Prima's problem

There have been rumors for months that Daniel Křetínský took a secret stake in TV Prima, which is formally owned 100% by the invisible Ivan Zach. The enthusiasm shown by Křetínský's Blesk tabloid for the launch of CNN Prima News suggests that some kind of undisclosed arrangement might indeed exist. A new news station that tries to remain middle-of-the-road politically, as GM Marek Singer of TV Prima declared in Deník on Sat., will have a hard enough time making an impact, given that so many viewers want political differentiation. It will be doubly difficult if it turns out that the long-planned launch of the station came at the very beginning of a protracted recession. The temptation could soon be to substitute political nonalignment with an ideological alignment with the business interests of the rapacious Křetínský. The same question that dogs Petr Kellner with regard to TV Nova could soon raise its head with regard to Prima. Is it going to remain a money-making venture, or is its future in being a nuclear briefcase for one of the oligarchs, as much of the Czech print media have long become?