TVP state television is going to compete with TVN24, the private 24-hour news network owned by TVN. The new management board of TVP intends to transform the regional channel TVP3 into TVP Info, and to establish an Information Agency to supervise all news programmes. The changes may cost up to ZL100m, according to the ‘Dziennik’ daily reports. The programming content of TVP3 as a regional station is stipulated in the national broadcasting bill, which may make it difficult for TVP to transform it into a news-centred channel, but the new management has a plan to use TVP's regional branches in the building of TVP Info content.
Our view:
We do not view this news as disturbing, as TVP3 already competes with TVN24 in covering breaking news. We would expect TVN stock price today to retain 7.8% gain from yesterday, driven by expectation of healthy 2Q06 results. We reiterate our Buy rating for the stock.