Lenka Hrivnáková, Author at The Association of Commercial Television

FACT AND POLICE TARGET SUPPLIERS OF PIRATE FIRESTICKS

FACT, working in collaboration with police forces across the UK, are stepping up efforts to disrupt piracy operations. In a two-week enforcement operation, FACT and police targeted 30 suppliers of illegal IPTV services.

Individuals were visited in person and issued cease-and-desist warnings by post, instructing them to cease illegal activities immediately or face potential criminal prosecution. The coordinated effort focused on disrupting the distribution of illicit firesticks and other illegal streaming operations. Visits were carried out in London, Cheshire, Kent, Sussex, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, the East and West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Northumbria, and North Yorkshire.

As part of the enforcement action, South Wales Police arrested a 42-year-old man from Newport who was suspected of involvement in illegal IPTV operations, including the sale of illicit firesticks. FACT and South Wales Police seized several digital devices, including firesticks, which are now undergoing forensic examination. The suspect remains under investigation and could face criminal charges. Additionally, FACT issued a number of takedown requests to social media platforms and online marketplaces, further disrupting illegal IPTV activity.

“Our cease-and-desist measures are not just warnings—they are the first step toward holding offenders accountable. Many who ignored these notices in the past are now facing arrest and criminal charges,”

said Kieron Sharp, CEO, FACT.

Courts are increasingly imposing severe penalties for illegal streaming operations. Last month, a private prosecution undertaken by the Premier League resulted in Jonathan Edge, a 29-year-old from Liverpool, receiving a three-year and four-month prison sentence for selling and using illicit firesticks. Despite a prior cease-and-desist warning from FACT, which he chose to ignore, Edge continued his activities. His sentence also includes a concurrent two-year and three-month term for personally accessing and viewing the pirated content he distributed.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL STREAMING NETWORK WITH 22 MILLION USERS WORLDWIDE

Authorities have struck a blow at illegal streaming networks, by shutting down one of the world’s largest illegal service. Eurojust and Europol supported the operation, which involved cooperation between Italian, Croatian, Dutch, Romanian, Swedish, Swiss and UK authorities. In a large-scale operation, over 100 searches were carried out against 102 suspects. Eleven suspects are arrested in Croatia.

The suspects illegally distributed material from streaming services online, including films and series. They also pirated more than 2 500 television channels such as sports channels. The illegal service served more than 22 million users worldwide. They were able to make over EUR 250 million in illegal profits per month. The economic damages to the copyright holders of the material is estimated at EUR 10 billion.

To evade authorities, the suspects allegedly used encrypted messaging services to communicate and false identities to register phone numbers, credit cards, server rentals and television subscriptions. On 26 November, during an international operation, the servers hosting the illegal streaming were seized and shut down, disrupting the services.

Collaboration between authorities was set up at Eurojust to take down the streaming service. Coordination meetings at Eurojust’s headquarters allowed authorities from Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom to work together on the investigation and plan the operation to shut down the service and arrest the suspects. Europol supported the operation by deploying experts and analysing the available intelligence during the investigation phase.

The cooperation between the authorities culminated in a joint operation to take down the services on 26 November. During searches in Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, the United Kingdom and China, over EUR 1.6 million in cryptocurrency and EUR 40 000 in cash was seized. Croatian police arrested 11 suspects.

The authorities involved in the actions were:

Italy: Public Prosecution Office Catania
Croatia: The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime
Netherlands: Fiscal Information and Investigation Service; Public Prosecution Service Rotterdam
Romania: Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism; Direction for Fighting Organized Crime – Cyber Crime Fighting Service
Sweden: National unit against organized crime at the Swedish Prosecution Authority; Swedish Police Authority
Switzerland: Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland; Federal Office of Police
United Kingdom: City of London Police

Source: eurojust.europa.eu

TV NOVA STAYS IN DVB-T2 FOR NOW, FOLLOWS TRENDS IN DISTRIBUTION

Technical director of the media group Nova Josef Uher talks in the second part of an interview with MediaGuru.cz about trends in the development of television broadcasting and unfulfilled expectations with Ultra HD.

To remain relevant to their viewers, broadcasters must constantly innovate. Nova has to be doubly vigilant in this area given that it operates pay channels under the Nova Sport banner alongside its free-to-air channels. Is there any other direction you have planned in terms of innovation?

At the moment we have 24 channels, including Markiza, of which six are sports channels. De facto, we can say that there are actually nine sports channels, because we also broadcast three of them in Slovak version. There are different commercials, different graphics and from a technical point of view it is a different playlist. Without automatic delivery we would not be able to function. Next year we plan to deploy asset management on Markiza as well. So it will be a new technology that will be used internally, which probably won’t be seen by viewers, but will be very useful for us.

As far as signal distribution is concerned, do you foresee any change there in the near future? When you have transmission backpacks, are there still classic SNG vans needed?

We still have SNG vans and use them because they still have their uses, whether for long sporting events or for places where there are a lot of people and mobile networks might be unreliable . But to build 14 SNG cars so that we have one in every city, of course we can’t. We can have a backpack in every regional city and we can have a journalist who is in Brussels or anywhere else. We have a dedicated independent internet line to receive SRT streams because, for example, the NHL started this year primarily over SRT, over the public internet, and satellite is just a backup. But of course the content is protected and it’s not like anyone can catch it. ,. And we have a direct data line to the government office and to parliament, for example.

Czech Radiokomunikace had a press conference on 5G Broadcast at the end of October. Is this technology of any interest to you on the production side, or is it really purely a distribution channel and nothing is changing on the production side?

So far, I would say that nothing is changing on the production side, but in the future it could help, for example, when there is just a problem with data connectivity, in terms of signal distribution. So in the context of 5G Broadcast we could use the backhaul channel because it has significantly lower latency than standard streaming.

Isn’t 5G Broadcast a dead end like DVB-H (TV to mobile, ed.) proved to be about fifteen years ago? Does the technology have a future?

It will depend a lot on how handset manufacturers grasp it, whether it becomes widespread or not. It is not about the technology itself, but about what will catch on with people. We have several cases in history where, for example, a slightly inferior technology has taken off and the better one has ended.

In the last two years in particular, we have seen IPTV and Internet TV steadily gaining ground in the broadcast technology market, while satellite is heading in virtually the opposite direction. You are practically everywhere – in terrestrial broadcasting, in satellite, in cable, in Internet and IP TV. In your opinion, is this distribution mix going to change in any way?

IPTV will increasingly enter the whole mix because it brings other services, and probably satellite and maybe a little bit of that terrestrial will fall further. In the Czech Republic, however, terrestrial broadcasting is very popular and will remain so I would expect a decline in this case really only in the order of one percent, nothing significant. Satellite has a huge disadvantage in that you have to have a big dish outside your window or on your balcony, and so the significantly higher added value as before, i.e. a significantly larger number of channels, is no longer there.

There used to be four channels on terrestrial and on satellite you could catch over a hundred and it made a difference. But today the situation is different, so satellite will still decline a bit and will continue to maintain its position primarily in those areas where there is not good terrestrialization and perhaps weaker internet. In those areas it will have its meaning, but in the city it loses its meaning when, for example, in Prague you put an aerial outside your window, or any rod, and you catch 60 channels. But satellite retains its importance as a source of signal reception for small cable operators.

When do you think conventional terrestrial television will make sense?

That’s a good question. I think it will survive to the horizon I see. That is, beyond 2030. I don’t want to speculate what will happen in 2040. When you look back at what we knew in 2015 and we were wondering what we were going to be doing in 2020, of course we didn’t know. The same is the case here. It’s clear that the very youngest grades don’t watch linear TV anymore. The question is what will happen when they have children themselves, if perhaps they do not start. We have a terrestrial licence until 2037, so we trust terrestrial broadcasting. We have plenty of time to watch the trends and see how it continues to develop.

A technology that has been expected a lot in recent years, and in the end has virtually not caught on in linear broadcasting, is the Ultra HD format. Instead, it is headed to online video services like Disney+, Prime Video and others. Why was everyone so excited about this technology a few years back, and in the end those expectations were not met at all? What happened?

Simply a lack of a business model, and I’ll add one more thing to that. The whole transition is very technology intensive. The transition to 4K is not as easy as the transition between SD and HD was. It is not just the 4K format itself, but also HDR (high dynamic range, ed.), for example. So the whole thing is at least ten times more demanding in terms of bitrate, all the capacity, archives and everything. And for 4K to be applied in linear broadcasting, the business model is not there yet. However, technically, we can already handle 4K production and we already archive the shows that are produced in 4K and we will be able to use them when we need to.

When it comes…

I think it will come, it will just be linked to the transition that we are preparing for. Gradually we want to flip production to 1080p, and then of course the road to 4K will be easy, because the transition from 1080p to 4K is similar to the transition from SD to HD , and that’s a thing we’ve already learned.

From my point of view, I can say that I have a 4K OLED TV at home that is 65 inches, and it has such a good conversion from HD to 4K that, even if I’m just watching a YouTube video, for example, I often wonder what format it’s actually in.

The TV manufacturers are a little bit ahead of us. The line would have to have ten times the capacity for Ultra HD. That would be a problem not only in terrestrial broadcasting, but also in IPTV, for example. The processor that the TV has will largely do it for you. And incremental steps are already happening. We’ve already upgraded the playout so we’re able to play 1080p resolution.

So the step you’re currently taking will only be of interest to pay-TV operators, because in terrestrial you’re only in standard definition.</strong

So the business model is set up and it works. And the 1080p format is better for linear broadcasting on the internet.

You mentioned that you already have some higher resolution 4K material available. Are you going to be playing around with HDR or Dolby Vision formats in some way, for example, or is that not an issue for you at all at the moment?

In terms of Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision, that’s not really defined for broadcast television yet. Internally, we operate in Dolby E format. In the future it might be interesting for Voyo, but certainly not in linear broadcasting. In linear broadcasting, we broadcast above standard especially football, formula and other sports, which we only broadcast in Dolby Digital. You can make a lot out of the Dolby E format, because if you have a show produced in Dolby E, it has the advantage that it can be decoded and re-encoded. Even the football replays that we do, we repeat and broadcast in Dolby Digital.

Source: mediaguru.cz

PRIMA WANTS TO PRESERVE TERRESTRIAL TV UNTIL AT LEAST 2050

FTV Prima and Digital Broadcasting have expressed their long-term support for terrestrial TV broadcasting through comments on the Spectrum Management Strategy.

FTV Prima and DVB-T2 multiplex 24 operator, telecommunications firm Digital Broadcasting, have expressed their joint support for the preservation and development of terrestrial television broadcasting in the Czech Republic. They responded by comment form to the draft Radio Spectrum Management Strategy published by the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTU), stressing the importance of this platform for access to TV content. For Prima, the DTT platform is crucial, as it operates all its TV programmes on it.

Terrestrial digital television is used by 53% of Czech households on a conventional antenna on at least one receiver, according to surveys argued by Czech Radiocommunications (CRA). Both entities therefore consider it necessary to maintain terrestrial broadcasting in the coming years. The CEO of FTV Prima, Marek Singer, even appeals to the CTU to ensure that the operation of all existing nationwide networks will be possible at least until 2050 to ensure the long-term stability of the competitive environment.

Prima wants two new stations thanks to reserved capacity

There is a logical explanation for the perhaps surprisingly long period for which FTV Prima wants to maintain terrestrial broadcasting. Prima not only operates all of its full-screen channels in the DVB-T2 multiplex of Czech Radio Communications, but it is also planning two additional stations – one of them is known as Prima Case. FTV Prima has reserved data capacity in this television network, which it can use according to its needs. In the past in DVB-T2, therefore, it started broadcasting its programmes in 1440 x 1080p resolution.

Pressure from pay-TV operators later forced Prima to switch these programmes to the basic 960x540p format, leaving only CNN Prima News in HD resolution with a 1280 x 720p ratio. The argument was better readability of the accompanying graphics for the news channel. Unlike Nova, Prima does not operate any pay channel; instead, the latter has six. These are the premium stations Nova Sport. It is worth noting, however, that it is Nova that has spread the broadcasting of its programmes over two multiplexes, with CRA entrusting Nova Cinema in addition to its flagship channel.

CRA has channels available for non-launched networks

Also playing in favour of terrestrial TV broadcasting and its future may be the so-far unused frequencies for the planned DVB-T2 multiplexes 25 and 26, which were never actually launched. According to Martin Roztočil, director of external relations at Digital Broadcasting, which operates DVB-T2 network 24, multiplexes 25 and 26 represent one of the possible safeguards for the future of terrestrial TV. Roztočil, like Singer, points to the long-term stability of the terrestrial platform’s position as a traditional and popular choice for many Czech households, thanks to the possibility of watching TV programmes free of charge.

Digital Broadcasting is also proposing to use the frequencies of multiplexes 25 and 26 to test innovative technologies such as 5G Broadcasting, which has so far been pushed exclusively by rival CRAs. This technology offers the potential for future use in terrestrial broadcasting, allowing for experimental verification of operations and preparing for the challenges associated with technical innovation. The available frequencies could also be used for regional broadcasting or for one-way transmitters, referred to as SDLs. This flexible approach would allow alternative technologies to be experimentally tested without interfering with existing services, which may help to improve the availability of television broadcasting in remote areas or in the transition to new standards.

Long-time PDTV chief also warns of free frequencies

On the basis of the published draft of the “Radio Spectrum Management Strategy” and the opportunity to submit your opinion, expert consultant Petr Formánek suggests several changes to the text. Formánek worked for years at PDTV, which operates Prague’s Regional Network 4. After it was taken over by the CRA, he has gone freelance. Formánek said it was essential to consider that a time-limited individual licence to use frequencies in so-called “white spaces” could lead to a negative public reaction if service was interrupted after expiry.

Formanek also recommends the use of the frequencies of networks 25 and 26, like Roztočil, primarily for experimental validation of new technologies such as 5G Broadcast and DVB-I, in order to allow these frequencies and standards to coexist on the same radio frequency channel. He also proposes that the phrase “The UHF band is technically and economically optimal for ensuring coverage of the territory by mobile services” be amended to reflect the use of the UHF band for DTT (terrestrial TV), which would support the maintenance of a competitive environment and the development of the industry.

Source: mediaguru.cz

ONLY 10 PERCENT OF CZECHS AGREE WITH THE USE OF AI IN NEWS

Czech users of news content do not trust artificial intelligence in news. They fear it makes it impossible to distinguish fiction from reality, according to a new study by ResSolution Group and Nielsen.

Only 10% of the Czech online population agree with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in news, across all media types. The highest level of agreement (15%) is for news websites and 12% agree with the use of podcasts. That’s according to a new non-public study by research agencies ReSSolution Group and Nielsen titled Newsroom in the Age of Media Fragmentation, which was presented by Tereza Šimečková and Tomáš Hynčica at the Czech Internet Forum 2024 conference last week.

The research, which involved 1,012 members of the online population over the age of 15, also found that 80% are familiar with the term “artificial intelligence”. Half of Czech news content recipients, specifically 51%, but do not trust news content that uses AI, and 53% expressed disapproval of the use of AI in TV news. This is because the majority of news consumers fear that AI will make it impossible for them to distinguish fiction from reality. Three quarters of users expressed this view.

On the other hand, users rank faster news delivery and easier consumption of foreign news among the positives of using AI. At the same time, they acknowledge that AI is a useful tool for simplifying the creation and consumption of news.

Source: mediaguru.cz

TV RATINGS: IN OCTOBER NOVA TOOK THE LEAD

The Nova group recorded the highest share of viewership in October and was the only one of the top three groups to improve. Among the smaller stations, Television Seznam grew and managed to improve its prime-time share thanks to Czech films and the series Professionals.

The Nova TV group achieved the highest share in all major audience groups in both full-day and prime-time in October. It was also the only one of the top three domestic TV groups to improve year-on-year. This is according to the official ATO-Nielsen TV audience measurement data.

The position in the broader 15+ audience group in daytime broadcasting continues to be balanced. Only 0.3 percentage points separate the second group Prima and the third group Czech Television. In prime time, they have also swapped the rankings. In both the 15-54 and 18-69 groups, Prima is the second strongest. Nova has the highest share in these audience categories.

Atmedia’s representation of thematic TV stations continues to grow, approaching 7% in its primary 18-69 group, helped by the rising share of Television Seznam, up 0.4 ppts y-o-y and approaching the 2% mark. It is separated from Barrandov by 0.35 percentage points. In prime time, Television Seznam is growing even faster and has already just crossed the 2% threshold in October. Its share here is higher than TVB’s.

Share of TV groups (%), October 2024, full day

Share of TV groups (%), October 2024, prime-time

Zdroj: ATO-Nilesen, TV živě+TS0-3 ke dni 4.11. 2024. Prime-time = 19:00-23:00, změna uvedena v procentních bodech

The stations with the highest year-on-year increase in audience share in October were Nova Cinema, Televize Seznam, CT2 and Nova (valid for CS 4+).

The most watched programme in October was StarDance (CT1) broadcast on 19 October with 1.7 million viewers (15+). The next places were also occupied by StarDance episodes broadcast on 12.10. and 26.10.

Source: mediaguru.cz

AKTV CELEBRATES WORLD TELEVISION DAY WITH AN OPEN DAY, INVITES TO STUDIO TOURS AND ENTERTAINMENT SHOW

Broadcasters around the world are celebrating World Television Day on 21 November. AKTV, which brings together the most important Czech commercial broadcasters, will not be left behind. In cooperation with its member broadcasters, AKTV has prepared an interactive “open day” for its clients, business partners and professionals in the field of television and media in the studios and behind the scenes.

This year, a truly exclusive programme is in store , as each of the commercial TV stations will offer tours of the newsroom, studios and behind the scenes. There will also be meetings with famous faces, an exclusive preview of the series The Well, refreshments and an accompanying programme.

Nova Television invites you to a brunch at Snídani, tours of the news and sports studios and an exclusive preview of the first episode of the Voyo Original: The Well. The screening will not be without popcorn and a refreshing bubbly drink. The new Czech series, whose title refers to one of the most famous episodes of Major Zeman, comes as its specific prequel, which fits perfectly into the current trend of true crime stories.

Prima TV will offer tours of three types of studios – news, radio and dubbing. Visitors will see the most modern news studio in Central Europe, learn what all has to happen before a news programme is broadcast and discover that radio is not just a microphone in a studio. The dubbing studio will then offer the chance to try out how popular characters sound in Czech. The Technical Circuit will then invite visitors to the server room, the diesel generator room and reveal many other secrets behind the workings of television broadcasting. This tour will be guided by Patrik Slavik, Technical Director of the Prima Group.

In the studio of TV ÓČKO you will get a unique opportunity to “meet &greet” with Dimash Qudaibergen, the ultimate king of the Óčko Chart. You will become part of the live broadcast and meet the Kazakh phenomenon who sings in seven languages.

The culmination of this year’s celebrations will be a special live show, Hell’s Telly, in which teams from Nova and Prima will compete in a number of culinary and knowledge-based disciplines.

Details of the programme, times of excursions and a booking form can be found at aktv.cz/weloveTV

But beware, registrations are only possible until Friday 15.11.2024! Don’t miss this special event!

THE BEST THING FOR TV AND VIEWERS WOULD BE FOR PRIMA TO RAISE PRICES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

An excessive number of commercial breaks in television broadcasting is not good for television or TV viewers. CCO Vladimír Pořízek explains that increasing the price of TV advertising is the only way Media Club can counter this situation.

Media Club will increase TV advertising prices by an average of 18 to 22% for 2025. The increase reflects both the rise in the base CPP price and the increase in certain seasonal and footage coefficients. However, the portfolio of stations represented by Media Club will stay the same next year. Alongside the Prima group’s stations, which will add two new channels, Media Club will continue to sell advertising for the TV Óčko, TV Barrandov, Atmedia, and Paramount Network groups. The primary buying target group of 18–69-year-olds also remains the same. Secondarily, clients can also use 24 defined target groups.

Prima’s CCO, Vladimír Pořízek, explains in an interview that Media Club has no other option than to increase the price. “This autumn, and also in spring, we were forced to extend the length of advertising breaks to meet demand. Unfortunately, the long breaks prevent us from achieving higher ratings. That’s why we have to increase prices and optimise the space for advertising to accommodate as much demand as possible, not putting viewers off at the same time,” he explains.

At the end of August, Prima estimated that it would increase the prices of TV advertising on the stations represented by Media Club by 20%. The increase is ultimately in the range of 18-22%. Is it true again that the higher price increase applies to larger clients?

We are continuing our strategy of the past years and increasing prices more for clients with higher volumes and lower CPT. For smaller clients, the price increase is smaller, which is why we are averaging between 18-22%. The price increase is necessary because our advertising space is sold out all the time, demand is growing and there are fewer GRPs on the market. In the 18-69 target group, it is a 5% decrease, in the 15-54 group, it is a 7-8% decrease.

Increased demand for TV advertising has persisted for several years in a row. What is the cause? If we look at the performance of the economy this year, it is not growing significantly – at 0.3% and 0.4% in the second and third quarters, respectively, household consumption is up just under 2% this year. Is the growing demand driven by the changes in demand for advertising media space brought about by multinational platforms Google and Facebook?

The demand for TV advertising is growing because TV advertising works. Online alone is more likely to attract clients when people know and are aware of the brand. Online does not build a brand. You need TV and long video advertising for brand building. TV is also good at activation, and we have a number of clients who use it for activation campaigns. That’s why clients are going from online back to TV. In addition, it is television in conjunction with online that most easily delivers the desired results to clients.

As for seasonal coefficients, you mainly increase some off-season months such as January, February, June, or August, and leave the peak season months unchanged. Why?

We are changing the seasonal coefficients where we were most sold out this year – which are the months of May, June, and August, and we are adjusting July. On the other hand, we were not sold out in March and April, so we kept the coefficients for these months.

How much is Prima sold out this year?

We are 108% sold out for the autumn, which is not good for TV or the audience. There are more SVOD services on the market, and that brings more opportunities to watch ad-free audiovisual content. Viewers are getting used to it, and long commercial breaks don’t put TV in a good light. We may have shorter breaks than our competitor Nova this year, but this is mainly because Nova’s advertising space has also sold out. The number of GRPs in our buying target group has fallen by 5-6% this year, while the TV market is growing by 5-6%, taking us to a 12% “deficit”. On top of that, we are extending the break by 8%, which we need to settle, getting us to our required 20%.

Does this mean that about 12% of GRPs are not being placed in broadcasting? Or how big is the excessive demand?

The excess is around 8-10% of GRPs. We have been stretching out ad breaks all autumn, which will help us get more GRPs. Even after the rules on commercial break lengths were relaxed, we have continually strived to keep our breaks from extending. But now we are not succeeding.

Even after the rules on commercial break lengths were relaxed, we have continually strived to keep our breaks from extending. But now we are not succeeding.

Vladimír Pořízek

Has the change in legislation contributed to a greater number of advertising spots in prime time? [Editor’s note: Since September 2022, the 20% limit for the 6 am – 6 pm and 6 pm – 0 am time zones has been used instead of the hourly limit.]

Exactly, this legislative change has made it possible. This allows some of the spots or ad minutes to be moved to higher-rated times and the number of GRPs we are able to deliver will increase.

Will a price increase of around 20% bring the necessary balance?

It is always a matter of supply and demand. Agencies are telling us that if we increase prices, clients will go to other media types and Google or Facebook. We know that Google or Facebook don’t build a brand the way TV advertising does. However, some clients may shift some of their budgets, which may have an impact on us, so we need to look for imaginary intersections between demand and supply. We have to increase the price, and to be honest, it would be best for us and for the viewer if the prices were as high as possible. The advertising breaks could be shorter. But it’s always about some kind of agreement with clients and agencies.

Media Club’s commercial policy for TV, 2025

You entered this year with a modified 18-69 purchase target group replacing the 15-69 group. The 18-69 target group will also be the primary trading group at Media Club in 2025. What has the transition to 18-69 revealed?

We are always trying to identify the needs of our customers and at the same time, we see that the productive group is shifting, and the population is aging. If we shifted the start of the buying target group to 20 years old, we would cover what customers want even more. Their target demographic usually starts at the age of 20, sometimes 25 years. Of course, there are clients who demand an 18-35 year old audience, but these are relatively few. However, in addition to our primary target audience, we have 24 sales target groups defined that we are able to affinity-target. With these secondary target groups, we can further improve the affinity of our campaigns. In addition, we anticipate even higher usage of online eGRPs in the coming year. We are increasing their capacity by engaging individual operators in the issue of ad fast-forwarding in time-shifted viewing, and we have also fine-tuned targeting in HbbTv and smart apps with Nielsen.

Has the group of major TV advertisers changed? The e-commerce group seems to be strong, are there any others?

There are no major changes. More and more people in the e-commerce group want to use TV to build a strong brand.

Will the Barrandov TV group be part of the stations represented by Media Club next year?

We have a preliminary agreement with Barrandov TV and we are finalising the wording of the agreement.

You are leaving Prima, and Media Club as well, in the first quarter of next year. Is your successor already known?

The selection process for my successor is still ongoing.

Do you know what your future plans will be after you leave Prima?

I’m definitely planning a long vacation, at least six months to a year. I’ll be bound by a competition clause for a year, so if I want to continue in media, it will be possible in March 2026 at the earliest. But I’m thinking more about the financial sector. After all, I’m more of a man in finance and I would like to move somewhere else and try something new.

Source: mediaguru.cz

MAPPING THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THEIR CONTRIBUTION AND NEEDS

A national mapping of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) is taking place in the Czech Republic this year and next. In practice, these are two multi-year calls supported by the National Regeneration Plan under the Cultural and Creative Sector Development component managed by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

The main objective is to revitalise the sector after a period of pandemic crisis. The outputs of the research projects will serve as a source of information on the structure and needs of the sector in the future. They are intended to be used both by the regions when formulating strategic materials and by the Ministry of Culture when optimising its subsidy programmes and when looking for further possibilities of supporting these sectors from EU funds.

In 2022-2023, the Ministry of Culture has launched two separate grant calls to support multi-year research projects. The first call involved all 14 regions of the Czech Republic with projects mapping cultural and creative sector actors operating in the respective regions. The second grant call involved 12 entities, sectoral and professional associations, and research institutes with projects mapping the sector from the perspective of individual industries. Almost CZK 40 million were distributed in both calls. Partial outputs from the mapping are published continuously by individual researchers, and the Ministry of Culture will continue to work with the data and documents after the completion of the supported research projects in mid-2025. They can become the argumentative support for the introduction of new forms of support for cultural and creative industries, both at the state level, regional strategies, and European subsidy programmes.

“Methodological guidance and regular coordination meetings with the research teams are important for the successful course of the mapping. The nearest meeting with representatives of the regions is scheduled for 22 October, which should be followed by a meeting with the researchers of the sectoral mapping on 5 November,” says Zuzana Zahradníčková, Director of the Department of Arts, Libraries and Creative Industries at the Ministry of Culture.

“Although the aforementioned grant calls are part of the implementation of the National Regeneration Plan, we see the collection of data on the creative sector as an activity we want to continue in the future. Similarly, we would like to continue to work more closely with the researchers of individual projects and the Czech Statistical Office,”

adds Zahradníčková.

In addition to the regional authorities, regional mapping projects are also implemented by some organisations mandated by the region, such as Kreativní Praha (Creative Prague), Jihočeský vědeckotechnický park (South Bohemian Science and Technology Park), Ostravská univerzita (University of Ostrava) or Technologické inovační centrum Zlín (Technological Innovation Centre Zlín). Projects under sectoral mapping are implemented by professional associations or research institutes. They cover nine areas – Books and Publishing, Music, Film and Video, Television and Radio, Game Development, Architecture, Advertising, Design, and Event Industry. Researchers include the Prague University of Economics and Business, Masaryk University, the Technical University of Ostrava, the Association of Commercial Television, the Association of Communication Agencies, and the National Information and Advisory Centre for Culture (NIPOS).

The mapping is divided into a uniform quantitative part and a qualitative part, which can be supplemented by the specifics of individual research areas. The output will be a set of analytical materials on the state and needs of companies and associations of entrepreneurs in CCIs so that the state can get a more accurate picture of the number, size, benefits, and needs of these industries. The quantitative analyses of the individual areas will be complemented by aggregated economic data prepared for the purpose of the project by the Czech Statistical Office. The qualitative research will focus on the development and innovation potential of companies not only in the fast-growing technological areas but also on the expectations regarding the competencies of recent school graduates. Emphasis will also be placed on estimating future trends and new opportunities and threats in CCIs.

“As members of the Cultural and Creative Industries Section of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, we have been striving for the implementation of a nationwide mapping for several years. While some professional associations already conduct their industry surveys, we now have an exceptional opportunity to conduct a comprehensive mapping of this disparate and dynamically developing segment of the economy according to uniform criteria for the first time. Equally important for us is the awareness-raising dimension, because unfortunately, we still encounter the fact that few people imagine the whole diverse range of business entities under the acronym CCIs,”

adds Marie Fianová, Chairwoman of the Cultural and Creative Industries Section of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, which brings together most of the researchers of the national mapping.

Details of the research are available on the website of the joint platform of project researchers: mapovani-KKO.cz where respondents from some areas can directly fill in the questionnaire.

What is the cultural and creative sector?

The cultural and creative sector (CCS) is an ecosystem consisting of for-profit and not-for-profit, public and private entities, encompassing both the production and distribution of cultural and creative assets. These are areas at the intersection of arts and culture as well as business and technology.

We define CCS as areas with activities based on cultural values or artistic and other individual or collective creative expressions. This may include activities involving the development, creation, production, dissemination, or preservation of goods and services that represent cultural, artistic, or other creative expressions. Similarly, it may involve related activities in the field of education or management. All of the above have the potential to create innovation and jobs, in particular through the creation of intellectual property. Indicative examples of sub-sectors include architecture, archives, libraries and museums, artistic crafts, audiovisual, cultural heritage, design, festivals, music, literature, performing arts, books and publishing, radio, and visual arts.

What are the cultural and creative industries?

We define cultural and creative industries (CCI) as economic activities within the cultural and creative sector that use the talents and skills of citizens and are based on cultural values or artistic expressions. Cultural and creative industries include those cultural and creative sector actors that are not primarily dependent on public resources, i.e. are more than 50% financially self-sufficient. The cultural and creative industries serve, among other things, to create wealth mainly using intellectual property. Creativity is a key input, not an item to be resold. Nevertheless, distribution chains are an essential part of the development of CCIs and are an associated activity (Strategy for the Development and Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industries, Ministry of Culture, 2021).

Source: culturenet.cz

NOVA TO RAISE AD PRICES BY 22% FOR 2025, CONTINUES TO SELL TO 15-54

The commercial policy of the Nova TV group foresees an increase in the price of advertising by more than a fifth in 2025.

The price of TV advertising on the Nova Group’s free-to-air channels will increase by 22% in 2025 compared to 2024, said Nova Group’s Sales Director, Honza Ulrych, in an interview with MediaGuru.cz. The increase takes into account both the growth in basic CPP and the increase in seasonal months as well as in prime time. This is the highest increase in advertising space in at least a decade. It confirms expectations of high growth in TV advertising prices, which started to increase significantly a year ago (Nova +18%).

“Next year, the price of TV advertising will increase by an average of 22%. We want to meet all our commitments and continue to fully service all advertising campaigns of clients who enter into annual or other commitments with us,” Ulrych said.

The basic buying target group will not change for 2025, so Nova will continue to market to the 15-54-year-old audience. Nova is also responding to excess demand by increasing prices in the seasonal months, specifically from February to November (excluding July and August). For the autumn months of September to November, the coefficient will thus reach the level of 1.55. The price will also increase if the spots are placed in prime time.

Advertising on Nova Sport pay channels will also become more expensive. The Voyo video platform will enter the new year without advertising. However, advertisers will have a new sponsorship offer in addition to the product placement option.

You can read the answers to the questions for Nova’s Sales Director below.

Questions for Honza Ulrych:

In the middle of the year, Nova announced that client interest in TV advertising persisted, which, combined with rising costs and the filling of advertising space, left no other option but to make TV advertising more expensive again for 2025. So how much will the price of advertising increase?

Unfortunately, the combination of rising costs in production and reduced advertising space leaves us with no choice but to increase the price level for the following year. For the next year, the price for TV advertising will grow by an average of 22%. We want to meet all our commitments and continue to fully service all advertising campaigns of clients who enter into annual or other commitments with us.

Are certain client groups advantaged in pricing?

We maintain a consistent approach to our clients in pricing. We are pleased that despite the difficult situation, we continue to win favour with our clients and the interest in our advertising inventory persists even in the autumn months. This helps us generate additional revenue which we can invest already this year in the production of new shows for next year. A strong programming lineup will ensure we offer quality inventory to our clients. We also believe that next year will show a slight economic recovery accompanied by higher demand for advertising space. We want to be prepared for this situation.

How would you describe the situation in the TV market? What will primarily influence it for 2025 and what did you have to take into account in your commercial policy for the next year?

Both in the Czech Republic and abroad, there are trends of continuous decline of linear television. The only way to reduce this decline is to increase investment in programming and thus attract Czech viewers to television screens with an attractive offer. In our commercial policy and prices, we have primarily considered the months with high demand. At the same time, we took into account the price adjustment for the lucrative primetime time zone.

Are you experiencing growing viewer interest in VOD services and content consumption via catch-up services in your business?

The viewer is becoming more and more demanding in terms of content. The interest in VOD platforms in the Czech Republic is still on the rise and we are happy to be able to offer quality programming on our Voyo platform. By working with the best producers, we are achieving great results. Voyo has already surpassed 850,000 subscribers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and is still growing. Commercially, clients have the opportunity to engage with the formats on Voyo through product placement in our own shows.

Are you considering, like Prima, prohibiting the possibility of skipping ads in time-shifted viewing?

We recognise that this is one way to bring additional inventory and reduce pricing pressure for clients. We have been looking at this option for some time, but I cannot say more now.

How will the seasonal and footage coefficients change for 2025?

Seasonal coefficients are adjusted in months when we expect high demand and sell-out. The change will affect all months from February to November excluding the summer months of July and August. And as I mentioned, there will be an increase in the primetime price. We will maintain the footage coefficients.

In the summer, you admitted that you were considering a change in the target group. Will Nova continue to sell to the 15-54 group?

Our reasoning was to move our target group up slightly, but still with a strong gap between us and our competition. In the end, we decided to keep our attractive 15-54 target group for next year. We believe that this move will support client loyalty and maintain our competitive advantage.

It turns out that linear television is the primary medium of the middle and older generation. Wouldn’t it be a solution to expand the target group beyond 54 years of age?

We follow the trends, and we see that the population is aging and so is the TV population. Today’s 50-somethings live a different life than previous generations. We believe that they will gradually become a lucrative and creditworthy group for clients and will welcome the adjustment of the target group in the future.

What tools can Nova use to increase its advertising inventory? Is it realistic to come up with a new linear TV channel, for example?

We chose the route of promoting content on existing commercial channels. We are focusing a lot on strengthening the audience base of the main channel. We are planning several new shows for next year, in addition to the premieres of popular series and reality shows. We successfully managed the rebranding of TV Nova in August, and we are also planning to rebrand Nova Cinema in mid-October, which has a great track record and holds the position of the fourth most-watched station on the market.

We have received information that Nova might join the AdCross project. What do you expect from this move?

AdCross is undoubtedly an interesting project in the field of measurement, a topic that has been of interest to us for a long time. However, we cannot comment on potential negotiations.

How will advertising prices on Nova Sport pay channels change for 2025? And how will advertising on Nova Sport be sold?

Nova Sport stations have expanded their programming offer to include the European and Conference Leagues, for which we have prepared new commercial packages. Sport is still very popular among viewers and there is a great interest in it, especially when Czech teams and athletes participate in the world’s best competitions. Apart from upward price moderation, we are not planning any major changes in the business of Nova Sport.

Will Voyo remain without an ad layer in 2025?

Commercially, clients have the opportunity to participate in our own formats on Voyo through product placement. We are also considering the possibility of offering sponsorship there. We do not plan to offer advertising space on Voyo next year. Our goal is to reach one million subscribers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia first, and we believe we will meet it next year. It only makes sense for us to offer advertising space to clients at that point.

Source: mediaguru.cz

CZECH TV STATIONS THE BEST IN VIEWERSHIP IN SEPTEMBER

Czech Television stations achieved the highest share of the television market in September and also improved the most compared to last September.

The cumulative share of Czech Television (CT) stations reached 29.23% in the over-15 age group in all-day broadcasting this September, up 2.74 percentage points year-on-year. This was also the best result in terms of year-on-year comparison. This is according to official ATO-Nielsen data.

The Nova group remains the strongest in the 15-54 and 18-69 audience groups and in prime time in all major audience groups (i.e. including 15+). Compared to last September, the Nova and Prima groups have reduced their share. This is also true for the Barrandov TV group. On the other hand, Atmedia and Television Seznam continue to grow.

The highest year-on-year growth among the individual stations was recorded by the news channel CT24 (flood situation), whose share rose to 6.74% in September (+2.7 pp.). CNN Prima News (+0.7 ppts. to 2.49%) and CT1 (+0.6 ppts. to 15.20%) in particular increased their shares. The figures are valid for the 15+ group.

The most-watched September programmes were all three premiere episodes of the series Docent II (CT1, the most successful with 1.43m 15+ viewers), followed by the rerun of Police Modrava (Nova, 1.24m) and the new series of Kriminálky Anděl (Nova, 1.2m).

Source: mediaguru.cz

PRIMA WILL OFFER VIDEOS AND ADVERTISING REVENUE TO THE WHOLE MARKET, LAUNCHES PRIMA PLAY

Prima Group is launching a library of videos that its partners can use for their own media. Prima will pay them 30% for embedding the video and the ad on their site. Prima describes the new product for selling video advertising as revolutionary.

The Prima group has come up with a new product in the field of video advertising that brings the possibilities of monetizing video in the Czech Republic in a way that has not been realized before. Under the name Prima play, it is launching a video library, which it is making available to the entire market. Interested online media operators will be able to select from this library and embed any videos on their websites. As a condition of placement, they will display a video ad along with the video, which Media Club will embed in the video. However, the Media Group will share the advertising revenue from the sale of the video ad with the operators with a 30% return.

By agreeing to place the videos on other websites on the Czech Internet, the Prima Group will secure the necessary inventory it lacks. Media operators will have free access to the video library and will receive 30% of the total video advertising revenue from Media Club. “It’s a win-win solution. We haven’t found a single disadvantage that the new Prima Play product has,” says Jan Chadek, commercial director of Media Club’s radio and online division. The project was created in his division, and has been developed over a long period of time together with Jan Čadek by Hung Nguyen, deputy director of online and director of online technology at Prima Group.

The Prima Play Video Library will launch on Tuesday October 1. “CNC is the first big partner and we have already been working with Martina Říhová in the field of radio. The videos will not only be subscribed to, but the principle of the agreement is the possibility of inserting videos into the video library. In return, they will also receive 30% of the proceeds. Prima play is thus open to both creators and subscribers of videos. They can choose whether they want to supply videos or subscribe or both at the same time. If they both upload and download videos, we keep 40% for monetization and the costs associated with maintaining the library,” explains Jan Čadek.

On the day of launch, the video library contains up to 15,000 videos of varying lengths from 30 seconds to 40-minute videos. They are thematically focused on different genres and areas – series, cars, cooking, show business, lifestyle, news, etc. “Within the Prima Group, a number of videos are produced daily across categories. Partners select videos they are interested in from the library and embed them on their site using embed code. They will be presented with a player that will also play the embedded ad,” says Hung Nguyen. The video ad format displayed will be an instream ad. To recommend videos, Prima uses an AI tool that evaluates video reach data, allowing operators to continuously monitor their performance. According to Nguyen, the market development is going more towards centralisation, where systems are closing in. “We, on the other hand, are trying to decentralise them. We believe that the content we create will save media houses and partner sites production costs. And above all, time. We shoot, edit and offer it on one platform,” he adds.

Prima Group expects that the new product may be of great interest among operators. “It could be the majority of the market. We see that clients and agencies are demanding video advertising and there is interest in video. But not everyone has the money to produce videos. We offer them, and we still share the revenue,” says Jan Čadek.

Source: FTV Prima

“We are open to cooperation with almost anyone. Our clients at Impression Media were the first to receive our offer,” adds Hung Nguyen. Impression Media has been owned by Media Club, the Prima group, since last year.

Within Prima’s online portfolio, the video advertising format accounts for the highest portion of the division’s total revenue. However, Prima has been struggling to sell out ad space on the websites it operates and for which it sells advertising. On the other hand, it believes that the new product can also help other media houses with monetisation. “We think we are bringing a revolutionary product. Also because online houses, except perhaps for Seznam, will welcome any added content value with open arms. The additional sources of money are just as interesting,” concludes Jan Čadek.

The Prima group is the third largest player on the Czech Internet with 6.7 million subscribers, according to NetMonitor data from August. RU. In terms of time spent with video, it is the second strongest entity, with its key product being its online platform prima+, whose monthly traffic exceeds 4 million. RU.

Source: mediaguru.cz