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Native name | РТВ Б92 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public limited company |
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 15 May 1989; 35 years ago (1989-05-15) |
| Headquarters | Autoput za Zagreb 22,, Serbia |
Area served | Serbia Worldwide |
Key people | Srđan Milovanović (General director) |
| Revenue |  €9.74 million (2018[1]) |
 €0.61 million (2018[1]) | |
| Total assets | €13.88 million (2018[2]) |
| Total equity |  €0 (2018[2]) |
| Owner | Srđan Milovanović |
Number of employees | 116 (2018) |
| Website | www |
RTV B92, or simplyB92 (stylized asb92, formerlyBΞ92 andB 92), is a Serbian news station and broadcaster with national coverage headquartered inBelgrade.
Founded in 1989 as radio station, it was a rare outlet for Western news and information inFR Yugoslavia underSlobodan Milošević, and was a force behind manydemonstrations that took place in Belgrade during the turbulent 1990s. It also playedrock music.[3] Due to this, RTV B92 won theMTVFree Your Mind award in 1998, and many other awards for journalism and fighting for human rights. RTV B92 is the subject of the best-selling bookThis is Serbia Calling. On 6 October 2000, the day following theoverthrow of Slobodan Milošević, television B92 started broadcasting.[4]
During the 2000s, the company has undertaken a shift from political and societal topics towards commercialization, and has changed the ownership structure multiple times. The B92 brand name was subject to several replacements and restorations: in July 2015, Radio B92 was shut down and was replaced by a new station calledPlay Radio. In April 2008, the second TV (cable-only) channel namedB92 Info, with 24-hour news coverage was launched, to be replaced byPrva World in 2016, under the sister brandPrva TV. In 2017, TV B92 changed its name toO2.TV, only to be restored to B92 in March 2020.
RTV B92 media company continues to operate thePlay Radio andB92 television channel. As of December 2017,[update] other active segments of the B92 media network areB92.net web portal,B92 Fond humanitarian fund,Samizdat B92 book publisher andRex cultural center. The most prominent person in RTV B92 history isVeran Matić, who was one of the founders and CEO from B92's establishment in 1989 until 2019.[5]
Radio B92 was founded in May 1989 in Belgrade as a predominantly youth-oriented station on 92.5 MHz FM. It received financial help from theOpen Society Foundations and theUSAID.[6] It was briefly closed down by authorities in March 1991.[7]
During theYugoslav Wars in the 1990s, RTV B92 was one of the very few sources for news not controlled by the government.[8] Although the government did everything in its power to prevent RTV B92 from transmitting its programs they failed.[citation needed] With the help of Dutch internet providerXS4All, RTV B92 started broadcasting their programs over the internet in 1996. These broadcasts were then also re-transmitted via theBBC World Service while several local stations on the ground made the programs available throughoutSerbia.[9] In 1996 theInternationale Medienhilfe organisation awarded the title "Radiostation des Jahres" to Radio B92.[10]
It was forced off the air for a time in 1999 whenNATO bombed Yugoslavia, and government agents cracked down on pro-Western reporting.[11] The government took over the station in 1999 but the team continued broadcasting in borrowed studios as B2-92. In a dawn raid in May 2000 government troops seized everything.[7] Internet broadcasting from secret studios continued however, until after the ousting of Milošević in October 2000, when the two stations were unified.[7] It has continued as a combined music and news radio station since.
Throughout the years it has become a national radio with wide audience. The radio station at its peak had around 400,000 daily listeners which made up 35% of all radio listeners with almost 80 stations competing for airtime. As of 2014, Radio B92 covered the whole of the territory of Serbia.
The most notable radio shows wereKažiprst (index finger), featuring usually live or occasionally live-to-tape interviews with notable public figures,Peščanik (Hourglass), liberal talk show, radio blog of a sort, edited bySvetlana Vuković andSvetlana Lukić and the morning programDizanje (getting up).
In the afternoon of 9 July 2015, most of the radio employees were fired. Among the people who lost their job on that occasion were all employees in the news and music section—sections that made Radio B92's trademark. On that same day all radio shows were cancelled, leaving only the radio broadcasting music and two remaining employees responsible for that.[12]
On 13 July 2015, the newPlay Radio began on 92.5 MHz FM, broadcasting only music and the promo of the station, this time mentioning the B92 name. Following the name change, the B92's site's radio section now redirects to thePlay Radio website, which includes a stream, which lets visitors listen to the station. However,Play Radio began as a summer schedule announcement on the now-closed Radio B92. The station began broadcasting on 31 August 2015 at 06:00.[13][12]
On 6 October 2000, TV B92 began broadcasting as a local TV station reaching Belgrade's greater municipal area and parts of Vojvodina. Over the next few years, the station expanded its network of repeaters and could be seen in most of Serbia.
From the 2000s, the daily newscast on TV B92 become popular with viewers. Its TV news service was the second most watched in Serbia after the national broadcaster. The afternoon edition was at 4 PM and the central edition was at 8 PM. This was an only edition with two presenters (both male and female). The evening news had cast at 12 AM and was particularly popular and had a large surge in the ratings. The news provided by TV B92 were very comprehensive which has contributed to the ratings going up.[citation needed]
On 11 October 2004, TV B92's news program Vesti B92 introduced the ticker, which was replaced by flipper on 19 March 2012. The ticker was returned on 4 February 2013, which was replaced by flipper again on 3 February 2014.
In April 2006, TV B92 was officially given a national commercial broadcasting license along withTV Pink,Fox Televizija,TV Avala andTV Košava. The station's most notable regular TV programmes includedUtisak nedelje (Impression of the week) byOlja Bećković,Poligraf (Polygraph) by Jugoslav Ćosić and Antonela Riha, andTimofejev by Aleksandar Timofejev. TheInsajder (Insider) series byBrankica Stanković were running intermittently and was one of the rare cases ofinvestigative journalism on Serbian television.
Until 2006, TV B92 has undertaken a noticeable shift towardscommercialization. Since 2006, it was broadcasting the Serbian version ofBig Brother reality series (Veliki brat), for which it received both a huge boost of ratings, as well as much criticism from its traditional viewers. The trend has continued with shows likeUzmi ili ostavi andŽelite li da postanete milioner? quizzes (local versions ofDeal or No Deal andWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?, respectively).
TV B92 also held the Serbian market TV rights for theUEFA Champions League from 2003 to 2006.
In rating seasons starting September 2007 lasting until July 2008, TV B92 has introduced a much more commercialised line-up. It has heavily advertised its shows during the non-ratings season of summer 2007.
The network has bought out rights to broadcast a new local show calledNaša mala klinika based around a small medicinal practice on the outskirts of town. The show features many famous Serbian actors and actresses. Another local show calledVratiće se rode will be shown on TV B92. The network has also filmed a new season of popular comedy showMile vs. Tranzicija.
The 2008–09 season started in October. The most important project for the season for the station was Operacija Trijumf. Operacija Trijumf (Star Academy) was the biggest musical reality show in the Balkans and it was shown on television in Montenegro (IN TV), Croatia (Nova TV), Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia.[citation needed] In 2009, the station also bought TV rights forWimbledon (for the next 4 years, until 2013).Champions league matches were also being aired by TV B92.
On 7 April 2008, B92 Info was anews broadcasting channel launched by TV B92, as a Serbian version ofCNN. The channel was broadcasting on all major cable systems in the country and over the Internet. All of TV B92's most popular news-related shows, including Poligraf, B92 Investigates, Insajder, Kažiprst, Dizanje, and sports programs, were broadcast on the channel. TV B92 had called Info channel launch as the biggest project of the company's television segment.[14] B92 Info has since 2010 also been available inAustria.[15]
In the spring of 2011, the purple crystal-kryptonite which can be rotated, suddenly appeared in Belgrade. Because of that, TV B92 became surprised and made a speculation talking about the crystal-kryptonite at Knez Mihailova Street in Belgrade. From 19 April 2011 to 20 April 2011, TV B92 started to air some promos with this crystal-kryptonite and were advertising something, but during its news program Vesti B92 on 20 April 2011 at 11 pm, it was known that TV B92 is going to be rebranded on 21 April 2011. Then on 21 April 2011, TV B92 started the new season of 2011–12 and underwent a visual makeover. At the same time, it introduced a new logo that consists of a purple crystal-kryptonite that contains an orange slash while the "B 92" wordmark are appearing in the middle of the crystal-kryptonite. In addition to news and series, TV B92 introduced more sports programming and was broadcasting manytennis events featuring Serbian players (Grand Slam tournaments,ATP Masters 1000 series,ATP World Tour Finals),football (UEFA Europa League,La Liga) andbasketball (Liga ABA). But however, its purple crystal-kryptonite logo was short-lived and was only used for 12 months of believing in B92
In 2012, TV B92 got its fourth and final logo which was a purple cube with a golden flash. This purple cube had first arrived in Belgrade on 16 March 2012 when TV B92 made a discussion about the purple cube at Knez Mihailova Street in Belgrade. From 17 March 2012 to 18 March 2012, TV B92 began to air some promos with the purple cube and was advertising something. Later, Vesti B92 announced on 18 March 2012 at 11 pm, that TV B92 would implement a new logo and renewed on-air look on 19 March 2012. Finally on 19 March 2012, TV B92 discontinued its purple crystal-kryptonite logo and introduced a new logo that consists of a purple cube that has a golden flash as well as the "B92" wordmark are in the center of the purple cube, but is now spelled with a lowercase letter "b", known asb92. The purple cube was the last logo to carry TV B92's franchise and it was used for 5 years from 19 March 2012 to 10 September 2017.
On 18 March 2013, TV B92 aired the popular Croatian telenovelaLarin izbor and on 11 September 2013, that same year, it started showingTurkish television drama for the first time as the last major Serbian commercial TV station to do so.
A year later on 3 November 2014, TV B92 started broadcasting in 16:9.
At last on 18 December 2016, the cable channel B92 Info has ceased to exist.[16]
In late October 2014, Serbian newspaperBlic reported that TV B92 will be possibly renamed to O2 TV (stylized O2.TV) by the end of 2014, with the result made after a petition made by former TV B92 employees telling the network to change its name, and around 1,500 people signed for the petition. One last step by that decision was the removal of the Serbian most popular political late-night talk showUtisak nedelje.[17] Many public figures and media organizations protested stating that the removal of talk show was politically motivated by the ruling leaderAleksandar Vučić.[17] TV B92 denied those claims labeling them as "false claims".[17] Three months later, talk show authorOlja Bećković confirmed those claims and accused Vučić as a man behind the removal of the talk show.[18]
The planned channel was said to be an entertainment-oriented TV station, but the logo and was unknown at the time. It was also said that the change would not affect the cable channel B92 Info, "which will continue to air with this name", and Radio B92 would continue to work in the same format.
Three years later on 11 September 2017, TV B92 completed the proposed re-branding and started broadcasting under the name ofO2.TV.[19] It was also announced that the web portalb92.net would continue operating.[19]
After three years as O2, the television restored B92 brand on 1 March 2020. A new visual identity was introduced, with the logo featuring lowercase "b92" in a flat design. The programming concept, advertised as "refreshed", did not change substantially.[20][21]
In November 2010, a Greek-Swedish joint-venture Astonko d.o.o. purchased 84.99% of shares from MDLF and NCA.[22][23] B92 Trust retained 11.35% of shares and small shareholders had 3.66% of total shares.[22] In September 2015, GreekANT1 Group became the majority shareholder of TV B92.[24] At the time, Greek media company ANT1 Group was also majority shareholder ofPrva Srpska Televizija in Serbia, TV station with national coverage.
In December 2018, former owner of Kopernikus Technology purchased B92 andPrva Srpska Televizija from ANT1 Group for 180 million euros, one month afterTelekom Srbija bought Kopernikus Technology for 190 million euros.[25][26] The transaction between state-owned Telekom Srbija and Kopernikus made public outrage in Serbia as Kopenikus' market worth at the time of purchase was several times lower than the amount it was purchased for; it was also revealed that major stakeholder in company was a close relative to rulingSerbian Progressive Party officer.[27]
B92.net was established as OpenNet in late 1995 as the Internet division of Radio B92. In its first few months of operation adial-up connection withAmsterdam providerXS4ALL was used. At the beginning of 1996, OpenNet becameYugoslavia's firstInternet provider, using an analogue leased line from XS4ALL and six local dial-up lines.
OpenNet also supported the local network of Radio B92, ANEM Radio and ANEM Television by providing non-stop liveInternet broadcast of programs of Radio B92 and TV B92, together with the distribution of audio and video materials among theANEM radio and television stations. In this way, everything produced by ANEM and Radio B92 was available on the Internet.
During theNATO bombing of Yugoslavia, when government representatives raided the Radio B92 premises and disabled its transmitter, OpenNet continued to broadcast the radio program over the Internet. The signal was rebroadcast via satellite and by several radio stations in neighboring countries. All of this was done with support fromRealNetworks.
Today, B92.net has English and Serbian version of the website. It has been the leading Serbian Internet site from 1996 to 2010s. At its peak, the average number of page views per day exceeded 1 million, while the daily average number of visitors peaked at 200,000. At its peak,Alexa.com ranked B92 site at the 917th global place.
As of December 2018, Alexa.com ranked B92.net at the 4,730th place, while also being 9th ranked in Serbia.
Over the years, B92 has also been successfully running the Humanitarian Fund. One of its most notable actions were "Battle for the Babies", "Battle for the Maternity Wards", "Give blood—save life!" and others.[28]
B92 also runs a record label, although in recent years its releases are few and far between. Some of the notable Serbian acts B92 helped launch include:Eyesburn,Darkwood Dub,Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša,Intruder,Vrooom,Kal etc. The label also released albums by somewhat more established acts such asBoban Marković,Rambo Amadeus,Eva Braun,Jarboli.
B92's book publishing arm isSamizdat B92 featuring prominent young authors such asMarko Vidojković and Srđan Valjarević, as well as a number of foreign authors.
B92 also runs theRex cultural center. For more than 20 years, the headquarters of Rex cultural center and B92 Fond were in Jevrejska Street 16, Belgrade.[28] Since December 2017, they are looking for a new location.[28]
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