Bonton Group is a media and entertainment holding company in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

established in 1990 by co-Presidents Zdenek Kozak and Mick Hawk. The company's first product was Czech President

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

reading one of his own plays. Bonton Group grew from the

Bonton Music Bonton may refer to: * Bonton, Dallas, neighborhood in Dallas, Texas * Bonton Group, a media/entertainment holding company *A brand name for Lorazepam Lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan, Tavor among others, is a benzodiazepine med ...

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

established in May 1989 by Czech jazzman Martin Kratochvíl, who became chairman. By the late 1990s group sales reached US$50 million, and Bonton had established itself as a market leader in the Czech Republic in film, music, broadcasting and video. It operated the largest music retailer, was exclusive film distributor of major Hollywood films, and even produced the first privately made Czech film ' (1991) which set box office records.Corporate Close-Up; in Czech, Bonton Means Entertainment; Strength Keeps Competitors Out While Company Looks at New Markets
Retrieved 7 April 2019 Sales reached US$200 million before the company was largely deconsolidated in 2012. In 2014 Hawk led a group which reacquired Bonton's film production and distribution business.

Holdings

* Albatros nakladatelství, a.s. – book publisher * Ateliéry Bonton Zlín a.s. – filmateliérs * AZ Rádio, s.r.o. – regional radio (now Rock Max) *

a.s. – music label; merged with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

into Sony Music / Bonton. In 2003 Sony Music bought out the shares of Bonton *

Bontonfilm Bontonfilm is a Czech film company. It was founded in 1994 by transformation from Lucernafilm Video (successor of Ústřední půjčovna filmů). As of 2022, Bontonfilm holds a 10.4% market share being 4th largest Czech distributor (behind Falco ...

a.s. – film production and distribution, later divided into Alfa a Beta * Bonton Home Entertainment * Bonton Home Video,a.s. – video distributor * Centrum Českého Videa, a.s. – distribuce českých filmů * Bontonland, a.s. – prodejny médií * Bonton Promotions, a.s.– propagace * Bonton Plus a.s. – podpůrná společnost * Bonton Online a.s. – internet company (dříve Bonton TV, dnes Supraphon) * ''

Cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

'' – film magazine * Hybernia a.s. – theatre company * Panther, akciová společnost – distribution media * Radio Bonton akciová společnost – Prague, later multiregional radio station, after the collapse of the holding company was renamed new Italian owner on

Radio DeeJay Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected t ...

, now, after another ownership change again Radio Bonton *

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. Th ...

a.s. – record label; also labels Panton and Ultraphon

References

{{reflist Entertainment companies of the Czech Republic Mass media in the Czech Republic 1990 establishments in Czechoslovakia Entertainment companies established in 1990 Mass media companies established in 1990