Andis Hadjicostis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Άντης Χατζηκωστής; September 12, 1968 in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

– January 11, 2010) was a Cypriot businessman and

media mogul A media proprietor, also called a media executive, media mogul, media tycoon, or press baron is an entrepreneur who controls any means of public or commercial mass media, through the personal ownership or holding of a dominant position within a ...

. Hadjicostis is credited with creating

Sigma TV Sigma TV is a commercial network in Cyprus that began broadcasting on April 3 1995. It is a private service and is currently the channel in Cyprus with the best ratings. Sigma TV is geared at a younger audience, with a focus on 18-45 year olds. I ...

, a popular

commercial television Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, serving as the station's CEO. He also served as the CEO of the private, family-owned Dias Media Group, which controls Cypriot television stations, radio and newspapers. Hadjicostis modernized and reformed Dias during his tenure. Andis Hadjicostis was shot and killed with a shotgun on January 11, 2010, while leaving his home in the Engomi neighborhood of

. He was 41 years old at the time of his murder. The '' Simerini'', a Dias owned newspaper, printed the front page editorial

headline The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...

, "Cowardly murder – they killed Andy Hadjicostis in cold blood."

switched to classical music programming on news of Hadjicostis' murder. Cypriot police allege that Hadjicostis was murdered by a former employee, Elena Skordelli, a presenter on one of the victim's television stations. Skordelli had recently been fired. Skordelli, her brother and two other men allegedly conspired to kill Hadjicostis. Elena Skordeli, her brother and the two other suspects were sentenced to life in prison in June 2013, for the conspiracy and murder of Andis Hadjicostis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadjicostis, Andis 1968 births 2010 deaths Cable television company founders 21st-century Cypriot businesspeople Cypriot mass media owners Cypriot murder victims People from Nicosia People murdered in Cyprus Deaths by firearm in Cyprus 2010s murders in Cyprus 2010 crimes in Cyprus 2010 murders in Asia 2010 murders in Europe