Central Media Enterprises, the owner of ProTV, which runs several TV stations in Romania, including the eponymous TV channel, will launch a spin off of its existing channel Acasa TV in April this year. The new Acasa Gold targets an audience of women aged between 15 and 49, with an interest in soap operas. It would be the second TV channel to focus on soap operas, after Acasa TV. The National Audiovisual Commission (CNA) recently issued the license for this new TV channel.

The company will split soap opera content between the two channels. “Even though they represent 54 percent of the urban population in Romania, women have only one TV channel where soap operas predominate. Under these circumstances, a TV station that would broadcast these hugely popular shows became necessary. Especially as this market is expanding [..],” said Vanessa Cernea, executive director of Acasa and Acasa TV.

According to research studied, the public has high expectations for niche TV channels. Over 90 percent of women in urban areas aged between 15 and 49 watched soap operas in 2011, according to GfK Romania data.

CME, the owner of several TV stations and new media businesses in Romania ended 2011 with a EUR 179 million loss, 53 percent higher than the year before. The fourth quarter of the year tripled the company’s loss, to some EUR 77.3 million. The group’s net revenues went up by 17 percent last year, to around EUR 864 million.

CME owns several TV channels in Romania: PRO TV, PRO TV International, Acasa, PRO Cinema, Sport.ro, MTV Romania, as well as PRO TV Chisinau in the Republic of Moldova. The company also owns several websites, such as video-on-demand platform voyo.ro, news website incont.ro and the ProTV news website stirileprotv.ro, among others.

The company’s CEO is Romanian investor Adrian Sarbu, who created ProTV and sold it to CME. Sarbu’s existing personal investments in Romania include the Mediafax Group, comprising Mediafax newswire and Ziarul Financiar newspaper, among others.

editor@romania-insider.com