ČT WAS THE STRONGEST IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR, BUT NOVA GREW THE MOST

Despite a decline, Czech Television maintained its highest share of all-day viewing in the universal 15+ group in the first half of this year. However, Nova recorded the highest growth, winning in the younger viewer categories and in prime time.

Česká televize maintained its strongest position on the television market in all-day broadcasting in the first half of 2025. In the 15+ target group, it achieved a share of 29.29%, which still puts it in first place ahead of Nova and Prima. However, due to savings in its programming, the public broadcaster recorded a year-on-year decline in all monitored viewer categories. This is shown by data from ATO-Nielsen for the period from 1 January to 30 June 2025.

ČT recorded a more significant decline in prime time, where it reached 28.50% (-1.71 pb) of the total population aged 15+. It recorded greater losses among the younger target groups surveyed, i.e. 15–54 and 18–69.

The Nova Group, on the other hand, continues its growth trend. In the all-day measurement, it recorded year-on-year growth in all groups. In the key 15-54 group, its share increased by 1.7 percentage points year-on-year. In prime time, it maintains its leading position in all viewer groups.

The Prima Group maintains relatively stable performance in terms of viewership. In all-day broadcasting in the 15+ target group, it achieved a share of 26.91%, which represents a slight decrease of 0.41 percentage points. It reported a similar result in its target group of 18-69.

Among smaller television players, the biggest shift was recorded by Televize Seznam, which strengthened across all target groups and daily time slots. In all-day broadcasting in the 15+ target group, its share rose to 1.98% (+0.44 pb), and in prime time to 1.95% (+0.48 pb). In the commercial groups 15–54 and 18–69, its results are slightly above 1.8% and show a similar trend.

TV Nova is the year’s biggest climberIn terms of individual stations, the most significant year-on-year increase in the first half of the year was recorded by the main channel TV Nova (+0.91 pb to 18.21%). It was followed by the news channel ČT24 with an increase of 0.68 percentage points (to 4.54%). The third highest increase was recorded by the station Nova Gold (+0.52 pp to 2.45%). All figures are for the 15+ target group in all-day broadcasting. CNN Prima News continued the trend from previous periods and strengthened by 0.43 percentage points year-on-year (to 2.41%). Among thematic stations, growth was recorded by, for example, Prima Krimi (+0.28 pp to 4.46%) and Nova Lady (+0.13 pp to 1.0%).

The first half of the year was dominated by ice hockey

The most watched programme of the first half of the year was the ice hockey match between the Czech Republic and Sweden at the World Championships (ČT sport). It was watched by 1.66 million viewers aged 15 and over (47.4% share). The second most watched programme was the January TV detective film Kroky vraha (ČT1), based on a novel by Michaela Klevisová. It was watched by 1.64 million viewers. Czech ice hockey matches at this year’s World Championships appear five more times in the top ten. The series Limity (ČT1), Vraždy v kraji (Nova) and Televizní noviny (Nova) also made it into the top ten.

Source: mediaguru.cz

MAN JAILED AFTER MAKING £300,000 FROM ILLEGAL STREAMING SERVICE

A man who pocketed £300,000 through the operation of an illegal streaming service before he fled the country, has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Mark Brockley, 56, ran a subscription-based IPTV service known as aFINITY IPTV for around five years, between 2014 and 2019.

The sentencing follows an investigation led by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), following a referral from BT, which identified Brockley as being involved in the illegal sale of streaming services.

Brockley was arrested and later charged with fraud and copyright offences at Liverpool Crown Court in June 2021. After being released on police bail, he failed to appear at multiple court hearings, and sentencing proceeded in his absence in May 2023.

Financial investigations revealed that Brockley had been using bank accounts based in France. Further digital enquiries eventually traced him to an apartment block in Spain. In August 2024, he was located and arrested in Girona during a coordinated operation involving the PIPCU, National Crime Agency (NCA), Europol, and Interpol.

However, having been released pending further investigation, Brockley appealed his extradition back to the UK and was subsequently bailed. He failed to attend multiple court hearings in Spain and was circulated as wanted by Spanish authorities.

In a coordinated effort between UK and Spanish authorities, Brockley was eventually arrested at Barcelona Airport while attempting to board a flight to the UK last week (Friday, 20 June).

He was remanded in custody at Heathrow Airport and will now commence his five-year sentence.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

LALIGA PRESIDENT SAYS COST OF NOT FIGHTING PIRACY IS HIGH

Spanish LALIGA clubs are losing between €600 and €700 million a year as a result of online piracy, according to LALIGA president Javier Tebas. 

Last season, LALIGA introduced new AI monitoring technology to monitor registration patterns, track suspicious behaviour in traffic and amplify the capacity of teams working to detect fraud. As previously reported in Broadband TV News, LALIGA has also been engaged in the dynamic blocking of IP addresses.

Speaking at the second edition of the LALIGA EXTRATIME industry forum in Singapore, Tebas said:

“Fighting audiovisual fraud has a high cost for LALIGA, but we choose to lead, because the cost of not doing so is much higher. We are facing highly organised criminal networks that cause unimaginable damage across the economy.”

“The scale of the challenge means that there must be total commitment at the institutional level and between companies, both in the sports industry and technology. This fight is global and collaborative, and we must also act by denouncing the inactivity of some intermediaries, who are allowing criminal content to be shared through their infrastructures,” he said.

Delegates heard that according to a report by the Live Content Coalition (LCC), 10.8 million illegal sports broadcasts were detected in Europe alone in 2024.

LALIGA participated in 2024 in Operation Kratos, led by Europol, which succeeded in dismantling a network of 22 million users in Europe. In this operation, weapons and drugs were also seized in searches. Legal milestones have also been achieved, such as the landmark ruling that allowed LALIGA to carry out dynamic IP blocking. In addition, LALIGA has strengthened its cooperation with responsible intermediaries such as Meta, YouTube or TikTok in recent seasons.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

ITALY’S PIRACY EPIDEMIC: 4 IN 10 WATCHING FILMS AND SPORT ILLEGALLY

Piracy has become normalised for four out of ten adult Italians who now consume unlicensed services.

According to a Fapav-Ipsos report, in 2024, 38% of Italians used audiovisual content illegally. The figures represent the loss of €2.2 billion in turnover, an estimated loss of €904 million and over 12,000 jobs.

“It is not just an economic or industrial problem but increasingly takes on a social connotation where the individual pirate becomes part of a criminal system, whose only objective is business,”

said Federico Bagnoli Rossi, president of Fapav.

While the February 2024 introduction of the so-called Piracy Shield has helped – the blunt instrument has managed to take down legal streams as well as the illegal ones – it applies only to sport, leaving movies and series available to the domestic hackers.

“The new regulation from AGCOM regarding a 30-minute block is producing initial results. There is still much to be done, but the path taken is the right one. We are convinced of this, and in the next report, we will have specific data. This slight contraction does not overall diminish the seriousness of the phenomenon, which remains alarming, especially in terms of the economic damage caused to audiovisual and sports industries, as well as to the economic and employment system of our country”.

The cost is put at €61 million in lost admission fees, translating to damages of €530 million, a figure that rises to €778 million when the impact on legal subscriptions is included.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

RAI JOINS IBCAP TO COMBAT GLOBAL PIRACY OF ITALIAN CONTENT

Italian public broadcaster RAI has joined the International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP).

As part of RAI’s membership. IBCAP will provide monitoring and takedown services for all of Rai’s channels, including Rai Uno, Rai News 24, Rai Movie and Rai Sport, which offer family entertainment, news, sports and talk show programming. Rai Italia will also be included under IBCAP’s protection, which features variety shows, sports, and other popular programming for Italian communities around the world. Rai television programming, movies, sporting events and other content are available in 174 countries on five continents.

“We welcome Rai to the IBCAP coalition and look forward to further expanding our coverage umbrella with the addition of Italian channels,” said Chris Kuelling, executive director of IBCAP. “Rai’s membership, alongside that of BBC and NHK, represents another leading national broadcaster entrusting IBCAP with reducing piracy of their content.”

With nearly 16 million people in the United States identifying as Italian American, Italian-language content is a popular media source for piracy and illegal streaming services.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

MULTICHOICE LAUNCHES ANTI-PIRACY INITIATIVE IN MALAWI

MultiChoice has run a four-day anti-piracy training and enforcement operation in Malawi, the first stage of a long-term initiative to combat piracy and protect the creative economy in the South East Africa country.

21 participants, including officers from the Malawi Police Service, prosecutors, and representatives from the Ministry of Justice, were involved in the event, which covered topics including types of piracy, enforcement techniques, legal frameworks, and the growing threat of internet streaming piracy.

A seminar held on 21 May 2025 was followed by a successful enforcement operation was carried out in Lilongwe, Malawi’a capital city.

Acting on intelligence and strategies discussed during the training, the Malawi Police Service, with support from COSOMA, raided an illegal internet streaming operation. Two suspects were arrested, and several hundred pieces of pirate streaming equipment were seized.

Frikkie Jonker, MultiChoice Group Africa Anti-Piracy Director, said:

“This raid is a testament to what can be achieved through strong partnerships and dedicated training. We are proud of the collaboration with the Malawi Police Service and COSOMA and commend them for their swift action and commitment to enforcement. This is the first of many efforts to come in Malawi, and we look forward to supporting more initiatives that strengthen content protection and uphold the rule of law.”

Under Malawi law anyone with devices capable of infringing copyright law faces to a fine of MWK 10,000,000 (€5,000) and imprisonment for four years. The fine can be increased by MWK 50,000 for each day during which the offence continues.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

HOW TO BEAT NETFLIX AT HOME? THE NEW PPF CEO SPOKE ABOUT MEDIA INVESTMENTS

Viewers primarily want local content, says Didier Stoessel from PPF about his plans in the television business. In a month, he will become one of the two heads of the group. In an interview with CNBC, he described his intentions for Nova and other channels.

Traditional TV may have been in decline for years, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be profitable. You just need to get the TV programme to people in various ways, believes Didier Stoessel, one of the two newly appointed co-CEOs of the PPF investment group.

“We all in the media business are ultimately content creators. Now we just need to find the best ways to deliver it to people,” summarises his vision for the coming years Stoessel, until now the Chief Investment Officer and head of PPF’s media division.

In the Czech Republic, PPF controls, among other businesses, TV Nova and the newly merged platform Oneplay, which has 1.4 million subscribers to the Voyo and O2 TV brands. It also owns major commercial stations in other Eastern European and Balkan countries. In all these markets, PPF is also active in telecommunications, which it intends to leverage for media expansion.

Stoessel outlined his ideas in an interview for the paid American business channel CNBC Exclusive. It was his first public appearance since early May, when PPF owner Renáta Kellnerová appointed him as one of the two Chief Executive Officers of the entire group.

In an unconventional dual leadership model, Stoessel will lead PPF alongside CFO Kateřina Jirásková starting in July. Both have been long-term employees of PPF since the days of Petr Kellner and are being promoted to top positions due to the departure of the current CEO, Jiří Šmejc.

Stoessel, as one of the biggest TV players in the Czech Republic, doesn’t see a major problem in the fact that the traditional living room screen now has many competitors — from mobile displays to global networks like Netflix and HBO. According to him, the main thing is to penetrate these worlds as well and broadcast the same programme not only on classic “linear” TV but also through their own video library or streaming services.

“When we add up all these channels together, our total viewership in our markets is growing,” said Stoessel. According to him, the merged Oneplay in the Czech Republic has half as many more subscribers than Netflix and many times more than HBO or Disney+, which Stoessel sees as proof that a promising business can be built by digitalising traditional TV.

Similarly, Šmejc spoke about the television business at the beginning of May during his last public appearance for PPF. Presenting the financial results, he described the TV experience from the Czech Republic as “know-how” that should be replicable elsewhere.

“It’s about us trying to develop a platform where you can find everything in one place in the living room or — as we call it — on the big screen. This includes enough channels as well as streaming. We have ambitions to bring plenty of sports content and original content in general,” Šmejc said.

According to him, Oneplay in the Czech Republic should grow from the current 1.4 million to 2.5 million subscribers within five years. “Our intention is to be the most used service in the Czech Republic. That is our goal,” Šmejc added.

Both Stoessel and Šmejc portray “local content” as the main key to attracting viewers. According to Stoessel, it is common in Europe—including Germany, France, and smaller Eastern markets where PPF operates—that domestic production makes up 60 to 70 per cent of the programming.

According to Stoessel, however, there are no significant savings to be made in content creation.

Thanks to domestic production, PPF is confident against global TV competitors. “We operate in smaller markets where it is difficult for companies like Netflix to produce as much local content as we can. And that is our competitive advantage,” says Šmejc.

Stoessel would like to replicate the television “know-how” from the Czech Republic and other countries in Germany as well. PPF has acquired a minority stake in the ProSieben channel in Germany and has offered to buy shares from other shareholders. According to him, greater influence by PPF should help accelerate the digitalisation of ProSieben.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz

ARREST IN ONLINE PIRACY CASE

Officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit at City of London Police arrested the 47 year-old man, on suspicion of copyright offences.

He is suspected to have obtained thousands of films, television series and songs without the necessary licence or permissions from the copyright owners and then distributed them through a file sharing torrent site. The content included two recent Hollywood films that were leaked before their official release dates. The names of the titles have not been revealed.

The man was arrested at his home in Penmaenmawr, Wales on 29 April. Officers shut down the site and seized two laptops and several hard drives for further examination. A large quantity of discs, which were used to store some of the content, were also seized.

The arrest took place following a collaborative investigation between PIPCU and the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

Detective Constable Jason Theobald, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, said:

“This operation serves as a warning to anyone thinking of uploading copyrighted material to pirate sites. This is a crime that diverts funds away from the creative industries, money that not only supports artists, but thousands of technical and support staff working in this sector.”

Karyn Temple, Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel for the Motion Picture Association, added:

“As technology continues to evolve, so do the threats to creative content. This decisive enforcement action reinforces the message that piracy is not a victimless crime– it damages creators, disrupts legitimate businesses, and endangers consumers. We are proud to stand with PIPCU and our partners to protect creative industries and ensure audiences around the world can enjoy stories in a safe, legal, and secure way.”

The man has since been released under investigation.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

OVER 1.5 MILLION NORDIC HOUSEHOLDS HAVE ACCESS TO ILLEGAL IPTV

Piracy remains a significant problem within the Nordic market with an increasing number of households taken in by the unauthorised distributors.

According to the Stockholm-based consultancy Mediavision, as of Spring 2025, 1.5 million households in the region subscribe to such services. This marks a new record and a significant increase compared to the spring of 2024. This represents an increase of 200,000 households (16%), compared to spring 2024.

“Piracy continues to pose a serious threat to the industry, especially regarding illegal IPTV,”

comments Adrian Grande, Senior Analyst at Mediavision. As illegal IPTV keeps growing, it is encouraging that the issue is on the agenda, but it is also clear that action is needed to tackle the problem.

The household penetration of illegal IPTV is lower in Finland compared to the rest of the Nordics. In Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, uptake among households is equally high.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

FOR LOVE ISLAND WE MADE PIZZA OUT OF WINDOW CLOTHS, SAYS TV NOVA SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANT

After her studies, she worked with people with autism, and now she helps make TV shows sustainably. Aneta Kožuszniková helped create the ESG strategy for Nova TV and is responsible for the production of Love Island.

The Central European Media Enterprises (CME) group, which includes TV Nova, TV Markíza and other stations from Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia, adopted its sustainability strategy four years ago. At that time, the group began implementing measures to reduce its carbon footprint in the production of its programmes. Last autumn, Nova and five other major domestic players established the Czech Platform for Sustainable Audiovisual Production. The purpose was to unify production processes and establish a database for socially responsible suppliers, fostering synergies with other institutions.

Greenfilming, as the platform is also called, offers a green filming manual and other tools that support the reduction of the negative environmental impact of the audiovisual industry. Green coordinators play an important role in decarbonising the creative industry. One of them is Aneta Kožuszniková, ESG consultant at TV Nova.

To what extent is the green coordinator function embedded in the Czech environment?

In green filming, there are several roles with specific titles. You will come across green captain, green marshal, green coordinator and others. In general, our field should permeate the whole filmmaking process. It shouldn’t stand alone. For one thing, we can’t jeopardise the shoot, and for another, we have to think about where we are going to stay, what transportation we are going to use, and which companies we are going to approach in pre-production. At that phase, we put together the sustainable filming principles we can apply. We constantly adapt the action plan to changes.

How did your work with people with autism or children in palliative care lead you to become involved in sustainable filmmaking?

I started out at TV Nova helping to coordinate the Nova Foundation, and the management was just developing their CSR and ESG strategy. Initially, through my experience in social work, I helped more with shaping the company’s CSR, but then my colleague Hana De Goeij and I found that green filming made a lot of sense. Television has to clean up its own backyard before talking about responsibility. So we started to test the principles of sustainable filming on a few projects, inspired by the British BAFTA albert platform [Author’s note: BAFTA albert is an organisation that is part of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA].

I suppose it was an important experience for you.

Yes, it was my initial training. They provide free courses specifically for one’s role in the crew. If you are a creative producer, an executive producer, a production or location coordinator, or a prop person, they have different training for these positions. That’s great because you are not listening to something that doesn’t directly apply to you. I’ve likely done all the albert training, and it gave me a decent idea of things, at least to start with.

But the most important preparation was the actual filming. I started as a coordinator for the Nova Foundation, so I knew nothing about filming. So I went to the producers to see if I could help them as a production assistant. The moment they brought me on the team for the first time and I was able to get a good feel for how everything worked, I not only started to enjoy filming, but I also figured out what was and wasn’t possible.

What conditions does a company have to meet to get a BAFTA certificate?

Only an individual project is awarded the certificate. It is best to summarise at the format development stage which measures are and are not possible. We submit a draft action plan to the albert online platform. At the same time, we draft a carbon calculator. If we already know at least fifty per cent of the locations, we are able to determine where we will use a local connection and where it won’t work without a local connection.

We also know roughly whether we will be building up the scenery and how we will be disposing of it. Within a week, we will receive a list from albert of the evidence we need to supply, and we also need to complete the carbon footprint at the end of the shoot. If albert accepts all the evidence, we will get a certificate and can put the logo in the credits.

How many Nova TV shows have a certificate?

There are 56 of them this year. They are both miniseries on Voyo and our Nova flagships. This year, they include Kriminálka Anděl, Wife Swap, Ulice, Extreme Makeover, Odznak Vysočina, Buldog z Poděbrad, Vypadá takhle policajt?, Monyová and Straka.

What were the conditions at TV Nova in 2021 when it became the first television station in the Czech Republic to oversee the sustainability of its programmes?

Nobody thought much about sustainability on set. We were faced with two approaches. One was that we had to convince producers that we needed to do it because our work has an impact on the environment, and we have a certain educational obligation. The persuasion phase took a long time, maybe two years. But we also encountered an attitude that producers were enthusiastic. We learned that for some shows, they were already trying to do this and would welcome tips on how to go more in-depth. I understand both approaches, but the longer we have been doing it, the more positive the reactions have been.

Could pressure from abroad have motivated the change? Nowadays, big players like Netflix or Disney+ don’t want to make films without fulfilling green filming conditions.

In 2021, this topic has not yet been addressed so much in the film market. Today, we often see that when the Czech Republic creates a co-production, a foreign producer insists on the principles. However, I would say that the pressure came more from domestic filmmakers.

What has changed?

Probably the general climate. Not only has nature started to change significantly, but as a society, we have realised that it is in all our interests to keep things at least the same. So that there’s somewhere to shoot. So that we can still live here.

Is it important that the whole Czech audiovisual industry has come together? Not only the Association of Directors, Writers and Script Editors, but also Prima, your competitor?

We don’t see sustainability as a competitive advantage. The idea came from the need to start doing things differently. It’s natural for us all to come together.

Is it possible to save money by taking a green approach to filming?

We have been tracking investments and profits for two years, and it is terribly double-edged. If we want to do things really thoroughly, we will invest in an LED fleet or renew the entire car fleet and put solar panels on the headquarters buildings. Those are investments that will pay for themselves in a few years. But there are also measures that save us money. Just the fact that productions have a smaller budget makes them more sustainable because they don’t fly business class and don’t stay in luxury hotels.

Environmental protection goes hand in hand with the economy. For example, when it comes to costumes, we shop at second-hand stores or rent. If we are able to provide our own power connection where we would normally use a generator, we definitely save money on diesel and on the generator operator. Some measures save us money, and others are long-term investments.

I was talking to a friend who is studying production at a Czech film school. He said they don’t really think much about sustainability on set – they are happy if they can get enough money to cover everything. The question that comes to mind is how to make green filming more accessible to students who have limited resources, especially in terms of money and experience.

I’m surprised you say that because I think young people like you are our hope. Your generation tends to be more averse to consumerism and most interested in where the world is going. It’s great that film schools now have seminars where we discuss green filmmaking with students. Albert’s free training sessions last about an hour and a half, and pretty much anyone can join in. They make you realise that if you have sustainability in your mind, you think about it all the time. Whatever I’m planning, I’m thinking right away if we are going to be able to sort waste on location, or how we are going to do it so we can go somewhere to sort it later. How do we do catering? Are we going to have disposable cups or are we going to ask everyone to bring their own? These measures don’t cost anything, but we need to think ahead.

Does TV Nova have a programme for young filmmakers to try sustainable filming?

I believe there is a collaboration with FAMU [Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague] right now for students to intern with us. But I don’t know what stage it’s at yet. Together with the Association of Audiovisual Production, we have created a website greenfilming.cz, where there is a lot of advice and recommendations on what to do and what to think about at what stage of filming.

Could you briefly describe a typical day of sustainable filming?

I would point out that most of those arrangements are made in pre-production. In terms of a typical day, we start by not printing the instructions but posting them online the day before. We print them on demand for professionals who might be writing something down in them. We carpool in fuel-efficient vehicles, organising groups to minimise the number of cars needed. We sort waste on location and in the studio during the day.

It is important to sort food as well, so that foodservice- and bio-waste are separate. Although waste is only a small part of the emissions, sorting on set positively motivates because the team sees that they are doing something for the planet. It’s not just intangibles like energy, airline tickets or accommodation. And we could continue like this until the afternoon when we have lunch that isn’t served on single-use plates and eaten with single-use cutlery. At the same time, we encourage vegetarian or vegan variations of meals. We are reducing meat consumption.

What are you currently tackling most?

Lately, we have been most focused on working with service providers. What we tried to do on our own shoot, we hopefully applied wherever we could. So now we are thinking more about what external providers can do, like catering or transportation. We are looking at post-production studios at the moment because that’s a big part of the creation of the format and we want to have green energy there as well.

I would guess that catering may be the most problematic item.

I guess so. There aren’t a lot of film caterers, so if we are finding one at the last minute because the original one dropped out, we can’t really choose. But nowadays, caterers are used to not wasting food, having a food waste container and using regular utensils. It was difficult after COVID when everyone was used to disposables.

You were the producer of the second to fourth series of Love Island Czechoslovakia. Do you remember any stories from filming about sustainability?

There are a lot of them! I took care of the games and the challenges. Through them, the director and I wanted to communicate to the audience that even though it looks fun to have girls throwing food at each other, it just doesn’t make any sense. So the first thing we tried to eliminate was food waste. A funny moment was when I was trying to convince the creative producer of the show that we were going to use non-edible materials in a game that was supposed to be played with regular pizza dough and ingredients.

The principle of the game was that the contestants would prepare the pizza using all of their bodies except their hands. So you can imagine what that preparation would have looked like, and of course, the result would have been inedible. I remember spending nights with a fellow production assistant creating salamis out of window cloths to look like the real thing. When I brought my creation to the creative producer, she laughed and told me she didn’t have the heart to tell me no. In the end, it was a huge success, and our head cinematographer said it looked great on camera.

Did Meatless Tuesdays have the same success?

Actually, yes. There were objections when we started it, but they have faded with each new series. We have a crew of about a hundred people, and naturally, not everyone understood our motivation, but we talked to them and found a mutual understanding. The great thing is that a year after filming ended, I found that many people from the production still observed Meatless Tuesdays outside of Love Island. I couldn’t believe how much they had embraced it.

It’s true that since I share a flat with a vegetarian, I eat meat significantly less because I think about it more.

We do meatless days to spread awareness that overuse of meat is not good for anyone. For one thing, it carries health risks, and for another, we don’t think about where so much meat comes from these days. We don’t think about how many animals there must be somewhere for all people to eat meat three times a day.

I grew up in a family where we had meat maybe once a week, and it was perfectly normal. I come from Havířov, a mining area, so when someone tells me they need meat to work, I think of my grandfather and uncles who were miners. They practically didn’t eat meat. They only had it available when a pig was slaughtered. They couldn’t go to the store and buy meat there.

But where does all the meat come from? We don’t see many animals in the meadows today, so where are they? These are questions we often don’t want to think about. We want to change that stigma.

You were at the origin of Green Week, during which you raise awareness of sustainability across TV Nova formats. Will there be one this year?

It’s going to be our third year, and we are organising it again across the CME Group. We are running it from 2 to 8 June. This week we will also have International Environment Day, so we will have special guests on Breakfast with Nova, thematic reports, documentaries and tips – both on air and on OnePlay.

Are you preparing a format similar to the Czech Television series Limits, which has the environmental crisis as a central theme?

We are not planning anything like that yet. We have a different type of shows from Czech Television. Czech Television has more educational value, whereas in commercial television, the entertainment purpose prevails. We create the format to meet the expectations of the audience. But we are not afraid of bold narratives. For example, in Ulice, we deal with all the problems that ordinary citizens face, so we had an environmental line. For example, the character Anežka was arranging for organic waste bins and giving tips on how to apply for them. There were also Fridays for Future protests, and we included shared bicycles Rekola in the characters’ lives, vegetarian versions of lunches, an environmental club… These things simply reflect reality; it’s not something we have to put in there by force.

How to portray the topic of the ecological crisis in all its seriousness, but at the same time in an attractive way? After all, it can’t be completely visualised.

When you think of climate change, you immediately think of a polar bear on a melting piece of ice, but it doesn’t tell you anything. But when you think about the fact that we had huge floods in the Czech Republic last year, that we started to have tornadoes and supercells, that we are facing temperature fluctuations, suddenly we are affected, and we can imagine it. We can’t simply shrug it off anymore. So we probably need to relate it to something that the viewer is familiar with.

What is the response from the audience?

We communicate topics in a way that inspires and motivates the audience, but we do it step by step so we don’t come across as aggressive. We don’t scream that we have to act now or we will all get grilled here. And the audience sees this approach positively. They often get tips from us that save nature and money, and that works great for us.

Can you remember when you thought it really made sense to do your job?

To be honest, ESG roles have been met with people shouting nasty things at them for years. I’ve been called an eco-terrorist, an eco-fascist and so on a few times. It always flashed through my mind at the time that I just wanted to help, and I wanted a place to film in ten years. For a long time, it was hard for me because even if your work gives you a purpose, the people around you put it down. But the moment your crewmates come up to you to tell you that they are on meatless days or that they haven’t thrown away a single piece of clothing in a year because we talked about it, I’m touched. Just like when a creative producer approves that we are going to make a sustainable game because it has a message, and because young people might be interested. Those are the moments I try to remember. They give me the strength to keep going.

Aneta Kožusznikova

  • External ESG strategy consultant for the Central European Media Enterprises group, which includes TV Nova, TV Markíza and other stations from Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia.
  • She graduated in Social Work at the Silesian University in Opava. Later, she went to London to study at the University of Hertfordshire.
  • From 2021 to 2024, she worked as Sustainable Production and ESG Manager at TV Nova, where she was at the heart of the Green Week for CME Group. Among other things, she was a producer of the reality show Love Island.
  • She comes from Havířov, is vegan and previously worked with the National Institute for Autism.

Source: ekoneews.cz

CREATORS AND INDUSTRY LEADERS RALLY FOR FAITHFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF AI REGULATION AT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Last night, cultural and creative voices from across Europe came together in the European Parliament with a united message: the EU policymakers must uphold the principles of transparency, consent, and protection of creators’ rights as artificial intelligence is integrated into the cultural and creative sectors.

Hosted by MEPs Brando Benifei and Michael McNamara, the event brought together prominent figures from across the European creative community, including ABBA co-founder and CISAC President, Björn Ulvaeus, Olivier Nusse (Universal Music France), Christian van Thillo (DPG Media), Anne-Sylvie Bameule (Actes Sud), and Jesús Badenes del Río (Planeta Books Division). The event also drew participation from a wide range of creators and performers, highlighting the breadth of concern and unity across the sector.

Speaking on behalf of a broad coalition of authors, performers, publishers, producers, and cultural enterprises, participants voiced serious concern about the current direction of AI policy implementation in the EU. They emphasised the need for meaningful involvement of the creative sector in shaping standards that will govern how AI is developed and used, particularly where it affects creative content.

Voices from the event emphasised the urgency of faithful implementation of AI regulation

Björn Ulvaeus, co-founder of ABBA and President of CISAC, said:

“We must never be seduced by the false idea that, in the headlong rush to the new AI world, creators’ interests must be cast aside. That approach won’t work – not for the creative sector, not for the economy, or for culture, or even for the tech sector whose vast AI revenues, let’s not forget, derive from copyrighted creative works made by humans. The vision has to be a win-win for creators and the tech industry. That can only happen with legislation that truly and effectively safeguards creators.”

Anne-Sylvie Bameule, President of Actes Sud, added that “fake AI transparency as currently proposed by the European Commission will enable AI companies to keep stealing millions of books in full impunity. The book market is already flooded with fake books that not only threaten the biggest European cultural sector but can also endanger consumers. The European legislator clearly said ‘no more’, it’s time for the Commission to do what the law says.”

Christian van Thillo, Executive Chairman of DPG Media, delivered a stark message:

“Big tech built empires by ignoring copyright and privacy rules, and today they’re doing the same with AI. Without compliance with the AI Act and rigorous enforcement, European culture and democracy will pay the price.”

Jesús Badenes del Río, CEO of Planeta Group’s Books Division, stressed that “full enforcement of copyright legal framework and development of AI models should not be seen as conflicting objectives. Respect for creativity requires strong and full transparency requirements about all works used for generative AI models. We should not forget that our society does not get best creative contents only from the benevolence of authors, but also from their regard to their own interest, as Adam Smith established in 1776 in his seminal work ‘The Wealth of Nations’. We encourage both European legislators and European Commission to act strategically regarding one of the real backbones of prosperity and democracy.”

Olivier Nusse, CEO of Universal Music France, highlighted that “a responsible AI serves artists and does not replace them. It collaborates with creators, not parasite them. It should elevate culture—not dilute it.  Because without artists and writers, there is no culture to protect in the first place. Intellectual Property Rights are there to protect human creativity. Only music created by humans should receive intellectual property protection. Songs produced by AI without any creative input should not.”

The message: Stay True to the Act, Stay True to Culture

The event was part of the creative sector’s growing “Stay True to the Act, Stay True to Culture” campaign. This initiative underscores a shared call for transparency, consent, and remuneration to be at the heart of AI implementation. The coalition emphasised that AI and creativity can thrive together – if the rules respect the people whose work powers these technologies.

For further information, please contact: brussels@ifpi.org

Source: ifpi.org

A NEW WAY TO FIGHT TV PIRATES. EDUCATION, FINES INSTEAD OF JAIL, AND ADVANCED TECHNICAL MEASURES

With the gradual development of television services via the Internet, a group of unauthorized distributors has emerged alongside legal and established pay-TV operators, supplying content illegally at a fraction of the price. Alternatively, fraudsters appear who do not deliver the content at all, or deliver it in poor quality, and even attempt to compromise the viewer’s device with malicious code.

According to several studies and research, piracy of audiovisual content has been significantly reduced, mainly thanks to streaming services, where users pay a flat fee for access to a very rich video library of various films, series, and exclusive content. However, unauthorized reception persists, especially for sports broadcasts, which are very attractive to viewers and increasingly expensive for television stations and operators. However, with the gradual development of internet television services, a group of unauthorized distributors has emerged alongside legal and established operators, supplying content illegally at a fraction of the price. In some cases, outright fraudsters appear who do not deliver the content at all or deliver it in poor quality, and even attempt to compromise the viewer’s device with malicious code.

However, current developments require cooperation between authorities and companies and institutions focused on combating illegal activities. Several European countries have already made sufficient progress to enable law enforcement agencies to take effective action against those who illegally distribute sports content and to warn those who often unknowingly watch pirated content. In many cases, illegal IPTV platforms are indistinguishable from legal operators. Thanks to highly effective marketing via social networks and naturally lower prices, unauthorized providers can win viewers over without them realizing that they are breaking the law.

This is one of the reasons why, in Italy, for example, the authorities have focused on other types of repression instead of imprisonment. More important is education, awareness, and fines imposed at realistic levels so that they are not ruinous. For example, fines imposed in March and April this year in Italy affected more than 2,000 people and ranged from €154 to €1,032. If someone reoffends, they face a fine of up to €5,000, at least according to material published on the Advanced Television website.

However, education is also important, and advanced technical means also play a role. It is not just a matter of detecting illegal streams, but above all of blocking them effectively. For example, a court in France has already ordered the blocking of illegal streams by companies operating VPN services. This can be a very effective measure, especially for ordinary viewers who cannot distinguish between the offerings of an unauthorized operator and a legal service.

Combating pirate distribution in the online world is a very long-term endeavor. However, it is positive that the authorities are now focusing primarily on education, technical measures, and appropriate fines, rather than resorting to very strict or even punitive sanctions. This approach may ultimately be even more effective in the fight against piracy.

Source: tvkompas.cz

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