Lenka Hrivnáková, Author at The Association of Commercial Television

ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCIAL TELEVISION PARTNERING WITH FORUM MEDIA’S EFFIE STAGE

This year’s Forum Media conference, the largest domestic professional event focused on media, marketing and communication, will take place on 9 November 2023 at O2 Universum in Prague. This unique event bringing inspiration, information and interaction is organised by Marketing & Media in collaboration with the AKA and APRA associations. The Association of Commercial Television has partnered with the Effie Stage this year, featuring four speakers from AKTV’s member companies.

The Association of Commercial Television has become a partner of the Effie Stage at this year’s Forum Media conference, one of the most important marketing events, bringing together the biggest marketing and communications experts from around the world.

“We are very pleased to partner with such an exceptional industry event as Forum Media. We want to bring attendees inspiration from the world of television, which undoubtedly continues to deliver the best results for advertisers,”

says Klára Brachtlová, President of the Association of Commercial Television.

Effie is synonymous with the effectiveness of marketing communication. Effective communication must be of top quality. It is therefore logical that Effie is associated with partners who offer the highest quality content or services in the communications market. And commercial broadcasters are certainly one of them,”

adds Ondřej Novák, Executive Director of the Association of Media Agencies, commenting on the partnership.

On behalf of AKTV, the conference will feature four experts from AKTV’s member companies as speakers who will introduce the latest trends and reveal why television is one of the most effective advertising tools in the marketing mix during their presentations on the Effie Stage.

Martin Vogt, Senior Research Consultant in the Brand and Media Experience department at Eye Square, will present the first ever research conducted for AKTV, an exclusive Czech edition of the Track the Success study, which compares the effectiveness of the same adverts displayed across different media channels, namely TV, BVOD, YouTube and Facebook. The study, conducted in the Czech environment, focused on finding out how viewers and users perceive media content and analysing the impact that a specific situation has on the effect of an advertisement when perceived, building on a similar project conducted in 2021 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The conclusion of the study is clear: TV performs best in all countries studied on several key parameters – it generates the most interest, attention, memorability and understanding of the advertising message.

“Television benefits from a number of advantages at once. It offers the big screen as the most effective advertising space, a trusted environment and quality content as a transmission medium, and last but not least, the highest visual attention. This pattern holds true across all the countries where we have conducted research,”

said Marvin Vogt, commenting on the study results. The detailed results will be presented to the participants of this year’s Forum Media conference on 9 November at 3 p.m. in conference room D8.

Jakub Strýček, Marketing Director of Nova Group, will take the floor at 3:20 p.m. He will present the topic TV as an active tool for rapid brand building and reduced investment in performance marketing.

“Marketing investments in today’s digital world are increasingly going to various online platforms, but TV remains the most important media channel. Why? Not only does TV offer broad reach and deep emotional engagement, it is also becoming a key player in the combination of rapid brand building and optimising investment in performance marketing. Performance marketing is like waiting with a net for a school of fish. And we will show you how to reverse this reactive approach to waiting for customer activity – and be an active player with TV leading the fish right into your net. We will also look at the synergies of the TV and online worlds that lead to lower customer acquisition costs while increasing brand awareness,”

introduces his topic Jakub Strýček, who is responsible not only for the marketing, PR, communication, research and media planning departments at Nova but also for the creative department, i.e. for the implementation of visual design projects for new TV shows, self-promotion and image campaigns.

Štěpán Wolde, General Director of Stanice O (Óčko), Media One, will discuss the battle between modern technology and traditional media in his speech “It’s Not Over (Until It’s Over)”, which will start at 3:40 p.m. Štěpán Wolde has been working in the field of media since 1997. At IP Praha/ARBOmedia, he was involved in marketing and selling advertising space for TV, radio and print. In 2006, he founded Media One, a company that focuses on special (commercial) operations on TV screens. In 2008, he managed the entry of Atmedia into the Czech market and in 2012, he became the head of the music television ÓČKO.

At 4 p.m., Josef Beneš, Director of VOD services at FTV PRIMA, will conclude the presentation of experts from AKTV with the topic From the traditional to the brand new: The evolution of prima+ in the new digital age. During the speech, the audience will learn how the new prima+ works with a unique commercial proposition that combines three subscription levels. They will also learn about the evolution of viewership and key trends, the functions and role of local exclusive content, genre preferences and the main attributes of the new prima+ service. Josef Beneš, who is a media professional with more than a decade of experience and under whose leadership TV Prima has successfully launched a new hybrid VOD service under the prima+ brand this year, will also comment on what constitutes the market standard today in terms of product quality and personalised communication across customer segments.

The detailed conference programme is available on the conference website: forummedia.cz/program.

EUROPEANS ARE CONSUMING MORE PIRATED TV SHOWS AND LIVE SPORTS

A new study by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has found the downward trend in piracy seen in recent years has been reversed.

Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union, Films, Music, Publications, Software and TV, 2017-2022 suggests TV content is the most pirated type of content in the EU and accounts for almost half of all piracy. The streaming of live events, particularly sport, is also on the increase, rising by some 30% between 2021 and 2022.

The study measured the number of monthly accesses per internet user to illegal content, which had declined between 2017 and 2021. In 2022, the trend was reversed, and digital piracy increased by 3.3%.

Speaking about the study, the EUIPO’s Executive Director, Christian Archambeau, says copyright infringement in the digital era is a serious concern and a direct threat to the creative industries in Europe. “The new study shows that there is still much work to do to tackle piracy. Stopping this phenomenon is complex as piracy is continuously evolving with technology. This is why understanding the underlying mechanisms of piracy is essential to adopt effective policies and measures that contribute to reducing it.”

According to the study, streaming has become the most popular method to access pirated TV content, with 58% of piracy in the EU occurring via streaming and 32% through downloading.

Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union, Films, Music, Publications, Software and TV, 2017-2022 is the third study on the evolution of web-based online copyright infringement.

The study examines the number of accesses to pirated films, TV, music, software and publications from January 2017 to December 2022, using a variety of desktop and mobile access methods, such as streaming, downloading, torrents and stream ripping software.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

TV NOVA TO INCREASE ADVERTISING PRICES BY 18% IN 2024

In its business policy for 2024, Nova TV Group is counting on an average increase of 18 percent in the price of advertising space.

The expected increase in TV advertising prices for next year has been confirmed by the strongest player in the domestic commercial market in terms of turnover, Nova Group. For 2024, it will increase the price of advertising by an average of 18%. This is the highest increase ever in more than a decade and reflects an increase in CPP and other parameters (see below). “Due to the growing demand for commercial space and the higher costs of programme production, we are forced to increase the average price for clients in 2024 by 18%,” Jan Ulrych, Sales Director of Nova Group, told MediaGuru.cz.

The coefficient for the months of May, June, September, and October is also increased by five percentage points. Similarly, the coefficient for the placement of advertising in off prime time (i.e. outside the broadcast time between 5:30 pm and 11:30 pm) will be increased by five percentage points. Nova will continue to sell advertising space primarily in respect of the 15-54 target group.

New for next year are 10% surcharges for advertising placement in TV Nova’s premiere programmes, for which the TV station expects high demand from advertisers. Another new feature is a 10% late booking surcharge for orders received more than 10 working days after the programme’s release.

“A large number of our long-standing clients have taken the opportunity to sign up for the next year at more favourable pricing terms using the current 2023 parameters before the launch of our new business policy,” Jan Ulrych explained.

The benefits of investments in so-called other media channels (i.e. Nova Sport channels, online channels, product placement, etc.) remain unchanged. It still applies that Nova’s video platform Voyo is not going to introduce advertising yet.

Nova Group achieved the highest share in its primary 15-54 target group of all domestic TV groups this September. It saw a share of 36.01% in daytime and 38.77% in prime time, improving by more than one percentage point year-on-year (source: ATO-Nielsen).

Questions for Jan Ulrych

In the middle of the year, Nova announced that an increase in the price of TV advertising for 2024 was inevitable. How will the basic CPP change for 2024?

Despite the initial nervousness at the beginning of the year on the part of clients, advertising investments began to grow significantly in the second quarter and this trend continued in the autumn months. Due to the growing demand for commercial space, as well as higher costs in producing shows, we are forced to increase the average price to clients by 18% in 2024.

Will TV Nova’s regular and long-term clients receive preferential treatment? If so, how?

Our transparent business policy must apply equal treatment to all market players according to the official terms and conditions. However, it is important to mention that a large number of our long-standing clients took the opportunity to sign up for the next year at more favourable price conditions using the current 2023 parameters before the launch of our new business policy.

What is the design of the new business policy for 2024 based on?

The good news is that the basic principles of business policy for clients remain unchanged. We believe that our clients will appreciate the continuation of the attractive purchasing target group of adults aged 15-54 for the next year. Within the pricing parameters, we have adjusted the coefficient for the 15-second spot footage and increased the coefficients in the busiest months of May, June, September and October by 5 percentage points. In terms of time zones, we are increasing the off-prime time coefficient by 5 percentage points.

What are the other main changes in Nova Group’s business policy for 2024 compared to this year?

We are introducing two new features next year. The first is a 10% surcharge for placing ads in our premiere shows, which we expect to see high demand from advertisers. The other new feature is a 10% late booking surcharge for orders received more than 10 business days after the program’s release. Due to the need to schedule sufficient advertising inventory capacity in time zones, it is important for us to know demand as early as possible. We believe that most clients will prefer to book campaigns early at no extra charge, helping us to optimise ad space while meeting campaign parameters.

What are the benefits of investing in other media channels and is the list of other media channels changing?

The discount policy of GRP sales in conjunction with investments in our other media channels remains the same and is widely used by clients. For example, we offer clients a wide range of options in product placement. We are a leader in content production on the Czech market, and we invest a significant part of our advertising revenues in it. We are expanding the spectrum of genres and the number of formats, we have significantly strengthened long-running formats, and we are shooting new seasons of popular series, currently I can mention the third season of Odznak Vysočina. This autumn, we brought back the legendary Kriminálka Anděl to the screen in its premiere series, and we are really pleased with the results. In our digital division, we are launching mobile apps for our reality shows with commercial promotion opportunities for clients. We have also made significant strides in influencer marketing relating to representing influencers and commercial use for interested clients. And finally, we plan to expand the programming offerings on our sports channels.

Is it still true that Voyo remains ad-free?

Our long-term goal is to make Voyo the number one local player on SVOD platforms and the largest library of local content. We are naturally keeping an eye on the market and the various subscription models used by our global and local competitors. However, we are not considering a change now.

Source: mediaguru.cz

SEPTEMBER’S NUMBER ONE: PRIMA, THE SHARE INCREASED THE MOST BY NOVA

The Prima group became the new TV number one in terms of share of viewership this September. It achieved the highest share in the universal 15+ group. Nova is the strongest in the 15-54 and 15-69 groups.

The new TV leader in the over-15 audience group in all-day broadcasting this September was the Prima group. According to the official ATO-Nielsen measurement data, it reached a share of over 29% and improved by 0.35 percentage points year-on-year. The number two in this audience group was the Nova group with a share of 28.4%, which improved the most year-on-year – by more than one percentage point. The third highest share was achieved by the previously leading Czech Television, whose share fell by 2.3 pp y-o-y to 26.5% this September.

In prime time (19:00-23:00), Nova remains the most watched group. It also has the highest share in the 15-54 (primary CS for Nova) and 15-69 (all day and prime-time) viewing categories. Nova has improved in all major audience categories and in both full-day and prime-time viewing time zones compared to last September.

The Prima group improved against this only in the universal 15+ group, and only in all-day viewership. In other audience categories and in prime time, its share declined year-on-year. This is also true for its primary buying target group 15-69.

The share of Czech Television has decreased compared to last September in all monitored values, most significantly in the universal group 15+.

The growth in market share was confirmed by the media agencies Atmedia and Televize Seznam in September.

Share of TV groups (%), September 2023, full day:

Statement of the Association of Commercial Television on the “Big Media Amendment”

Statement of the Association of Commercial Television on the draft amendment to the public service media laws

SEPTEMBER 2023

Statement of the Association of Commercial Television on the “Big Media Amendment” introduced by Minister of Culture Baxa in September 2023

At a press conference on 5 September 2023, Culture Minister Martin Baxa together with representatives of the five-coalition government presented the Amendment to the Act on Czech Television and Czech Radio and the Act on Radio and Television Fees.

During the press conference, it was repeatedly stated that the Ministry is in regular contact with representatives of broadcasters, that the draft amendment has been discussed with them, and that during its preparation, emphasis was placed on avoiding distortion of the media market.

Members of Asociace komerčních televizí, z.s. (AKTV), and the Nova, Prima and Óčko TV groups have in recent days familiarised themselves with the announcement of the Minister of Culture and the content of the draft amendment. It is with great disappointment that we have to state that we were not informed about the text of the proposed amendment at all, let alone consulted on it.

It is true that we have been in intensive contact with representatives of the Ministry of Culture this year as we participated in the advisory group on the transformation of the State Cinematography Fund and the related amendment to the Audiovisual Act. Therefore, we were all the more surprised by the Minister’s words that the intended significant increase in funding for Česká televize (Czech Television) should be seen as a topic related to the transformation of the Fund. During the several months of work of the advisory group, not a single mention was made of any connection between this topic and the financing of public service media. In fact, there is no such substantive link, nor does it make sense.

The submitted draft Amendment to the Act on Czech Television and Czech Radio and the Act on Radio and Television Fees primarily aims to increase revenues from licence fees by increasing the fees and expanding the number of payers while the source of Czech Television’s funding from advertising, sponsorship and other commercial communication is maintained in full. In the current economic situation, we consider it to be completely wrong to start dealing with an increase in fee funding without defining and knowing exactly what the increased funds in Czech Television’s budget are needed for and in what amount. We strongly prefer discussing the role of the public service media and the content of the public service as the first step in the process. Only then will it be possible to determine the cost of the public service and set a budget to fulfil the role effectively. Only if this discussion reveals that the current budget is insufficient, does it make sense to have an expert debate on how to make up for missing funds in the budget.

Moreover, the additional revenues from the collection of licence fees as anticipated by the current draft amendment significantly exceed all the amounts previously disclosed by Czech Television’s CEO, Petr Dvořák, in connection with the need to rehabilitate Czech Television’s budget. This fact raises considerable doubts as to what the increased funds are to be used for.

The submitted draft amendment to the Act on Czech Television and Czech Radio and the Act on Radio and Television Fees is thus completely inappropriate, has not been discussed with the parties concerned, and would fundamentally undermine the stability of the media sector. We therefore categorically disagree with the proposed amendment and request that it be withdrawn from the legislative process and thoroughly revised.

We are ready and willing to provide full cooperation and our expert insight into the functioning of the media environment in the Czech Republic so that the impact and potential risks to the stability of the market can be properly assessed when such major interventions are made. The current proposal would undoubtedly have a destructive effect on the balance of the Czech media environment, media pluralism and, last but not least, would very likely constitute an illegitimate interference in competition. The documents of the Ministry of Culture submitted to the inter-ministerial comment procedure, including the impact study, completely omit this aspect.

The last important point to consider is the situation in which the government is coming up with this proposal. High inflation and rising prices make households, businesses and the state tighten their belts. We thus consider it very unfortunate to pull additional hundreds of millions of crowns out of the family budgets of virtually all Czech households without any expert discussion.

THE PROPOSAL TO INCREASE MONEY FOR ČT IS SHOCKING AND UNACCEPTABLE WITHOUT DISCUSSION

The proposed major media amendment to provide more funding for ČT (Czech Television) and ČRO (Czech Radio) cannot be adopted without a discussion on the role of the public service. the discussion should have been held at the beginning of the preparation of the new legislation, says president of AKTV, Klára Brachtlová.

The Ministry of Culture has prepared a draft amendment to the Czech Television Act, the Czech Radio Act and the Radio and Television Fees Act (the “major media amendment”) without defining the tasks and content of the public service. This is unacceptable according to Klára Brachtlová, President of the Association of Commercial Television (AKTV), which brings together the largest commercial television groups Nova, Prima and Óčko TV. Without this step, it is impossible to quantify the amount the public service media should receive, she adds. She also says that the commercial TV companies were shocked by the draft of the major media amendment, which would lead to an increase in fees for ČT to CZK 160 per month and for ČRo to CZK 55 per month, because they were not invited to discuss its wording.

In its statement, the Association of Commercial Television has given several reasons why it does not agree with the major media amendment. One of the reasons you gave was that the bill should have been preceded by a discussion on what the public service should contain. Does AKTV have an idea of what the public service should look like in respect of television broadcasting?

The question of the design of public service broadcasting has no simple answer. The definition, which exists in some form, is one thing but its codification is another and more difficult one. We take our inspiration from Western countries, e.g. from the BBC, which defines the public service through the pillars of strategic priorities. I would prefer a more specific definition including commitments on the number of hours devoted to specific content formats. However, what we are facing is that there has been no discussion on this topic in our country. It should take place with the participation of media experts and should be at the beginning of the preparation of legislative changes.

AKTV is not the only one talking about the need for such a discussion. Who should organise it and where should it take place? Are the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate suitable institutions for such a debate?

We can draw on the recent experience we have with the discussion of the amendment to the Audiovisual Act. To discuss the amendment, the Ministry of Culture organised a working group comprising all the entities concerned. We think that the discussion on the amendment to the Act on Czech Television requires the same. This is an important change affecting the entire media market and it is absolutely necessary to hold such a discussion.

On the other hand, Culture Minister Martin Baxa said at a press conference where he presented the major media amendment that the proposal is the result of a year of preparation. So, there must have been some discussions.

Our belief was based on the fact that Minister Baxa publicly stated in July 2022 that the government would not increase the licence fees during its term of office. This made the resulting proposal all the more shocking to us. We were not invited to any group or informed of the text of the bill. Nor is it true that the Minister of Culture has been in close contact with the commercial TV broadcasters in respect of the draft amendment as he claimed at the press conference.

So, until the last moment, by which I mean the public press conference on 5 September, you had no idea what the amendment contained.

Exactly. We learned about it only from the press conference and then from the documents that the ministry put into the inter-ministerial comment procedure, i.e. directly into the legislative process.

It is right that the state is concerned about sustainable funding for public service media, but it must start from the other end. It must be known in detail what Czech Television uses the money for, the strategic priorities of the public service must be defined, and only on the basis of these steps should it be quantified how much Czech Television and Czech Radio need for this service.

What was the biggest surprise for you? The proposed amount of the TV fee or the expanded definition of a payer?

We understand that the Czech Television Act is thirty years old and that at the time of its preparation it did not take into account the possibilities of viewing media content that are offered by new technologies. From this perspective, the extension of the definition of a payer is understandable. However, we find the proposed amount of the TV licence fee shocking. The Ministry expects Czech Television to collect an extra CZK 1.4 billion in fees from households. This is an extra-large amount of money, and in such a case it must be defined what Czech Television will use these funds for. Otherwise, they may be invested in activities that may not be related to the public service. It is right that the state is concerned about sustainable funding for public service media, but it must start from the other end. It must be known in detail what Czech Television uses the money for, the strategic priorities of the public service must be defined, and only on the basis of these steps should it be quantified how much Czech Television and Czech Radio need for this service. And I am leaving aside the fact that there is an ongoing debate throughout Western Europe about whether licence fees are the right way to finance public service media (see the box at the end of the text, Ed.). In addition, the bill includes changes to the collection of fees from corporate payers, which is an additional CZK 400 million. This brings the total to just under CZK 2 billion for ČT.

From the perspective of Czech Television and Czech Radio, however, the argument of price increases since the last adjustment of the TV and radio fees 15 and 18 years ago, respectively, is logical. In that time, prices have risen more than the proposed fee increase. Thus, according to ČT’s estimate, the fair value of the fee this year is CZK 97, not CZK 135, i.e. 40% lower.

Yes, but if we compare the budgets of all Czech TV stations and see that the costs of ČT in production are two billion crowns, which means that ČT invests this amount of money in content every year, this is an incredibly high amount of money. We must therefore ask again why there is no audit of what ČT is spending money on and whether the investment is being directed towards public service activities and why the audit is not followed by the calculation of the amount for which the investment in ČT needs to be increased.

Czech Television has introduced a savings plan for 2023 and 2024, which intends to save a total of CZK 910 million for these two years. On average, this is more than CZK 450 million per year.

ČT’s CEO, Petr Dvořák, said that CZK 2 billion would be in Czech Television’s accounts this year. The source of this money is the aforementioned savings and the VAT refund from 2011 and 2012 in the amount of CZK 460 million (higher VAT deductions can be used by ČT and ČRo until 2024, Ed.). In our opinion, ČT has sufficient reserves to continue operating under the current financing scheme for at least two more years. This means that the discussion about the role of the public service and its form can take place without putting ČT’s operation at risk.

ČT has sufficient reserves; the discussion about the role of the public service and its form can take place without putting ČT’s operation at risk.

In its statement, AKTV also noted that the draft amendment provides for an increase in the TV fee but maintains advertising on ČT. The volume of advertising on ČT is currently limited to 0.5% of daily broadcasting time. In addition, ČT can only use two of its channels for advertising. The remark may suggest that AKTV would be in favour of removing advertising from ČT altogether. Is that right?

Yes, it is. We are not just talking about traditional TV advertising but also about sponsorship, which is also advertising from the TV viewer’s perspective. But the law distinguishes between the two types of commercial communication. ČT receives around CZK 250 million a year from sponsorship alone, which is money that belongs to the commercial market. Our position is therefore clear: public service media should not compete with commercial media in the way they finance their operations.

But if we take into account the current situation on the TV advertising market, which is basically dominated by two entities – TV Nova and Media Club – they are reaching the limits of their advertising capacity. Would the commercial TV market be able to absorb this money?

The point is that sponsorship has a different legal definition and is not subject to the legal limits of traditional advertising. Commercial TV stations have room to absorb this money.

Public service media should not compete with commercial media in the way they finance their operations.

Your statement also mentioned the connection between the amendment to the Audiovisual Act and the amendment aimed at increasing fees for ČT, which was Minister Baxa’s argument according to your communication. Could you elaborate on that?

There is no connection between the preparation of these two amendments, although the Minister suggested otherwise. In the light of the media amendment, however, it should be recalled that the amendment to the Audiovisual Act obliges commercial entities to pay 2% of their annual income from streaming services, plus it introduces a new obligation to invest directly in Czech audiovisual production. The amended law is expected to enter into force in 2025, which will subsequently bring a significant amount of money into the market. Combined with the increase in money for ČT, the volume of funds on the audiovisual market will increase significantly. Therefore, we are seriously concerned about market volatility and high input price inflation. We are a small market, with limited capacity, and we are already encountering this in many cases. Now imagine that in one year there will be an extra two billion crowns on the market.

PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA FUNDING IN EUROPE

• Funding through a FEE PAID BY INDIVIDUALS. Countries where licence fees are collected include: Czech Republic, Croatia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria, Slovenia and Great Britain.

• Public service media funding from a BUDGET prevails in Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, and Slovakia.

• A less frequent way of public service media funding includes payments made TOGETHER WITH ELECTRICITY as is done in Italy, Portugal and Greece or collecting fees through special tax on public service broadcasting as in Finland, France and Sweeden.

• NORDIC COUNTRIES: broadcasting tax instead of licence fees (Norway, Island, Finland, Sweeden).

EXAMPLES OF CHANGES IN CERTAIN COUNTRIES

• NETHERLANDS: licence fees were abolished in 2000; since then, the Dutch public service broadcaster Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) is essentially financed by annual state subsidies.

• DENMARK: transition from licence fees to state budget funding. In Denmark, the licence fee was paid from 2018 until the end of 2021, replaced by state funding from 2022.

• FRANCE: In July 2022, the French Parliament approved the end of the payment of licence fees; the abandoned model is replaced by a minimum VAT increase.

• AUSTRIA: In the first half of 2023, it was decided that ORF would change its funding system. The new model will reduce the licence fee: it will now be EUR 15.30 per month (per household) instead of GIS (linked to the device).

• SWITZERLAND: TV and radio fees make up 81 percent of the budget of the non-profit public corporation SRG SSR. Following a referendum held several years ago, the fee structure was changed. Instead of CHF 451 per year, CHF 365 per year were paid from January 2019. In January 2021, the fees have dropped to CHF 335.

• NORWAY: Until 2019, NRK was financed through a licence fee linked to the ownership of a television set, but this model has been abandoned. Since 2020, NRK has been financed from the state budget. Anyone with a certain income must pay an amount to fund NRK through taxes. In practice, an ordinary household pays roughly the same amount in NRK tax as it used to pay in broadcasting tax, but the tax is no longer linked to the ownership of a TV set.

• GREAT BRITAIN: Discussions have been ongoing since last year about how the BBC will be funded in its next cycle of operation, from 2027. Different options for future BBC funding are being considered.

KLÁRA BRACHTLOVÁ, PRESIDENT OF AKTV: She has been President of AKTV since the start of 2023, in January she was appointed Chief External Affairs of CME, the parent company of TV Nova. She was working in the finance section of Nova Group from 2007. She gradually held positions in reporting, financial planning, and analyses, she was Deputy CFO from 2012, CFO from 2014, later statutory executive, and in 2019, she became CEO of TV Nova.

Source: mediaguru.cz

COMMERCIAL RADIO COMPANIES: THE DRAFT AMENDMENT POSES A THREAT TO THE DUAL MEDIA SYSTEM

Commercial radio networks organised in the Association of Private Broadcasters (APSV) reject the draft of a major media amendment and consider it a threat to the dual media system.

Commercial radio companies that are members of the Association of Private Broadcasters have also spoken out against the so-called “major media amendment”, which is supposed to bring more money to Česká televize (Czech Television) and Český rozhlas (Czech Radio) by increasing the television and radio fees. In their statement, they claim that they were not consulted in any way on the draft amendment, that they were bypassed by the Minister of Culture and that “no government in power since November 1989 has shown such a lack of dialogue”. The commercial radios are concerned that the ministry has not justified the “real need” for the fee increase and that the proposal contributes to the threat to the dual media system.

“We, therefore, reject the submitted proposal as a whole and call on the Government of the Czech Republic to withdraw the proposal from the inter-ministerial procedure and to initiate a real debate on the role of public service media in a technologically and socially changing media environment,” calls APSV.

According to APSV, the submitted draft media amendment demonstrates a “profound misunderstanding of the media environment and the development and direction of the market”. They also point out that there is no definition of public service and that opening up a debate on this topic is a prerequisite for any modification of the current funding of public service media. “In the radio market, it is absolutely clear that, for example, the existing digital stations, which are also financed from licence fees, have not justified their existence from either a technical or a listener perspective, and it is not even clear what public interest they fulfil,” APSV states.

Representatives of the commercial radio market are also bothered by the fact that the bill continues to provide for the presence of advertising and sponsorship in the ČRo broadcasts and on the internet. “The draft thus tilts the balance of the dual system one-sidedly towards the public media,” APSV claims.

The Association of Commercial Television, the Union of Publishers and the Internet Development Association (SPIR) have already expressed their opposition to the draft media amendment.

Czech Culture Minister Martin Baxa (ODS) said during the publication of the draft amendment that the governing coalition wants to ensure the stability of public service media. He argued that the amount of fees had not changed in 15 or 18 years and that commodity prices had risen by tens of percent in that time. Thus, the proposed fee increases would not exceed the rate of inflation over that period according to the Minister.

According to the Ministry of Culture submitting the draft, stakeholders can also comment on the proposal in the ongoing inter-ministerial comment procedure.

“The bill does not contain any provisions that would give rise to concerns about market imbalance, the principle of financing public service media remains the same, i.e. from licence fees. The volume of advertising for public service media does not increase in any way over the current situation,” Petra Hrušová from the Press Department of the Ministry of Culture responded last week.

Source: mediaguru.cz

ACE SHUTS DOWN “MASSIVE-SCALE” FRENCH PIRATE SITES

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has shut down Uptobox and Uptostream, two of the digital piracy world’s most notorious illegal video hosts.

According to ACE, the action, conducted in France and the United Arab Emirates, puts an end to a piracy operation that was well known for a decade among distributors of infringing content. The illegal service boasted massive audiences, mainly from France, but also from Indonesia, India and Mexico, with 1.5 billion visits over the last three years. The services hosted a sizable infringing library of film and television titles affecting all ACE members and many other rightsholders, allowing users to stream and download copyright-protected content at no cost or through a paid premium subscription.

The two French nationals who ran the illegal service are based in Dubai, where they amassed illegal gains from selling advertising and premium subscriptions.

Commenting on the shut down, Jan van Voorn, executive VP and global content protection chief of the Motion Picture Association and head of ACE, said: “The action we announced today demonstrates that even the most sophisticated piracy operations are not above the law.

“This case sends a strong message to criminal operators that their illegal actions will be put to an end eventually. They may think their operations are undercover, but ACE has the network, resources and expertise to identify them and shut them down”.

Céline Boyer, head of content protection at Canal+, added: “Canal+ supports swift action when acts of piracy compromise intellectual property rights, which in turn has an impact on our business.

“Our partnership with ACE is essential to ensuring that the creative marketplace continues to thrive by addressing content piracy at its source”.

Nathalie Bobineau, senior VP of international development of French public broadcaster France Televisions, said: “France Televisions has zero tolerance for piracy and illegal distribution of content and channels.

“By collaborating with ACE, we reinforce our commitment to upholding the principles of copyright protection and preserving the value of original content”.

ACE is the world’s leading coalition dedicated to protecting the dynamic legal market and reducing digital piracy.

In some cases involving illegal operations in France, ACE and the MPA collaborate with French anti-piracy association ALPA, who, earlier this year, obtained a blocking order for Uptobox and Uptostream in France.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

STATEMENT OF PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHING ASSOCIATIONS ON THE PROPOSED “MAJOR MEDIA AMENDMENT”

Czech publishers represented in professional associations SPIR (Association for Internet Development) and UV (Union of Publishers) demand an expert discussion on the financing of public media and their role alongside commercial media. They criticise the fact that the introduction of the amendment to the acts on Czech Television, Czech Radio, and radio and television fees (the so-called major amendment on public service media) was not preceded by any professional discussion with the media sector and that the proposal skews the balance between commercial and public service news publishers.

First and foremost, we regret to say that such a significant increase in the budget of the public media was not preceded by the necessary discussion, which would have included the professional associations representing the providers of news content. These organisations are in permanent competition with the public service media. We fully appreciate the importance of the public service of ČT (Czech Television) and ČRo (Czech Radio) in the democratic organisation of our country and we do not question the importance of their existence by this statement at all. However, in an information environment that is increasingly moving online, there must also be strong private media to ensure the balance. Unlike public service media, private media are subject to market principles and therefore have to compete for their revenues through competitive mechanisms.

In conjunction with the continuous shift of public service media to the internet and the proposed extension of exemptions from online advertising, which is crucial for media funding, we are concerned that the proposed changes could have a very negative impact on private media, which form an essential part of the media and information scene.

The professional publishing associations have therefore jointly addressed the government representatives with a request to hold an expert discussion on the position and evaluation of all models of possible financing of public service media on the Czech media market before submitting the bill.

In our opinion, the submitted draft Amendment to the Act on Czech Television and Czech Radio and the Act on Radio and Television Fees with its current wording is completely inadequate, has not been discussed with the affected entities and would represent a major disruption of the stability of the entire media sector. We therefore categorically disagree with the proposed amendment and request that it be withdrawn from the legislative process and thoroughly revised.

Source: spir.cz

COMMERCIAL TV COMPANIES DEMAND WITHDRAWAL OF MAJOR MEDIA AMENDMENT

The commercial television groups Nova, Prima and Óčko show their displeasure with not being invited to discuss the proposal to increase the fees for ČT (Czech Television).

The commercial television groups that are members of the Association of Commercial Television (AKTV) are demanding the immediate withdrawal of the draft of the major media amendment. It includes, among other things, a proposal to increase the TV and radio fees for Czech Television (to CZK 160) and Czech Radio (to CZK 55), and a new definition of the payer. AKTV finds the proposal “inadequate, not discussed with the entities concerned and fundamentally undermining the stability of the media sector”.

“We therefore categorically disagree with the proposed amendment and demand that it be withdrawn from the legislative process and thoroughly revised,”

says AKTV President, Klára Brachtlová.

According to its statement, AKTV was not informed of the text of the proposed amendment, nor was it invited to discuss it. AKTV includes the Nova, Prima and Óčko TV groups. The first two have major shares of the TV advertising market.

AKTV also stated that it has been in intensive contact with representatives of the Ministry of Culture this year as a member of the advisory group on the transformation of the State Cinematography Fund and the related amendment to the Audiovisual Act. The announcement by the Ministry of Culture that the intended increase in funding for Czech Television should be seen as a topic related to the transformation of the Fund came as a surprise to AKTV. According to AKTV, during the several months of work of the advisory group, there was not a single mention of any link between this topic and the financing of public media.

“The submitted draft amendment to the Act on Czech Television and Czech Radio and the Act on Radio and Television Fees primarily aims to increase revenues from licence fees by increasing the fees and expanding the number of payers, while the source of Czech Television’s funding from advertising, sponsorship and other commercial communication is maintained in full. In the current economic situation, we consider it to be completely wrong to start dealing with an increase in fee funding without defining and knowing exactly what the increased funds in Czech Television’s budget are needed for and in what amount. We strongly prefer discussing the role of the public service media and the content of the public service as the first step in the process. Only then will it be possible to determine the cost of the public service and set a budget to fulfil the role effectively,” said AKTV President.

AKTV would support an increase in ČT’s budget if the expert discussion shows its necessity. The current draft media amendment would have a destructive effect on the balance of the Czech media environment, media pluralism and, last but not least, would very likely constitute an illegitimate interference in competition, according to AKTV.

Czech Culture Minister Martin Baxa (ODS) said during the publication of the draft amendment that the governing coalition wants to ensure the stability of public service media. He argued that the amount of fees had not changed in 15 or 18 years and that commodity prices had risen by tens of percent in that time. Thus, the Minister said the proposed fee increases would not exceed the rate of inflation over that period.

Source: mediaguru.cz

TELEVISION REMAINS THE MOST POPULAR FORM OF VIDEO IN THE WORLD

The Global TV Group recently released an updated version of its survey of how television is consumed around the world. The figures show that despite the rise of digital alternatives, traditional television remains attractive and attracts viewers with its diverse range of content.

he survey shows that television is still very popular.

Commentary on the survey was provided by Matt Hill, Director of Research and Planning at Thinkbox:

Resilience and popularity: TV remains the world’s favourite video

85% in Brazil, 75% in Austria, 76% in Germany, 69% in Canada, 75% in France…although the video galaxy is ever more complicated, fragmented, and competitive, TV continues to be its major solar system, usually accounting for at least two thirds of video consumption.

This is a remarkable story of resilience (if you’re feeling defensive) or enduring popularity (if you’re feeling positive).

The video world has seen more change in the last decade than the last half century. The explosion of subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), YouTube’s mainstreaming, and TikTok’s turbo-emergence have created a storm that some predicted TV could not weather.

Now those clouds appear to be dispersing and we have a clearer picture. Although we don’t have similar data for countries around the world, the UK experience is unlikely to be radically different from most other countries – and there are two trends in the UK’s video data which are worth noting.

The first is that, in 2022, collective viewing to SVOD like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video services declined for the first time, dropping from 53 mins a day in 2021 to 45 mins in 2022. The impact of unnaturally high TV viewing in 2021’s pandemic-induced lockdown, coupled with a cost-of-living crisis where SVOD subscriptions are under pressure, is likely responsible.
The second trend is that the gradual decline in broadcaster TV viewing in the UK that we have seen in recent years (it was just over 4 hours a day on average per person in 2015 and just over 3 hours a day on 2022) is now slowing and plateauing.

These two things combined suggest that we are entering a period of stability in terms of viewing patterns as the tumultuous recent years in video settle down. Although the TV viewing cake remains roughly the same size, the SVODs have in recent years taken a slice of time away from broadcaster TV. But that impact now appears to have been largely felt – and the broadcasters’ pedigree and expertise ensures they are well placed to thrive in the future on screens across the globe.

Source: theglobaltvgroup.com