Studio B

Once a symbol of urban culture and information center for all Belgraders, Studio B drastically changed editorial policies after its privatization in October 2015. Promotion of local administration led by the Serbian Progressive Party became explicit with news overwhelmed with SNS politicians and special TV shows about the disputed Belgrade Waterfront construction which the city government has been strongly pushing in the face of civic opposition. Close affiliation with SNS was expected given that the City of Belgrade granted Studio B' media project 'Good after non Belgrade' around $ 250.000 just a month after the TV station was sold for around $ 590.000. Experience and professional standards - the only resource this media had to offer - vanished leaving Studio B as another sad privatization story.

Just before the privatization Aleksandar Timofejev, Director General at the time was not convinced that Studio B would survive as a private media house. Suspicious about investing in the 'sinking ship', he was concerned about Studio B becoming a voice of private or political interest. This is exactly what happened despite the new management's promises to save Belgrade's information service provider. The program received an SNS friendly tone with random pedestrians were portrayed as supportive of the local government's projects in TV reporting. The best example is the Belegrade Waterfront show, a special TV show that follows the weekly progress of construction at the Belgrade Waterfront site - a shady construction project supported by the Mayor of Belgrade and UAE investors. The Belgrade Waterfront show has been on air since October 2014 and has been broadcast for three seasons so far, with the Mayor in the leading role.

Studio B is not an isolated case, but rather a textbook example of media privatization in 2015. Following the privatization of local media across the country, local governments granted extensive financing to these same (formerly stated owned) media through local financing calls. This appeared to be a way to compensate the new owners for the costs of buying these media outlets, as well as a way to prop them up financially.