TV Station Targets All Romania

BUCHAREST -- Television viewers across Romania's rugged landscape are about to be offered something they have rarely if ever enjoyed -- programs they actually want to watch.Antena 1, a station run by the Intact Corporation for Culture and Arts, a multimedia group, is preparing to start nationwide satellite broadcasts in a bid to dominate the emerging media market."For the time being, our philosophy is to offer the public what was taboo under the Communist regime: entertainment and real information," said station head Florin Bratescu. "Our data show that Antena 1 enjoys a large audience and we are ahead of our competitors," said Bratescu. "This is very encouraging for our plans." Antena 1 went on air three months ago -- one of the private television companies that have sprouted since the December 1989 collapse of communism. Most are very local in range. Few have national potential.But Bratescu said Antena 1, which broadcasts foreign and Romanian movies, serials, commercials and short news programs 16 hours a day to Bucharest's 2.3 million residents "will start 24-hour broadcasts by satellite to cover the whole country by the end of this year."The operation is expensive, but it will be a hit. We will have a potential 23 million viewers and consequently we expect many companies to knock at our door for publicity."Private television and radio stations were non-existent before Stalinist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown and executed in the 1989 revolt. Romanians had no choice but to watch the programs aired by state television idolizing Ceausescu.During the last two years of his rule, state television went on air only two hours daily, mainly to praise the dictator and the superiority of "socialist values."Antena 1's offices are flooded daily with calls from Bucharest residents asking for replays of some of the channel's programs, Bratescu said.All foreign movies broadcast by Antena 1 are subtitled in Romanian and this made the channel very popular."Most private television stations operate mainly as relays for foreign satellite broadcasts," he said. "Their problem is that not everybody here speaks English, German or French."Bratescu said most of the foreign movies or serials were obtained under a five-year contract with U.S. company Procter and Gamble, in exchange for publicity for its beauty products."We spent $8 million to buy professional equipment," he said, pointing to state-of-the-art equipment lining the offices of the two-story building.Bratescu, 61, a professional with 37 years of experience in the media, said he was confident that Antena 1 could become the main competitor for Romania's public television."As a private channel, we can move very fast and make our program more flexible," he said.