15min
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| Industry | News media |
|---|---|
Key people | Tomas Balžekas CEO |
| Parent | Postimees Group |
| Website | www |
15min (“Fifteen Minutes”) is one of the largest news websites in Lithuania. The news site attracts more than a million unique visitors each month. [1]
60% of the enterprise’s stock is held by the Estonian company Postimees Grupp; whereas the remaining 40% and management control belongs to the company 4 Bees that is owned by Tomas Balžekas, Martynas Basokas and Gabrielė Burbienė. The joint venture operates in Lithuania on behalf of the 15min group.
History
On 1 September 2005, a tabloid newspaper was launched. Seven months later, the Norwegian media concern Schibsted acquired the media company UAB 15 Minučių.
On 7 August 2008, the news platform 15min.lt was launched. Then in 2012, the daily newspaper that had been in print since 2005 became a weekly publication, and in June of 2013 its circulation came to an end. [2]
In September 2013, the Norwegian company Schibsted withdrew from the Baltic market after selling the 15min site to the Estonian company Eesti Meedia. [3]
In April 2015, 15min became a news website without an editor-in-chief, with more responsibility given to the department heads. [4]
In April 2016, 15min updated its website design.
In May of the same year, the company cancelled the option for adding anonymous comments on the news website, announcing the Internet Hygiene movement. [5] It also restricted the public’s access to news using an ad removal plug-in and implemented a partial charge for its content (€1 per month to view content without advertising). [6]
Until 2017, according to a partnership agreement, the 15min platform represented the brands of what was then the Magazine Publishing Group (Žurnalų leidybos grupė): “Žmonės”, “Ji”, “Edita” and “Laima”). Later, 15min replaced them with new sections with titles such as “Vardai”, “Maistas”, “Gyvenimas”, etc. Almost all the staff members who previously used to
write on leisure and entertainment topics remained at 15min and continue to create content for these new sections. [7] [8]
In 2018, 15min became the official media partner of Euroleague Basketball for a period of 5 years. [9]
In 2019, the company introduced audio news, articles and webcast content on the “15min Klausyk” platform.
In 2020, the website launched a paid content platform under the “MAX” label.
On 25 September 2020, a trade union was formed under the name of the “Independent 15min Newsroom”, and journalists from the investigation department resigned. [10] [11]
In April 2021, Vaidotas Beniušis took on the position of the enterprise’s editor-in-chief.
In April 2021, a merger of UAB 15min with UAB Media bitės was announced. The Competition Council approved the merger in August of that year.
In September 2021, Tomas Balžekas became the general manager of UAB 15min, and a new management team started operating.
● Tomas Balžekas – 2005 to 2017
● Ramūnas Šaučikovas – 2017 to 2021
● Dr Donatas Večerskis – 04-2021 to 09-2021
● Tomas Balžekas – from 09-2021
References
External links
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