The change in ownership of SBB in Serbia will not affect the operations of independent media outlets N1 and Nova S, which remain part of United Group with an unchanged editorial policy, said United Media CEO Aleksandra Subotić.

„Despite speculation about the future of our brands and company, the fact is that there are no negotiations or plans to change the ownership structure of United Media, nor editorial positions within our media outlets,“ Subotić told the Beta news agency.

Serbian ruling party officials made what Subotic said were inappropriate statements to try to convince the public that the sale of SBB means the end of the media outlets within United Group. That is not true, she said. „Our media outlets continue working at full capacity, with the same journalistic standards and editorial policy,“ she added. Subotić said that the country needs professional and responsible media now more than ever.

„The social and political situation in Serbia requires brave media that provide the public with accurate, reliable and impartial information in the public interest. Our job is to guarantee professional and responsible journalism, and the public can count on relevant and unbiased reporting by our media outlets daily on all issues that the public should be informed about,“ Subotić said..

She said that Etisalat PPF Telekom, the company that bought SBB, expressed a strong interest in keeping N1 and Nova part of the offer, and a contract was signed to keep those media outlets available to SBB and Yettel clients.

„The new SBB owner recognizes these channels as a comparative advantage on the market. The numbers confirm this – N1 has been at the top of viewership in the last three months, Nova finished last year as the most viewed cable channel. This clearly shows that the public recognizes and values credible information, which obliges us to continue with the same professional standards, without concessions,“ said Suboti

„The new SBB owner recognizes these channels as a comparative advantage on the market. The numbers confirm this – N1 has been at the top of viewership in the last three months, Nova finished last year as the most viewed cable channel. This clearly shows that the public recognizes and values credible information, which obliges us to continue with the same professional standards, without concessions,“ said Subotić.

She added that viewers will already have the opportunity to see this during the weekend because N1 is preparing a 24-hour special program during which it will report on student protests in Kragujevac, as was the case with the coverage of the blockade on Autokomanda and bridges in Novi Sad.

United Group sold Arena the rights to broadcast sports competitions held by Sport Klub Serbia, and Subotić pointed out that this was the only sustainable business solution.

„We decided on this step due to the inability to provide the audience in Serbia with television broadcasts of elite sports championships, which is all a consequence of unfair favoring of the competition by the state and years of overpaying for content, which goes beyond the usual market competition for sports rights, and undermines the overall economic viability and sustainability of sports television that is financed exclusively from market revenues,“ said Subotić.

She added that this does not mean that Sport Klub ceases to exist as a brand.

„In addition to the fact that our channels continue to operate in Slovenia and Croatia, as well as the SK portal, we have created a kind of sports hub that will bring together top sports journalists and commentators to produce exclusive content for our media outlets N1 and Nova S,“ she said.