Central European Media Enterprises (CME)

In 2023, CME continued to grow by pursuing and investing in an “anytime, anywhere” strategy. CME’s momentum was also driven by its high-quality local content, increased consumption of streaming services, and persistently strong performance in the TV advertising market. Since being acquired by PPF in 2020, CME has risen to become one of the CEE’s largest, most invested-in and most significant broadcasters, well positioned for expansion and growth. CME operates in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

In Europe, SVOD is advancing rapidly in response to consumers’ rising expectations. CME continued to scale up the Voyo platform, premiering 35 new Voyo originals by the end of 2023. This content was well received and won awards across the region, notably a Czech Lion Film Awards nomination for Mathematics of Crime and Slovenia’s Orion Prize for The Kitchen. Voyo’s launch in Croatia expanded this SVOD brand to all CME markets and saw it named Digital Product of the Year at the 2023 SoMo Gorac Awards. By the end of the year, Voyo had 650,000 paying subscribers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and was very close to passing a million paying subscribers across all its markets. In most of its markets, Voyo is a top-three SVOD service provider and the number-one local provider.

CME’s ability to draw on local stories that resonate with its audience is a core strength built into a strategy anchored by a comprehensive long-term content plan and digital agility. In 2023, over 100 linear and Voyo projects were in the pipeline across CME. Production hours were up 20% year on year.

News, with its significant market and audience share, remains at the heart of CME’s programming. In July 2023, CME opened the CME News Bureau in Brussels as a hub from which correspondents from all CME stations can report on EU, NATO and other European affairs for their domestic audiences. Between October and December, CME also deployed four rotating teams to cover the Middle East conflict.

CME continued its strategy of acquiring premium sports content for live broadcast. Key acquisitions included Formula 1 for the Czech and Slovak markets and the UEFA Champions League in Slovenia.

CME advanced with the CME Content Academy, an educational two-year multidisciplinary programme for young talent to become tomorrow’s entertainment industry leaders. In 2023, CME launched ESG initiative CME Cares, as a response to the most pressing social and environmental challenges facing the media sector. CME recognises that it engages with millions of people every day and it is uniquely positioned to inspire, raise awareness, and advocate for positive change.

Information about CME Media Enterprises B.V. can be found here.