March 2018). "Discovery Closes Scripps Acquisition, Creating Non-scripted Content Giant". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  7. ↑ Szalai, Georg (31 July 2017). "Discovery to Acquire Scripps Networks for $14.6 Billion". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "Case M.8665 – Discovery / Scripps" (PDF). European Commission. 6 February 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "European Commission Clears Discovery Deal to Buy Scripps". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Angelika W. Wyka (2010). "Media Privatization and the Spread of Foreign Ownership in East Central Europe" (PDF). NOVA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Chris Dziadul. HbbTV starts in Poland. Broadband TV News 13 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012
  12. ↑ "Scripps Buys Controlling Stake in Poland's TVN for $615 Million". Variety. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Scripps buys majority stake in TVN". C21media. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Scripps Networks Interactive sfinalizował przejęcie TVN". Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  15. ↑ Dickens, Andrew (2 July 2015). "Scripps completes TVN purchase". C21media. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  16. ↑ Szalai, Georg (31 July 2017). "Discovery to Acquire Scripps Networks for $14.6 Billion". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  17. 1 2 Garton Ash, Timothy (25 June 2020). "For a bitter taste of Polish populism, just watch the evening news". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "Polish draft law threatens U.S.-owned broadcaster, opposition says". Reuters. 8 July 2021.
  19. ↑ "Discovery opposes proposed Polish media rules". Reuters. 12 July 2021.
  20. ↑ "Polish media law faces uncertain future amid coalition splits". finance.yahoo.com.
  21. ↑ "Junior coalition leader says media law amendment threatens investment". www.thefirstnews.com.
  22. 1 2 3 "The explainer: Lex TVN and Poland's parliamentary drama". Emerging Europe. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  23. ↑ Armstrong, Mark (29 July 2021). "Poland: Media freedom fears as TVN24's licence extension is suspended". euronews. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  24. ↑ "Protests Held Across Poland in Opposition to 'Lex TVN' Censorship Bill". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "EU slams newly passed law in Poland that could limit media freedom". euronews. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "Polish lower house passes media reform bill, which U.S. denounces". Reuters. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  27. ↑ ""Free Media": Poles protest against changes to broadcasting law". Reuters. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  28. ↑ "Poland's ruling party rams through media law despite US warnings". POLITICO. 11 August 2021.
  29. ↑ Erlanger, Steven; Pronczuk, Monika (11 August 2021). "Poland's Government Wins Vote on Media Bill, Despite Losing Majority". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  30. ↑ "Polish parliament passes controversial new media ownership bill". the Guardian. 11 August 2021.
  31. ↑ "Zgoda Przewodniczącego KRRiT na wpis do rejestru programu TVN24 - Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji - Portal Gov.pl". Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji (in Polish). Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  32. ↑ "WYKAZ DECYZJI DLA 479/K/2021-T". Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji (in Polish). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  33. ↑ "Prezydent Andrzej Duda wetuje lex TVN". Businessinsider (in Polish). 27 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
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