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Robert Blagman is used to informing American consumers about a wide array of gizmos from electronic hair removers to potato chip makers.
Since its founding four years ago, his company, Blagman Media, has been connecting manufacturers of such items with infomercial producers. But now Blagman’s up for a new challenge Eastern Europe.
Last week, Blagman and three partners launched a new company to bring home television shopping to citizens of Hungary. Blagman is managing director of the new company World Shopping Network Inc., based in Los Angeles.
“I literally woke up one morning and thought about starting some kind of QVC in international markets,” said Blagman, who intends to continue his pre-existing media company while launching the new venture. “So, with partners in Europe, we got investors and started a completely new company.”
Previous to forming Blagman Media, Blagman was national sales manager for KCAL-TV Channel 9 and KCOP-TV Channel 13 in Los Angeles. There, he specialized in direct marketing.
Blagman’s responsibilities at the new company will be to identify products to sell on the channel. Many of the products, he said, will be made in the United States.
Hungary’s “Shopping TV” will be a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week channel offering shopping, entertainment and news delivered by satellite to cable systems throughout that country. Hosts will deliver news updates based on information provided by Bloomberg News Service.
“People put down home shopping, but it really is the future,” he said. “We think this will expand to other countries in Eastern Europe within the next year.”
Joe Bel Bruno