The Association of Commercial Television + ScreenVoice wish you a peaceful and relaxing holiday season in the company of the stories and tales you love the most.
Merry Christmas.
January will bring only a few premiere shows to TV screens. On the contrary, some more archival titles will return.
January is traditionally a weak season for commercial TV stations, which is why there are few premiere titles on their evening broadcasts. These, on the other hand, will be added to the main programme of Czech TV from the beginning of January. However, ČT1 will also have a lower number of premieres in prime-time next year than in previous years due to previously introduced savings.
The main TV news of the new year will be the show Peče celá země, which starts on Saturday 3 January, and new episodes of the crime drama Místo zločinu Zlín. The opening episode will be offered by ČT on Monday 5 January 2026. The new episodes will be followed by the series Kamarádi (Prima) at the beginning of the year. However, this is basically the end of the list of premieres of dramatic works in the first time window from 20:00.
Mondays on TV Nova and TV Prima will be marked by reruns of the detective series Specialisté (Nova) and Polda (Prima), Wednesdays and Fridays will be marked by Vyprávěj (ČT1) and Sundays by Kriminálka Anděl (Nova). Tuesdays and Thursdays will again remind of Chalupáři (Nova) before Bratři a sestry appears for its last season, and Prima is also waiting for the return of Polabí, which is fitting Czech films into the series’ usual time slot.
Next up is the foreign series Inspektorka Candice Renoirová (ČT1), again on Tuesdays and Thursdays. From the foreign productions, the Slovak crime series Neuer will also be presented, which will occupy the Sunday evening airtime. In January, ČT will also include a rerun of the series Pustina as well as the series Četnické humoresky.
Nova continues with the reality show genre on Wednesdays in the form of Výměna manželek and the dating show Bachelor Česko.
A change from last year will be made to the order of the shows in prime-time, when after the end of the daily series ZOO, Prostřeno (Prima) returns to the time from 18:00, preceded by reruns of Ano, šéfe!.
Announced news from commercial television stations Nova and Prima can be expected in the coming months of the new year.
Source: mediaguru.cz
This year, you can also look forward to fairy tales, popular films and specials of popular shows on commercial TV channels. Enjoy a fairy-tale-like Christmas, in the warmth of your home, surrounded by your loved ones, and start quietly 3️⃣ – 2️⃣ – 1️⃣ RIGHT NOW!
Familiarity with the Oneplay brand, which was established in the spring, is already at the level of the former Voya. According to Nova CEO Daniel Grunt, awareness of the service has grown very quickly. But 2026 will be marked by further work with the brand, he says.
The Oneplay platform, which was created in March 2025 by the merger of the Voyo video portal and O2 TV, is three quarters of a year old. According to TV Nova CEO Daniel Grunt, it has managed to connect two initially disparate worlds surprisingly quickly, given that it was a project that involved two companies with different cultures, business models and technology.
“It was an extremely complex and large project. We worked on it together for two and a half years. We each started from different market conditions, where O2 operates in the satellite market and we operate in the streaming market, where the customer can leave at any time,” Daniel Grunt, CEO of TV Nova, described to MediaGuru.cz after the press conference of TV Nova and Oneplay on the spring programming scheme. It is Oneplay that is set to become the “centrepiece” of Nova’s activities in its future direction.
The average user watches five hours a day
Overall, viewers have watched more than 2.2 billion videos on Oneplay since the service launched on 10 March 2025. On average, they watch 35.5 hours a week, meaning the average Oneplay user watches more than five hours a day. The wide range of content, from reality shows, series, movies to a variety of sports, brings hundreds of thousands of users to the platform at any one time.
Nova’s CEO admits that initially Nova underestimated the overlap of users between the two services, believing that there were fewer Voya and O2 TV users than there actually were. This essentially meant a reduction of tens of thousands of customers because they naturally chose only one service. However, the situation quickly stabilised and the number of subscribers has been growing steadily since the spring. Daniel Grunt does not give specific figures, but he says that the monthly trend follows seasonality. “The growth is in leaps and bounds according to the season. In the summer it was good that we didn’t decline because Farma worked perfectly as a retention tool. And in the fall season, both the series and Love Island, for example, work. Plus, the latter had its best season this year,” he says, adding that the finale garnered up to half a million votes. “I’m pleased that Oneplay is attracting young people who are very hard to catch on TV these days,” he says.
Growing familiarity and continuing to work with the brand
In terms of familiarity, Grunt says the Oneplay brand has essentially grown to the level of Voya in nine months. “We’ve built a brand that is already extremely strong. When I look at the top of mind metrics, we’re plus or minus at the level where Voyo was, so we’re a close second to Netflix,” he assesses. Awareness of the service (awarness) has grown very quickly, he says. “But we have about two years of explaining what Oneplay actually is and what the benefits are,” he adds. In the coming year, therefore, Oneplay will focus on brand work and “basic hygiene”, for example in the form of corrections to technical functioning. For now, however, it has no plans to change the pricing or set-up of its packages. “Next year, prices will definitely stay. We are not thinking about change yet, it’s early days,” concluded Daniel Grunt.
Source: mediaguru.cz
The grey area in various forms has accompanied the distribution of digital content from the very beginning. One of the leading technology managers spoke to Broadband TV News about this long-standing problem, which is now “exploding”.
The interview, which was published a few days ago onBroadband TV News, warns of a dramatic increase in piracy, which has turned into a form of organised business, to which operators must respond by changing their strategy. Maria MalinkowitschofVerimatrix, one of the world’s leading cyber security companies, points out that traditional control methods are failing, as “81% of requests to remove illegally uploaded content are now ignored”.
According to the manager, companies are still mistakenly focusing on addressing the consequences rather than the causes. She therefore emphasises the need for a fundamental shift, whereby “the industry must move from mere reaction to detention and prevention”, which she considers to be the only viable long-term solution. Malinkowitsch identifies the abuse of distribution networks and unprotected applications that enable mass real-time streaming theft as a key threat.
How digital pirates steal
Traditional forms, such as torrents, are giving way to more sophisticated forms of piracy. The main form today is what we might call“piracy as a service”– complex illegal streaming platforms that function like professional platforms such asNetflix, with their own interface, recommendation system and thousands of channels, including premium sports. The second key form is“CDN network theft”– hackers steal login details from legal applications and use them to download original content directly from the servers where it is legally stored.
A long-standing problem is the distribution of television content via web browsers, smart TVs, smartphones or tablets, which are more easily accessible than the classic set-top boxes with encryption via decoder cards used in the past. Older viewers may remember the arrival of the Romanian satellite serviceDigi TVand its super-cheap offers. Piracy even reached such a level that keys could be obtained automatically using specially modified software.
A “business” like any other
On the dark web, which is referred to as the dark layer of the internet, you can buy a ready-made package for operating such a service. It is a completely illegal platform that already includes a recommendation system, a user management system, an administration interface, payments via payment cards and cryptocurrencies, and thousands of channels, including premium sports. The whole issue was described very well by theSynamedia portal less than three years ago.
How to deal with such services?Artificial intelligence helps significantly. Monitoring is performed using AI-controlled systems that scan the web, illegal IPTV platforms, and social networks (especiallyTelegramchannels, where “operators” find resellers). Watermarking plays a key role in detection – invisible marks are inserted into videos, which remain intact even after recoding or other manipulations. When the content appears on a pirate platform, this watermark can be identified and its exact source traced to find out who is responsible for the theft.
An example of a successful fight from the Czech Republic
TheStream Cinema Communityadd-on was long one of the most serious piracy tools on the Czech market, through whichKodiusers accessed content from all key players such as Netflix,Disney, HBO MaxandPrime Video. The technical complexity of combating this add-on lay in its legal architecture: the service itself did not host any content, but only functioned as a search engine and player for links to files stored in cloud storage.
Although the add-on (and its alternative, Stream Cinema) had been known about for a long time and was considered problematic, it wasthe Association of Commercial Television (AKTV), which represents the Nova, Prima and Óčko groups on the domestic market, that finally managed to do something about it after years. It completely disappeared from this online platform, the SCC “service” ended completely, and its alternative lost the content protected by AKTV.
Interview available here.
Source: mediaguru.cz
Authorities in Germany have carried out coordinated raids across three federal states as part of an investigation into a suspected organised pay-TV piracy network.
The action targeted four men aged between 41 and 51 accused of large-scale card-sharing and the illegal provision of IPTV services.
According to the public prosecutor’s office in Dessau-Roßlau and the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) of Saxony-Anhalt, searches were conducted on 2 December 2025 in Magdeburg and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, as well as in Delitzsch (Saxony) and Heldenstein (Bavaria). The investigation centres on allegations of commercial and gang-related computer fraud within the cybercrime domain.
Investigators believe the suspects unlawfully shared pay-TV smartcards from a major provider over several years, distributing access to a large number of users via the internet. The resulting financial damage to rights holders is estimated to be at least in the mid-six-figure Euro range.
During the raids, police seized extensive evidence, including computer systems, satellite receivers, IPTV boxes, servers, data storage devices and smartphones. Officers also performed live forensic captures of volatile data on external servers and were able to shut down illegal card sharing servers immediately.
The investigation is ongoing, the authorities said.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com
The Czech International AI Film Festival 2025 will showcase top films selected from more than a thousand submissions, offer meetings with experts and filmmakers in a panel discussion, and culminate in an award ceremony. An exceptional opportunity to see the future of film on the big screen awaits you. This year CIAIFF is entering its biggest and strongest year yet, with a record number of entries from around the world and ambitions to become one of the leading AI film festivals in Europe.
The Czech Association of Artificial Intelligence (CAAI), in collaboration with YDEAL and the zero1cine platform, invites all of you who are interested in where filmmaking is heading to the third edition of CIAIFF, an event with an international reach that brings together film, art and technology and proves that AI is not just a technical tool, but also a creative partner capable of turning dreams, ideas and a distinctive vision into a cinematic reality.
Czech Association of Artificial Intelligence (CAUI), the leader of the Czech AI ecosystem, together with partner agency YDEAL and platform zero1cine presents the third edition of the Czech International AI Film Festival (CIAIFF), a unique event that connects filmmaking, technological innovation and new forms of visual storytelling. The festival will take place on 13 December 2025 at Prague’s Cinema City Slovanský dům.
“CIAIFF is not just a film festival, but a laboratory of the future. It shows that AI in film is not a substitute for human creativity, but a multiplier of it. Prague is thus becoming one of the world’s centres of film innovation,”
says Lukáš Benzl, Director of the Czech Association of Artificial Intelligence.
CIAIFF is one of the pioneering festivals of its kind in Europe and has long shown that AI is not just a technology, but also a creative partner that can capture the imagination, dreams and thoughts of creators in a way that the classic camera cannot. After successful editions in 2023 and 2024, which captivated media from Wired to Forbes, the festival comes this year in its biggest form yet.
International competition and record number of entries
More than 1,300 films from all over the world entered the competition section, from which the curators selected the ultimate selection of the best works of contemporary AI cinema. The festival will award prizes in nine main categories:
- Best AI Film
- Best Science Fiction
- Best Documentary
- Best Experimental Film
- Best Music Video
- Best Screenplay
- Best Photography
- Best Sound Design
- Creative use of AI
The programme also includes special prizes from partners Curious Refuge, Eleven Labs and Minimax to support the winners with education, equipment and further development of their work.
International jury and inspiring guests
Winners will be decided by an expert jury of leading creators, producers and AI innovators:
- Odair Faléco, festival president and award-winning director
- Gaby Sitt, film director
- Mauricio Tonon, technical AI artist
- Michaela Ternasky-Holland, internationally acclaimed filmmaker
The accompanying programme will feature appearances by prominent figures who are pushing the boundaries of film and digital filmmaking, including:
- Boris Eldagsen, visual artist and AI photography pioneer
- Justin Hackney, co-founder of Wonder Studios
- Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance Film Festival
Project blocks, networking and ceremony
The festival will offer a half-day programme including screenings of films in competition, discussion panels, meetings with filmmakers and AI experts. The highlight of the evening will be the award ceremony for the winners of each category.
“While cameras only capture what is in front of the lens, AI captures and translates what is happening in the mind of the artist, in their imagination and dreams, and this is unique to this medium,”
says Odair Faléco, president of the festival.
Since its inception, CIAIFF has profiled itself as a global platform connecting professional filmmakers, AI creators, technology innovators and the general public. This year’s edition aims to show that the future of film is not just beginning, it is already underway.
CIAIFF is a platform open to filmmakers and lovers of film, art and technology – it doesn’t matter if you are an established filmmaker, a visual artist, an AI enthusiast or just someone who wants to see where film is heading in the new decade. The festival will appeal to anyone who believes that AI can bring new aesthetics, new forms of storytelling and push the boundaries of creativity. It’s also a unique opportunity for young talented filmmakers – the competition is international and open to anyone who uses AI as a major creative tool.
Practical information:
Date: 13 December 2025 from 15:00
Cinema City – Slovanský dům, Na Příkopě 22, Prague
Tickets: available now on GoOut (previous editions were sold out)
Source: asociace.ai
For the period 2027-2032, La Liga has negotiated a new television package expanded with the addition of Movistar and DAZN channels. This agreement represents an increase over the previous package, but also continues to illustrate the gap that opens up for Premier Leaguez in terms of broadcasting rights.
The current contract, worth €4.95 billion, runs until 2027 and has an approximate value of €990 million per season. This amount is then split between the teams. With the new contract, Movistar and DAZN will continue to split league matches, with five games appearing on each channel. The cost of watching all the games, which is already the highest of all the big five leagues, is likely to be very high in Spain.
The new contract, worth €5.25 billion, represents a 6% increase.
It has been confirmed that the total value of the new contract is €5.25 billion over five seasons, an average of €1.05 billion per season, an increase of €60 million. According to Marca newspaper, the contract was approved by La Liga’s TV rights control committee, with Real Madrid being the only dissenting vote, all the other clubs in the top two divisions voted for the contract, and Atletico Madrid praised it.
The total package amounts to €6 billion including add-ons
Including an additional €650 million for the service providers, €60 million for free service packages and highlights and other rights, the total package is €6.135 billion, a 9% increase on the previous deal, which was praised by La Liga president Javier Tebas.
“In a difficult national and international context, securing an overall increase of 9%, more than €500 million more than in the previous cycle, is excellent news for the economic sustainability of our clubs and for the future of Spanish professional football, which will receive domestic rights revenues in excess of €6.135 billion,” explained Tebas in a press release.
“At a time when many leagues are losing value, the continued growth and record success of LaLiga is particularly significant. This result reflects the strength of our product and the confidence of broadcasters, due in large part to our determined fight against piracy, which has helped us increase subscriber numbers, and the clubs’ efforts to continually improve audiovisual content to offer fans the best possible experience.”
Comparison with other major leagues
However, constant comparisons with the financial strength of the Premier League leave La Liga far behind. Its TV package for 2025-2028 is worth €1.6 billion per season, a difference of €550 million or 35%. Tebas often refers to the Bundesliga as a more realistic point of comparison, but according to Kicker, their current deal will mean revenues of €1.346bn a year, a difference of €296m or 22%.
Serie A currently has a €4.5 billion contract (Insider Sport) that runs until 2028, worth €900 million per season; La Liga’s new contract will surpass it by €150 million, or 14%. Ligue 1 is running its own broadcasting rights service after the collapse of its contract, and L’Equipe reports that the French top divisions will split just €80.5 million between them this season.
Source: football365.sk
He started in TV Nova news from scratch – as a reporter in 2003. Gradually he worked his way up through the ranks from editor-in-chief and programme producer to director of news and journalism at Nova, the head of one of the most influential media outlets in the country. The guest of the First League podcast was long-time media manager Kamil Houska, who will “celebrate” 30 years in the business next year.
Kamil Houska (photo) has been the head of Novak News and the newsroom since 2017. First as co-director together with Martin Švehlak, a few months later he remained the only director of Nova’s newsroom. His team is fresh from covering a newsworthy event – this year’s parliamentary elections (in early October). This included a series of specialised reports, debates, interviews, continuous broadcasts with results and coverage on TN.cz, or new programmes such as the debate for young voters, Voice of Gen Z, or interviews with candidates for key ministerial posts Why, Minister?
“In terms of our work, the parliamentary elections are one of the important events for which we prepare months in advance. We have been preparing for these elections since January. However, if we talk about the audience, especially for those political issues, we have been observing a certain shift of people away from politics lately, not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad. So you have some increases in audience numbers for certain types of programmes before the elections, you have increases in viewership, readership of articles and so on, but objectively it’s not what it used to be. I think overall there’s a sense of a move away from politics by some people. Project-wise, elections are a thing that we throw a lot of capacity at, we dedicate a long time to, but it’s far from being the most important event on the planet in terms of viewership. It just isn’t,”
Houska said.
The commercial station did extensive research into viewers’ preferences in news coverage some time ago. “There, it came out pretty clearly, one, we live in difficult times. Some people don’t understand those times and are not happy with them. The second thing is that there is a certain disgust with politics. And what, for example, and we’ve been trying to change this in recent months, what those viewers of ours that we’ve been asking have been accusing us of, for example, is that sometimes they feel that the political coverage, not just here but in the media in general, is about things that are actually, like, from their point of view, inferior. They want politics that affects them. We understood from that that making every argument between two politicians who get caught in the House over some marginal issue, that’s not what those viewers want anymore. That they’re kind of sick of it. And they also missed positive topics,” commented Houska, who said that at the same time people’s interest in regional news and consumer news (how much, what it costs, how to save money, etc.) was growing.
More at borovan.cz
Source: borovan.cz
World Television Day, which falls on 21 November, aims to highlight the contribution of television as a symbol of communication and global connectivity between people and nations. This year’s event is a reminder of the importance of a medium that has been with us for more than seventy years.
World Television Day was declared by the United Nations in 1996 following the first World Television Forum, which discussed the growing importance of television. This decision was made in an effort to highlight the growing impact of television on society and culture, its influence on decision-making and its ability to inform and influence public opinion.
Today’s television differs from the way it was then in almost every respect. Whereas the television screen used to be a single window on the world and broadcast according to a fixed schedule, today it offers unlimited access to content anytime, anywhere. Viewers are no longer passive recipients, but actively choose what, when and on what device they watch – on a smart TV, computer, tablet or mobile. Today’s TV is connected, personalised and global. It offers live streaming, archived shows, interactive features and personalised recommendations. The evolution of technology has contributed to the transformation of television into a medium fully adapted to today’s turbulent media environment. It’s a vibrant, flexible ecosystem that ranges from traditional linear TV to internet-connected TV, streaming services, HbbTV and FAST channels to TV in the sense of total video (where TV includes the latest trends in digital TV and video formats).
“The essence and power of TV remains unchanged even after decades. Even today, we still see it as a reliable source of information and a means through which we can share experiences, entertain, educate and dialogue across generations. Last but not least, television remains an important partner for businesses – helping brands to stand out, tell stories and stimulate emotions that can help them build or maintain a strong position in the marketplace.”
says Marek Singer, President of the Association of Commercial Television.
This year, members of the Association of Commercial Television will also join in the celebration of World Television Day by airing a birthday spot whose main message is that television is constantly evolving, but its essence remains the same. Today, it remains a medium that can reach mass audiences, shape our world view, inspire, educate and connect.
We wish television all the best!
The FilmToro server has prepared a selection of the best streaming services in the Czech Republic.
In its first article, the server focused on an overview of the Czech streaming services market. In this latest article, it helps viewers choose the optimal service according to their specific preferences.
The overview provides detailed information about the quality, prices and focus of individual streaming services. It looks at what is best from the perspective of various parameters – for example, which service is best for films, which is best for series, and where children or sports fans will have the most fun. It also covers platforms that offer experiences for Czech viewers or connoisseurs. Last but not least, the article offers a comparison based on price or the option to watch content for free.
Whichever service you choose, it is sure to offer you the right experience when watching your favourite programmes.
Streaming has become an integral part of our lives, and many viewers can no longer imagine watching series or films other than on demand, anytime and anywhere. But can you navigate the technical terms and diverse range of video-on-demand options?
If you want to expand your knowledge and get an overview of the wide range of streaming platforms, their history and current situation, read this article.
Not only does it explain the basic terminology of the streaming market (do you know the difference between SVOD and BVOD, for example?), but it also offers a look at how the streaming market has developed in our country and examines how many streaming services there are in the Czech Republic.
