Happy

Nacionalna televizija Happy was created after the merger of Happy TV and Kosava TV, the latter once owned by Marija Milosevic, daughter of Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia’s authoritarian president in power during the 1990s. Marija Milosevic sold her ownership in Kosava TV to lawyer Borivoj Pajovic, who was at the time President of the Board of Directors in the daily newspaper Blic.

After a couple of ownership changes, in 2006 the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media issued Kosava TV with a license with national coverage, which was shared with kids channel Happy TV – while Happy TVaired exclusively kids programming in the morning, Kosava broadcast informative and current affairs programs in the evening. At that time, REM’s (then RRA) decision was disputed since neither TV stations had the capacity for national broadcasting, unlike, for example, RTL which competed for a license but was not issued one. This generated rumours that Kosava was connected to Zeljko Mitrovic and his TV Pink, who gave a loan to Kosava for competing for a frequency.

In 2007, Predrag Rankovic, alias Peconi, known to the public for involvement in shady business deals, bought part of Kosava, although his name was never mentioned in formal ownership documents. In 2010 Kosava merged with Happy and the television changed its name to Nacionalna televizija Happy and started to broadcast as one program. Happy broadcasts mostly reality programs and entertainment - Parovi and Maldivi realities, famous for numerous breaks of ethical and professional codes. Talk shows and news programs are mostly pro-government and nationalistic.

In January 2017 Happy got 4.8 million euros loan from Kopernikus, owned by Srđan Milovanović now owner of O2 and Prva TV. Shares in Happy were used as collateral for loan so Kopernikus could become owner of this TV station if the loan is not repaid.

 

 

 

Key facts

Audience Share

8.15%

Ownership Type

private

Geographic Coverage

National

Content Type

free content

Data Unavailable

ownership data is not publicly available, company/channel denies the release of information or does not respond, no public record exists

1 ♥

Media Companies / Groups

Happy TV

Ownership

Ownership Structure

The owner of Nacionalna televizija Happy is Happy TV LLC whose owners are the companies Ideogram and Kanal 1. The owner of Kanal 1 is Ideogram and the owner of Ideogram is formally Vladana Cirović. However it is widely known to the public that the real owner is Predrag Rankovic Peconi.

Individual Owner

Media Companies / Groups
Facts

General Information

Founding Year

2010

Founder

Predrag Rankovic

Affiliated Interests Founder

Rankovic is widely known to the public by the name Peconi. According to information in the White Book produced by the Serbian police in 2001, Peconi was close to the Surčinski criminal clan. He was arrested in 2003 during police action Sablja, which was carried out following the murder of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. He also had a court process for tax evasion brought against him but this lapsed due to the statute of limitations. In 2010, his bodyguards clashed with the bodyguards of Ljubisa Buha Cume, the former leader of the Surcinski criminal clan. In 2017 Peconi was shot in a Belgrade hotel but survived. Rankovic is the owner of Fantasy sweets company and is connected to INVEJ company which belongs to his brother in law, Srdjan Sredojevic. Invej group consists of numerous privatized companies. Furthermore, almost all Invej related companies are registered at the same address - Aleksandra Dubceka 14 - as Happy TV. In 2007, when Ideogram asked for permission to buy a part of Kosava, their business plan was based on financial contracts with INVEJ and companies from that group. They also said that Predrag Rankovic would be President of the Board of Directors of Ideogram.

Ceo

Aleksandra Krstic

Affiliated Interests Ceo

She was the head of the development department in Monus tobacco industries and head of design department in Invej, companies connected to Predrag Rankovic Peconi.

Editor-In-Chief

Milomir Maric

Affiliated Interests Editor-In-Chief

Established journalist, formerly editor-in-chief of Duga magazine and CEO of BKTV.

Other Important People

Silvana Stankovic

Affiliated Interests other important people

PR Manager of TV station but also a PR Manager at INVEJ company .

Contact

Aleksandra Dubčeka 14, 11080 Zemun, Serbia

Website: www.happytv.rs

Financial Information

Revenue (in Mill. $)

Missing Data

Operating Profit (in Mill. $)

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Advertising (in % of total funding)

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Market Share

Missing Data

  • Project by
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    Global Media Registry
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    Funded by European Union