omson Foundation helps launch 4-hour Balkan news channel

A new 24-hour TV network, aimed at changing how news is reported in the Balkans, is starting up with the help of the Thomson Foundation.

N1 news, a CNN affiliate, will launch later this year with production centres in Belgrade, Sarajevo and Zagreb to deliver live coverage on cable to a potential audience of over 20 million across the Adria region.

A team of six consultants from the Thomson Foundation was hired to run a six-day training workshop in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the first wave of 70 editorial and production staff from the three main studio centres.

The aim was to give staff at all levels a better understanding of the skills needed to run a 24-hour news channel from programme producers to reporters, anchors and camera operators. Sessions ranged from scheduling, programme production and live reporting to camera skills and video editing.

Brent Sadler, chief executive of N1 and a CNN veteran said: We have recruited some of the best talent from the region for N1. There will be a strong emphasis on breaking news so it is vitally important that our news teams learn how to make the most of the flexibility in our technical set-up. Thomson Foundation provided us with industry professionals from the UK with a wealth of experience across international channels to help give our staff an insight into the new skills they will require.

Nigel Baker, chief executive of the Thomson Foundation, told the new staff of N1: We are delighted to play a part in changing how news is covered in this region.

The new channel is designed to provide independent, real-time coverage. As well as supplying pan-regional news it also plans national opt-outs in its core markets of Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.

The main financial investor behind N1 is United Group, the leading pay TV platform in south-east Europe. It includes SBB, the largest cable operator in Serbia, Telemach Slovenia and Telemach BiH, the largest cable operators in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with Total TV, the largest satellite platform in the region. In October 2013, the global investment firm KKR, headquartered in New York, agreed to acquire SBB/Telemach Group as its first direct investment in south-east Europe.

LINK:	http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/news-and-features/2014/04/05/thomson-...
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