IN ITS FIRST YEAR OF OPERATION, THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCIAL TELEVISION BROADCASTERS INITIATED A DIALOGUE WITH ADVERTISERS AND THE GOVERNMENT

In its first year of existence, the Association of Commercial Television Stations set itself two main objectives. Through marketing activities, to raise awareness amongst advertisers of television as a key advertising medium and to engage in the process of drafting legislation with a direct impact on the commercial television industry. During its first year, AKTV also joined the Chamber of Commerce, where it is an active member of the Creative Industries Section, and has also become an associate member of the international trade association EGTA, which brings together television and radio media agencies.
The Association of Commercial Television Stations was established in the spring of 2017 in response to the growing need for commercial television stations to defend and promote their interests. The founding members were the Nova, Prima and Óčko television groups, with Jan Vlček from Nova taking up the first presidential term.
As part of its marketing activities, and in response to frequent unsubstantiated claims by global players in the online advertising sector, AKTV focused on direct communication with the most significant advertisers in the Czech Republic. During its first year, it organised two educational seminars aimed at the senior management of the largest advertisers, specifically managing directors and marketing directors. The common thread running through both conferences was the presence of exceptional international speakers and premium, highly topical content.
At the first event, Les Binet, a renowned expert and author of specialist books on marketing from the London-based agency adam & eve DDB, spoke on the effectiveness of advertising; whilst the keynote speaker at the second event was Australian university professor and researcher Karen Nelson-Field, who presented the findings of her latest research comparing the effectiveness of television and online advertising. This year, AKTV will continue these activities with the aim of responding to advertisers’ demand for relevant and unbiased information on the current status of individual media types and trends in their use.

“We have been hearing more and more often that television is dead and that online is the only future for advertising. However, as the data shows that time spent watching television is not only not decreasing but is actually increasing, we felt the need to highlight these facts to advertisers as well. For example, last year viewers aged 15 and over watched television for 3 hours and 45 minutes a day, which is almost a quarter of an hour more than five years ago and even half an hour more than ten years ago. Furthermore, television remains the most popular medium among viewers across all age groups,

says Jan Vlček, president of AKTV.

Part of AKTV’s marketing activities also involves active participation in the global initiative ‘The Global TV Group’, an unofficial grouping of associations of television companies and media agencies in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and Central America, which aims to promote television broadcasting.
In addition to marketing awareness-raising, AKTV has also focused on legislative processes at both national and European levels. One such activity, for example, was a seminar on European audiovisual legislation, which AKTV organised in Brussels in collaboration with its partner association, ACT, for Czech and Slovak MEPs.