Pink TV
Television Pink started broadcasting in 1994, after signing a contract for business and technical cooperation with the then state television RTS (now public service). The contract was concluded thanks to Pink owner Željko Mitrović's close ties with the ruling elite of the time. The contract obliged RTS to provide Pink Television with premises, equipment and services for minimal compensation.
Mitrović's television signal initially covered only the territory of Belgrade, and in 2006 it received a national frequency from the Broadcasting Agency (now Regulatory Body for Electronic Media), which was renewed in 2022. It is believed that Mitrović had a great influence on the distribution of the national frequencies in 2006. Mitrović's Pink received one of the five national frequencies allocated, and it later emerged that two other television stations that received national frequencies (Avala and Happy/Košava) were linked to him through ownership or service provision.
Pink introduced a new kind of populist programming to the Serbian media scene, promoting turbo-folk music and nationalist ideals. Politicians with nationalist rhetoric, members of the military and paramilitary formations, war profiteers and folk singers appeared together on prime-time shows.
By the end of the 1990s, Pink had become the leading commercial television station in the country, and Željko Mitrović continued to maintain close ties with all subsequent ruling structures. From its establishment until 21 April 1999, Pink TV broadcast its programme from the Ušće building. In the same building as the premises of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the headquarters of the Central Committee, the offices of Jugoslovenska levica, then TV Košava, Radio S and other pro-regime companies. Since 2001, an informative programme has also been broadcast.
From 2009, Pink began broadcasting reality shows such as Big Brother, The Farm (Farma) and Zadruga (2017), which were criticised for their depiction of violence, hate speech, profanity and prime-time sex, as well as the fact that participants included convicted criminals.
In 2014, Pink appeared on state tax lists as one of the largest tax debtors. However, the Agency for Insurance and Financing of Exports of the Republic of Serbia (AOFI) helped Pink on at least two occasions with guarantees and loans of around seven million euros.
At the end of 2015, Pink TV launched an internet portal with the latest news from the world of politics, sports, business, show business and celebrities.
In early 2018, Mitrović bought a 10% stake in Pink TV held by the company Direct Media, making him the sole owner of the channel. In the same year, it was confirmed that Pink International sold the national channels Pink BH in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Pink M in Montenegro to United Media. In the same year, cable channels with Pink TV content were launched.
From 2019, the Hit tvit (Hit Tweet) programme will be broadcast on Pink TV in the same time slot as Utisak nedelje (Impression of the Week). Members and sympathisers of Aleksandar Vučić's regime, who openly support and defend his policies, are guests on Hit tvit. They often fight and attack members of the opposition or anyone who publicly criticises the regime. So far, several videos have been broadcast on Pink, openly targeting representatives of the independent media, the opposition and critics of Aleksandar Vučić's policies, calling them foreign mercenaries, enemies of the state and traitors. In 2021, after Twitter (X ) started flagging media outlets linked to governments, it was written next to the Pink TV account: "a media working with the government of Serbia". State-linked media is defined as "media in which the state exercises control over editorial content through financial means, direct or indirect political pressure, and/or control over production and distribution [of content]". Twitter explained its decision by saying that "it's important to know who controls and pressures the media".
Thanks to close ties with state officials, Mitrović's business has expanded beyond Serbia's borders over the years, giving Pink a global reach. Pink has more than 60 cable channels, ranging from Pink Kids and Pink Music to Pink Erotica.
Pink Media Group is the largest private commercial media group in Southeastern Europe, whose activities, in addition to radio and television programming, include: film production, satellite television production, music production and offers air transport services.
Pink Television is the most watched commercial television (after public service - RTS) with a 16.54% share of viewers in the period from March 2022 to March 2023, according to Nielsen research.
Audience Share
16.17%
Ownership Type
Private
Geographic Coverage
National
Content Type
Free Content
Media Companies / Groups
Pink Media Group
Ownership Structure
Željko Mitrović is the owner of 100% of shares in Pink Media Group, which broadcasts Pink TV.
Voting Rights
Missing Data
Individual Owner
General Information
Founding Year
1994
Affiliated Interests Founder
founder of Pink TV, he started his career in the 1990s in a media environment that was strictly controlled by Slobodan Milošević and Mirjana Marković, the ruling spouses. Mitrović was a member of Mirjana Marković's party, Jugoslovenska levica (JUL), and a federal representative of this party. He has been in JUL since 1996, and at this party, he was the head of the marketing department. He was expelled from the party in 2002.
Using his close ties with the ruling elite, Mitrović launched the Pink radio station in 1993, then obtained the national frequency for broadcasting Pink television in 1994. Just four years later, PINK became the leading commercial television station in the country.
Mitrović always maintains good relations with each new ruling structure.
Since 2012, Pink TV has published several videos and reports broadcast in central news programs targeting members of the opposition and public figures who criticise the regime of Aleksandar Vučić. One of those videos was of Oliver Ivanović, the opposition leader of Serbs from the north of Kosovo, who was killed just a few weeks after the video was broadcast on Pink TV.
Thanks to his close relations with state officials, Mitrović's business has been constantly expanding over the years in various areas and beyond the borders of Serbia. Today, Pink Media Group's businesses include: film production, radio and television broadcasting, satellite television production, music production, as well as airline services. Mitrović also had a stake (80.5%) in a chewing gum company called MGUM Technology.
The media mogul was also at the centre of a scandal in 2013, when his son, driving a BMW at an inappropriate speed, hit and killed a girl named Andrea Bojanić at a pedestrian crossing, and then fled the scene of the accident. Mitrović's son was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest and a one-year ban on driving a motor vehicle. He received a single sentence for both crimes: serious crime against public traffic safety and failure to offer assistance to a person injured in a traffic accident.
Affiliated Interests Ceo
The CEO of Pink TV, he started his career in the 1990s in a media environment that was strictly controlled by Slobodan Milošević and Mirjana Marković, the ruling spouses. Mitrović was a member of Mirjana Marković's party, Jugoslovenska levica (JUL), and a federal representative of this party. He has been in JUL since 1996, and at this party, he was the head of the marketing department. He was expelled from the party in 2002.
Using his close ties with the ruling elite, Mitrović launched the Pink radio station in 1993, then obtained the national frequency for broadcasting Pink television in 1994. Just four years later, PINK became the leading commercial television station in the country.
Mitrović always maintains good relations with each new ruling structure.
Since 2012, Pink TV has published several videos and reports broadcast in central news programs targeting members of the opposition and public figures who criticise the regime of Aleksandar Vučić. One of those videos was of Oliver Ivanović, the opposition leader of Serbs from the north of Kosovo, who was killed just a few weeks after the video was broadcast on Pink TV.
Thanks to his close relations with state officials, Mitrović's business has been constantly expanding over the years in various areas and beyond the borders of Serbia. Today, Pink Media Group's businesses include: film production, radio and television broadcasting, satellite television production, music production, as well as airline services. Mitrović also had a stake (80.5%) in a chewing gum company called MGUM Technology.
The media mogul was also at the centre of a scandal in 2013, when his son, driving a BMW at an inappropriate speed, hit and killed a girl named Andrea Bojanić at a pedestrian crossing, and then fled the scene of the accident. Mitrović's son was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest and a one-year ban on driving a motor vehicle. He received a single sentence for both crimes: serious crime against public traffic safety and failure to offer assistance to a person injured in a traffic accident.
Affiliated Interests Editor-In-Chief
The Editor-in-Chief of Pink TV, he started his career in the 1990s in a media environment that was strictly controlled by Slobodan Milošević and Mirjana Marković, the ruling spouses. Mitrović was a member of Mirjana Marković's party, Jugoslovenska levica (JUL), and a federal representative of this party. He has been in JUL since 1996, and at this party, he was the head of the marketing department. He was expelled from the party in 2002.
Using his close ties with the ruling elite, Mitrović launched the Pink radio station in 1993, then obtained the national frequency for broadcasting Pink television in 1994. Just four years later, PINK became the leading commercial television station in the country.
Mitrović always maintains good relations with each new ruling structure.
Since 2012, Pink TV has published several videos and reports broadcast in central news programs targeting members of the opposition and public figures who criticise the regime of Aleksandar Vučić. One of those videos was of Oliver Ivanović, the opposition leader of Serbs from the north of Kosovo, who was killed just a few weeks after the video was broadcast on Pink TV.
Thanks to his close relations with state officials, Mitrović's business has been constantly expanding over the years in various areas and beyond the borders of Serbia. Today, Pink Media Group's businesses include: film production, radio and television broadcasting, satellite television production, music production, as well as airline services. Mitrović also had a stake (80.5%) in a chewing gum company called MGUM Technology.
The media mogul was also at the centre of a scandal in 2013, when his son, driving a BMW at an inappropriate speed, hit and killed a girl named Andrea Bojanić at a pedestrian crossing, and then fled the scene of the accident. Mitrović's son was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest and a one-year ban on driving a motor vehicle. He received a single sentence for both crimes: serious crime against public traffic safety and failure to offer assistance to a person injured in a traffic accident."
Affiliated Interests other important people
Programme director of Pink Television and vice president of Pink Media Group, married to Željko Mitrović since 1995.
Contact
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
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Further Information
Meta Data
Missing data on market share and advertising revenue. Financial data is available only for the company that publishes the media, but not for the media itself.
