The beginning of the end of Inter and SCM television empires

Photo: Alexander Parkhomenko

There have been major changes in the sphere of television and radio broadcasting management in Ukraine. Inter and Ukraina (SCM) groups have lost their representation in the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council (NTRBC). According to informed sources of Capital, Yuriy Artemenko will soon be appointed the new chair of the NTRBC. Former Vice President of UMH Holding Hryhoriy Shverk confirmed this information.

In 2002-2005 Artemenko served as Vice Chair of the VR Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information of the Our Ukraine party. “Artemenko is close to the president’s business. In particular, he helped develop some of his assets,” says one high ranking interlocutor to Capital. At that a member of the public council under the regulator Oleksandr Hlushchenko believes that former head of the broadcasting network development at Studio 1+1 Oleh Chernysh, who was appointed to the NTRBC by the parliament on Friday, is the strongest and most experienced candidate for the position. “Chernysh has worked in this sector for many years and has experience in the development of TV companies and channels as a part of media holdings. In the television sphere of Ukraine he is highly respected and will be listened to,” Hlushchenko noted.

Proven people

Yesterday, President Petro Poroshenko appointed three new members of the NTRBC on his quota, while on Friday, the Verkhovna Rada appointed four of its people. Shverk was appointed a member of the regulator on the president’s quota. He is one of the old-timers of the media holding business. He resigned at the end of last year after the deal on the acquisition of the asset by Serhiy Kurchenko was sealed. Shverk is the man of the Presidential Chief-of-Staff Borys Lozhkin.

One of the first managers of Channel 5, who is also within Poroshenko’s sphere of influence, Chernivtsi-born Vladyslav Sevryukov also became a member of the NTRBC. Back in 1998 he was hired as an advertising agent of the TV and radio company NBM (Chernivtsi) and three years later was appointed the head of its commercial department. NBM moved to Kyiv in 2002 and began turning into a national broadcaster. A year later, it created Channel 5 together with Express-Inform. Sevryukov is currently the director of TV and radio company ACC, which sells local advertising on Channel 5 and 1+1 in Chernivtsi.

Immediately after yesterday’s appointment the new members of the council went to meet the president, where they were given their first task. “We must ensure the country’s information security,” said Shverk. The task is to provide the possibility of broadcasting of all Ukrainian television channels in the combat action zone, he said.

Will there be a rerun?

Inter and Ukraina channels had the most powerful lobby in the only provider of digital TV in the country Zeonbud. In 2011, at the digital tender, Inter received most national licenses for digital broadcasting – 8, while the TV and radio company Ukraina turned into a group of three national channels at the tender. Now, only Oksana Holovatenko remained on the national council of all former employees of the Ukrainian Independent TV Corporation (Inter). However, she is on maternity leave and therefore cannot physically attend the meetings of the council. It is difficult to tell whether the president will have an ambition to create his own television holding as the previous government attempted to do. The temptation is great and the desire to expand TV broadcasting has already been expressed. In particular, in 2001 Channel 5 submitted two applications from both of its legal entities (NBM and Express-Inform), but was issued only one license.

Zeonbud to reform

“One of the key issues the council must resolve before this fall is establishing a clear mechanism of transition to digital broadcasting in 2015 in compliance with the international GE06 Agreement, Geneva 2006,” says Hlushchenko. The regulator will be able to painlessly resolve this issue if all TV channels and TV boxes have equal access to Zeonbud. There will be no exclusive contracts and licenses.

Chernysh believes that the operation of the digital provider must be inspected. Also, it is important to understand whether or not the population is prepared for the shutting off of analog television. As Capital learned, Zeonbud is preparing a new strategy of conduct on the market in view of recent events. “Most likely the company will disclose its end beneficiaries this month in order to not to be a dark horse,” a source close to the company assured Capital. The composition of the owners of the provider may change, he says. “Ideally, it should be transformed into a purely technical company involved in the distribution of the signal and owned by major TV channels controlling 80% of the TV audience,” he admitted.