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.
Audience Share
8.15%
Ownership Type
private
Geographic Coverage
National
Content Type
free content
Media Companies / Groups
Happy TV
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
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. $)
Missing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)
Missing Data
Market Share
Missing Data
Further Information
Meta Data
MOM team decided to take 2010 as the founding year for the outlet because Nacionalna televizija Happy was created after the merger of two TV stations which shared a national frequency.
