Urszula Zielińska | Parkiet

Katarzyna Kieli, previously managing Discovery companies in the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, will be the president of TVN and the head of WarnerBros.Discovery in Poland. This information was received today by the employees of the TV station – Katarzyna Issat from the TVN press office told us.

As explained to us, Kieli will not be on TVN’s board of directors.

Interestingly, the Polish part of the media concern created from the merger of Discovery and Warner Media, i.e. WarnerBros.Discovery in Poland (it will be led by Kieli as the CEO) will not be part of the EMEA region. Priya Dogra, currently head of the EMEA and Asia divisions at Warner Media, who has been associated with this company for 12 years, will be in charge of it.

What does all this mean for a Polish broadcaster? According to Katarzyna Kiela, the new management structure in Europe means that Americans consider the Polish market important. – The separation of Poland as an independent market shows how important it is in Warner Bros. Discovery and is a harbinger of a very dynamic development and a unique offer for Polish viewers – says Katarzyna Kieli in an announcement from the press office.

“I am delighted to be fully committed to advancing the strength of Warner Bros. Discovery in Poland, which, among others thanks to TVN, Player and HBO, it sets trends on the Polish market and is a leading player in Europe – comments Kieli.

– My goal is for Warner Bros. Discovery in Poland has become the fastest growing media group of the Warner Bros Discovery family in the world – announces Katarzyna Kieli.

The ownership structure of the TVN Group has been and may still be under the scrutiny of politicians from the ruling party in Poland and the National Broadcasting Council. The fact that the controlling stake of the station belongs (indirectly) to the American company has contributed to the months-long struggle and public protests over the extension of the license for TVN24, the news station belonging to the group.

In the Sejm, a group of deputies voted in favor of changing the regulations so that the controlling stake in a licensed TV broadcaster could belong directly and indirectly only to an entity from the European Economic Area. The adoption of amendments to the Broadcasting Act could have forced Discovery to sell a controlling stake in TVN.

President Andrzej Duda finally withdrew the bill to the Sejm, declaring that he would not sign it.

– Regulations limiting the ownership structure in the media are needed. As president, I share the opinion that they should be introduced, but for the future – said Duda.

– If we have made a contract, we must keep it. If we keep them, we can say that we are an honorary nation. I want Poland to be perceived in this way by its allies – he added referring to the agreement on supporting investments of American companies in Poland.

In December, we received answers from the National Broadcasting Council to questions about its actions towards the TVN Group.

“In connection with the planned merger of Discovery and Warner Media, KRRiT called on TVN SA to provide information on the impact of the transaction on the company’s ownership structure and on the concessions granted to it. In response, the sender indicated that the merger would involve obtaining appropriate approvals required by the laws and regulations in force in many jurisdictions, including antitrust approvals, which will be a long-term process, ”KRRiT informed in response to our questions.

“The National Council will take further steps after finalizing the transaction and will examine the entire process in the light of the Broadcasting Act and the KRRiT’s position of June 12, 2007 on ownership rights,” added then.

The merger of Warner Media and Discovery was finalized on April 8 this year.

Source: Parkiet