Lenka Hrivnáková, Author at The Association of Commercial Television

PRIMA WILL BET ON THE PREDICTION OF RESULTS THIS YEAR, THE INVITATION FOR BABIŠ STILL STANDS

Prima will bet on the prediction of election results this year, too, the invitation for Andrej Babiš still stands. CNN Prima News also wants to use the projection of the election results before the final count in this year’s presidential elections. Its editor-in-chief Pavel Štrunc considers it a factor that makes the broadcast more attractive and distinguishes it from the competition.

Just like in the 2021 parliamentary elections, CNN Prima News wants to use predictions of the election results in this year’s presidential elections to provide viewers with determinative information before the competition. In an interview, CNN Prima News editor-in-chief Pavel Štrunc explains why this move is important for the Prima Group.

So far, CNN Prima News has broadcast the first of the main presidential debates, inviting six presidential candidates who are in fourth to ninth place in terms of preference. The debate was also broadcast on the main TV Prima channel. It will repeat the same model for the second of the debates, which is scheduled for Wednesday 11 January. It is reserved for the three leading candidates, but apparently only two of them will make it. Andrej Babiš has so far only confirmed his participation in the debate on TV Nova. „Our invitation to Andrej Babiš still stands. But if he does not come, I believe that the debate between the two candidates will be very interesting,“ Pavel Štrunc estimates. He considers mastering a TV debate to be a key media skill that can indicate a lot to voters. „Standing in front of a live audience in the light of ramps is not easy. Today, voters have a number of options where they can bump into candidates, but the televised debate is still the most important test,“ he adds.

CNN’s Prima News and Prima aired the first of the presidential candidates’ debates on Wednesday, January 4. It pitted the candidates who are now polling in fourth to ninth place. Right at the beginning, one of the candidates, Pavel Fischer, complained that the division of the candidates into two groups creates two categories of candidates. How did you select the candidates for the debates?

We are strictly based on data and we stick to public opinion polls. They clearly show a lead for the top three candidates and then the next group of candidates comes out of that. That’s why we decided to give space in our first debate to all candidates outside the leading three. As a commercial broadcaster, we could have easily invited only three candidates to the first debate, which we did not do. We gave space to all of them, both in prime time on CNN Prima News and on the main Prima channel. All the candidates knew the concept of our broadcast long in advance and no one opposed it.

Were you prepared to bring other candidates into the debate if there were more than nine candidates in total?

We were really responsible, we were waiting for the Supreme Administrative Court to decide and we were ready to have these candidates in the studio. If it turned out that the differences in the candidates’ preferences were smaller than what the current data shows, we would address that in cooperation with STEM analysts. We were prepared to take the court’s decision into account on the day of the debate. Similarly, we are currently prepared for the possibility that Andrej Babiš may appear on Wednesday’s Superdebate.

So your concept of the election broadcast is based on research from the STEM and Stem/Mark agencies?

We have election models primarily from these two agencies. The sample of respondents exceeds two thousand, which is an above-average number. Even one of the surveys had over two and a half thousand respondents. It was not cheap to get these surveys, but we wanted to invest in them so that we could rely on the data. In addition, we take into account results from other agencies.

What did the first debate show you? Is there anything you would like to change in the second debate, which will be broadcast on Wednesday 11 January and to which the leading three are invited according to their current preferences?

We’re happy with the results of the first debate, it’s the first presidential election for CNN Prima News. In the 2018 presidential election, the Prima debate was only broadcast before the second round, and on the main channel, because at that time CNN Prima News was not yet broadcasting. We haven’t had a presidential election to that extent yet. On the other hand, we have already had experience from the parliamentary and local elections, which we did differently, and I dare say that we passed this test as well. When we broadcast our first debate on Wednesday 4 January, we had a lot of competition from other TV stations in the form of the film Bábovky, and especially in the semi-final match between the Czech junior hockey team and Sweden. The total viewership on both channels of over half a million viewers is decent from our point of view and perhaps more importantly, the viewership grew during the debate.

We were prepared to take the court’s decision into account on the day of the debate. Similarly, we are currently prepared for the possibility that Andrej Babiš may appear on Wednesday’s Superdebate.

Will you change the dramaturgy for the second debate?

We will not change anything, the dramaturgy and production will remain the same. However, there will definitely be more space for the presidential candidates to react to each other so that it is really a debate and not just a series of monologues. Again, we are trying to be data-driven, and that’s why the connection with STEM is important to us, not only for the electoral models, but also for describing the social trends that we open the debate with. That’s why a part of the programme is based on the presentation of data and facts and we want to stick to that.

Based on Andrej Babiš’s statement last week, it looks like he will not be joining your debate. Do you think you will welcome a pair or a trio of candidates in the studio this week?

Our invitation to Andrej Babiš still stands. I consider the debate between the three candidates to be sufficiently dignified, data-driven and interesting. If Andrej Babiš does not arrive, I also see the debate between the two candidates as very worthwhile. It is a contest for the highest constitutional post. After all, President Zeman has also spoken about the importance of the presidential television debates. I also hear from colleagues who have come to us from the print or online media that the reaction in live television broadcasts is the most demanding test of the candidates. It would be a shame, in my view, if viewers were deprived of that experience.

If there are only two candidates in the studio, it could be a test before the second round, where a pair of candidates also clash.

I don’t want to completely reveal the second round, because we’re going to have something extra for the second round that will give the audience a hint of how the candidates are able to respond. I’m not going to give it away just yet, but I can say that it’s definitely not going to be a test of school encyclopedic knowledge.

Why do you see televised debates as the most important of media outlets?

It is a live broadcast with a large audience in front of the screens and also in front of a live audience in the studio. It’s different from the various interviews on the internet, social media, although I’m a big fan of them too and rate some of these formats as great. However, in terms of the demands that are placed on the candidates during the interviews, the televised debate is the highest because the candidates have to withstand a lot of pressure within a couple of seconds.

In terms of the demands that are made on the candidates in the interviews, the televised debate is the best because the candidates have to withstand a lot of pressure within a couple of seconds.

How do you select the studio audience? For some candidates, their supporters were more vocal in the first debate. Doesn’t that affect the overall dramaturgy and tone of the debate?

The number of seats in the studio is strictly divided between the candidates and their supporters. Each candidate can bring a certain number of supporters, so it is all about the candidates’ cooperation with them. We are prepared to ask the audience to quieten down if necessary, but there was no reason to do so in the first debate.

This year Prima is also giving the audience the opportunity to express their sympathy by sending in their votes for the candidates. How many voters took part in the first debate?

It was about 25,000 voters, and it is important to add that each voter must first register and then can vote. They only have the option of one vote, just like in the case of texting. It is strictly controlled. If we left the voting open without registration, the interest would be many times greater, but we do not want to remove the registration requirement.

What do you expect the viewership to be? Could it be more than double compared to the first debate? The main candidates will compete this time…

The important thing has been said, the main candidates, who have not met each other much in debates so far, will compete. That is why I believe that the ratings will be very good. I don’t want to make any more predictions.

Will Wednesday’s result be affected by the Czech Television debate, which was broadcast on Sunday 8 January?

I believe that it will only increase interest in our next pre-election debate, especially in the two main candidates. There is still a lot of time before Saturday, when the polls close, and the candidates are becoming more and more defined against each other. I’m glad we have the opportunity to be as up-to-date as possible in the debate.

The big debates on CNN Prima News and TV Prima are accompanied by a studio audience. Have you considered changing that approach for the presidential election?

It is a characteristic feature for us to have viewers as close to our broadcast as possible, so we want to invite them to our studio. We haven’t considered changing that.

But this time the audience did not ask questions in the studio. Will that remain the case for future presidential debates?

Normally we give our audience that opportunity, but for the presidential election we decided that only our host Terezie Tománková would ask questions.

You are the only TV station that works with predicting the election results in your broadcasts. You said you want to use them in this year’s presidential election as well…

Our cooperation with STEM and Stem/Mark is working well and the predictions we published in the parliamentary election came out perfectly. When about 60% of the votes were counted and ANO was still in the lead, STEM and Stem/Mark analysts were already pointing to an upward trend for ANO and saying that it would win the election. We would like to repeat something like this in the presidential election. Predictions are based on data and we take it responsibly. It opens up more possibilities for our election coverage. The moment we know which candidate will advance or become president, we can adjust our broadcasts accordingly.

I wouldn’t compare this year’s presidential broadcast to 2018. On Prima today, the debates are prepared by a completely different team and the concept of the broadcast is also different.

Isn’t the use of predictions risky?

We take a lot of inspiration from the American CNN, where they work with the phenomenon of !swing states” (states with balanced support for both candidates, ed.). The state in which a candidate wins can be used to infer whether he or she will become president. In cooperation with STEM, we have also selected cities and regions that, if a candidate dominates, are very likely to become president. You might argue that we don’t have a 200-year tradition of presidential elections, but we have gone through a lot of data with a research agency, not only from presidential elections but also from parliamentary elections, to determine this. We will be broadcasting from the studio all day on Saturday, January 14 and Saturday, January 28, and our goal is to convey information to viewers as clearly and comprehensibly as possible, so we are not planning any outside broadcasts. Of course, we are trying to reach audiences across the entire television spectrum, including viewers of Czech Television. We are interested in every viewer and we believe we have something to offer them because we will show something different again. And that’s not a platitude.

Alongside the election result predictions, this year you will also use an interactive technological aid, known as the “Prima Pencil”, which the presenter uses to present the data and show it on a map.

We are trying to incorporate it more into our regular broadcasts as well, as it helps us to better illustrate the course of events and their context. The presenter Petr Suchoň will use this technology to convey information to the audience and his role will be the same as in the local elections. He will focus on interesting details and look into the history of elections in individual towns or villages. We will bring interviews and analysis from all the election staffs, supplemented by information from social networks.

During the last presidential election, CNN Prima News was not yet on the air, but the debate between Miloš Zeman and Jiří Drahoš before the second round of the election was watched by 2.3 million viewers on TV Prima’s main channel, making it the most watched programme in TV Prima’s history. Some commentators have described it as a “debate with a lot of shouting”, will it be different this year?

I wouldn’t compare this year’s presidential broadcast to 2018. On Prima today, the debates are prepared by a completely different team and the concept of the broadcast is also different.

PAVEL ŠTRUNC, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, CNN PRIMA NEWS: He has been the editor-in-chief of CNN Prima News since September 2020 and has worked for Prima TV news since 2012. He has also gained experience at ČT24 and Z1 news TV. He hosted his own show Štrunc! on the Info.cz website.

Source: mediaguru.cz

DISCUSSION TO REGULATION OF ADVERTISING FOR NICOTINE SACHETS

The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic has proposed an amendment to the Act on Advertising Regulation (Act No. 40/1995 Coll., as amended) to regulate the advertising of nicotine sachets. The main objective is to protect children and adolescents from the effects of the use of nicotine sachets, in particular by reducing their attractiveness by regulating the content and location of advertising.

The amendment is also intended to level the playing field for the sale of nicotine-containing products intended for normal use. Since nicotine sachets are a relatively new product with addictive potential on the market, advertising of these products has not been regulated to date. The aim of the amendment is to introduce effective regulation of advertising, particularly with regard to the impact of advertising on children and adolescents.

CZECH TELEVISIONS DELIVERED ALMOST THE SAME AMOUNT OF ADVERTISING GRPS LAST YEAR

Last year, czech TV stations delivered a comparable volume of advertising GRPs as the year before.

Domestic TV stations delivered a comparable number of GRPs in the advertising TV market in 2022 as in 2021 (-0.7%). Media Club and Nova Group remain the strongest business networks in terms of delivered GRPs, Atmedia achieved the highest year-on-year increases at the level of percentage units last year. This is shown by Nielsen Admopshere monitoring data.

Investments in TV advertising grew again last year, according to raw data from Ad Intel monitoring, and most TV stations dealt with the filling of advertising space. The monitored data for the year 2022 is not yet closed, but by the end of last November, i.e. for eleven months of the year, the year-on-year dynamics exceeded the level of 10%.

Nova and Prima stations delivered the most GRP last year, followed by Prima Max, Prima Krimi, Nova Cinema, Prima Cool and Nova Fun. In addition to the new stations where the year-on-year increase in GRP is essentially high (Prima Star, Prima Show and Nova Lady), the year-on-year increase in the volume of delivered GRPs was the most on CNN Prima News and Televizi Seznam.

Share of business networks in delivered GRPs in 2022

In terms of viewership, Czech Television is among the two strongest commercial entities. In its case, the volume of advertising is significantly limited by law, therefore its share in delivered GRPs is low.

Media Club (stations of the Prima, Barrandov, Óčko group and some thematic stations) became the strongest entity in all-day and evening viewership in the target group 15+ and in all-day viewership 15-69. Nova group stations were strongest in the 15-54 category (valid for all day and prime-time) and in prime-time 15-69. Given that Media Club also represents Atmedia stations, its share increases when calculating Atmedia’s share of the highest values in all-day and evening viewership in 15+ and 15-69. The Nova group is strongest in all-day and evening viewership 15-54.

Source: mediaguru.cz

THE AMENDMENT TO THE COPYRIGHT ACT IMPOSES A “NOTICE & STAY DOWN” OBLIGATION ON REPOSITORIES

Amendment to the Copyright Act introduces the “notice & stay down” principle for online content-sharing service providers.

On 5 January 2023, an amendment to the Copyright Act (Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on Copyright and Related Rights and on Amendments to Certain Acts, as amended) came into force. It was published in the Collection of Laws on 21 December 2022 under No. 429/2022. The amendment was prepared under the charges of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. It implemented the not yet adopted provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/789 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes, and Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market (the “DSM Directive”).

In addition to the Copyright Act, related legislation was amended, in particular the relevant provisions of the Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Coll., as amended). The new legislation therefore introduced into the Czech legal system a new EU regulation of copyright and rights related to copyright, which had not been included in the national legislation at all or only partially. The amendment thus introduced, among other things, new statutory licences, new obligations for online content-sharing service providers, licence fees for commercial use of articles, regulation of collective management and, last but not least, regulation of licences, including new reporting obligations.

The significant changes introduced by the amendment comprise the new obligations imposed on online content-sharing service providers in connection with the communication of works to the public (with exceptions stipulated by law for small providers), i.e. the transition from the “notice & take down” regime to the “notice & stay down” regime. In principle, prior to the amendment, platforms and repositories, i.e. online content-sharing service providers, were not liable for the presence of a copyright-protected work on their platforms and repositories without the author’s consent until the author brought the defect to their attention. After that, the work had to be removed in order for the provider to be exempt from liability.

However, this principle has fundamentally changed with the amendment, as these providers must now make their best efforts to obtain a licence for legally protected content. Similarly, providers are obliged to make the work inaccessible or remove it from their websites immediately after receiving a sufficiently substantiated notification from the author of the unauthorised communication of the work to the public. Only if they meet the obligation, they are not liable for unauthorised communication of the work to the public. The “notice & stay down” principle should thus strengthen the protection of the legitimate interests of copyright holders.

NEW EU GUIDELINES FOR TV COMMERCIALS. WHAT CHANGES WILL THEY BRING?

The current EU audiovisual media services directive significantly modifies the legal limits for conventional advertising on commercial stations. Martin Procházka, research analysts from Knowlimits agency, outlines how the news will affect broadcasting.

The original limit was 12 minutes (20 %) for each broadcast hour separately. The new regulation is still based on the 20 % limit, but sets it cumulatively for all defined bands. This means that for the 06:00-18:00 period the limit is 144 minutes and for the 18:00-24:00 period it is 72 minutes. The 00:00-06:00 band is completely unregulated – there is no aggregate or sub-hourly limit at all. As a result of this change in the law, the values within individual hours and also in aggregate for the whole day 06:00-06:00 may be above 100% under the original regulation. Now it is legally obligatory not to exceed the limit in aggregate only in the 2 bands 06:00-18:00 and 18:00-24:00.

Initial analyses suggest that both commercial groups are so far cautiously expanding blocks in primetime, which generates the highest volume of advertising GRPs due to its highest viewership. Whereas the former usual practice involved two blocks of 6 minutes each per hour, stations are now trying to broadcast blocks of around 7 minutes each, particularly in the 20:00-23:00 time slot. In the 23:00-00:00 band, on the other hand, they are cutting back (especially Prima Group stations). Stations have to consider how much they can afford to extend the advertising block and at the same time not lose viewers who may leave the station during longer commercials, thus lowering the block’s rating. In effect, the station could even have fewer total GRPs.

The 00:00-06:00 nighttime band is unrestricted, so there may be more blocks than the previously usual two – up to three or four, for example. Currently, stations in this band prefer an extended ad block length of 7 minutes rather than increasing the number of blocks. It is likely that stations will make heavy use of the night band for make-up spots.

For the above reasons, it is no longer practically meaningful to monitor the sell-out of TV stations within individual hours and throughout the day. A direct comparison of individual stations in terms of sell-out can only be made for the two ‘legally limited’ bands – in aggregate, i.e. for 06:00-00:00 or for each band separately.

Source: blog.knowlimits.cz

PIRACY IS COSTING PAY TV BILLIONS OF EUROS A YEAR

Europe’s population using illegal IPTV is increasing, costing the audiovisual sector billions of euros a year, a new report shows.

Television piracy is not only a problem in Central and Eastern Europe. As a recent report by the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) shows, pay-TV in Europe lost €3.21 billion to illegal IPTV last year alone. According to the AAPA, 17.1 million people (4.5%) commit piracy, which is roughly the population of the entire Netherlands.

The figures are alarming because these are users of all ages, i.e. between 16 and 74 years old. The largest group by far is the Netflix generation aged 16 to 24. They alone account for 5.9 million of the total. Just to give you an idea, that’s the population of Finland. They access content through illegal IPTV services. They have earned 1.06 billion euros.

What is perhaps most surprising is that, according to the report, most piracy is committed in the aforementioned Netherlands (8.2 percent of the population) and the least in Romania (0.8 percent). Overall, 4.5 percent of citizens in the EU-27 use illegal IPTV services. The report estimates that illegal IPTV brought losses of €22.4 million (or more than CZK 0.5 billion) to the Czech market in 2021 alone and quantified the monthly harm at €1.9 million. More than 350,000 Czechs, or 4.4% of the population aged 16-74, are expected to access content via illegal IPTV. The absolute highest losses are registered in the UK, German, French and Spanish markets.

The report also points out that websites providing illegal IPTV services are not the only way to access pirated content. For example, social media platforms and applications provide relatively easy unauthorised access to content. Unauthorised providers also profit from advertising and malware. This means that pirates’ revenues and potential losses
industry are greater than the estimates in the AAPA report, the alliance adds. It also notes that it will take much more effort and stricter laws, as well as more education across the market, to stem the growing trend of piracy.

Source: mediaguru.cz

VOYO IS CHANGING THE WHOLE CME, SAYS NOVA’S NEW CEO DANIEL GRUNT

Daniel Grunt will be CEO of TV Nova from January. Here is an interview he gave for the print edition of Lupa 3.0

Daniel Grunt is behind the development of Nova TV’s digital activities, including the Voyo app. The experienced media manager had already led the internet division at the Barrandov headquarters of the commercial station but then he left for the competitor Prima where he spent almost eight years. He returned to Nova in 2021 after it was taken over by PPF. This financial group required the management to wake up the somewhat sleepy, inertia-driven TV station. Grunt is not only responsible for Nova’s internet strategy but also manages the digital strategy of CME, Nova’s parent media group. He is therefore in regular contact with colleagues in other countries where CME owns TV stations. As of January 2023, he will move to a new position: he will be CEO of TV Nova.

What are the pillars of Nova TV’s digital activities?

There are three key ones. The first, which we pay the most attention and investment to, is the paid service Voyo. It is the backbone of CME’s digital transformation in all the countries where we operate. It is incorporated in the structure of TV stations and almost all teams. It automatically transforms the entire company. Another pillar is the ad-supported video archive, which was split between Nova.cz and Novaplus.cz in the past. This summer, we have merged them back together and now there is just Nova.cz. And the third pillar is news on TN.cz.

What about other stations in the CME group?

Voyo is the biggest priority in the whole CME. The paid video service is complemented by a free ad-supported video archive. This is the case in all stations except Slovenia. In Slovenia and Romania, there are historically more magazine services. During the first period I was working in Nova, these services made sense from a business perspective. But nowadays such sites are dependent on display advertising the value of which is steadily going down, so it does not make sense anymore. We have only kept magazines that still generate significant sums of money. Plus online news. In all countries, we are starting to focus more on sports. With the sports rights acquisitions, we have a lot of content that we can use.

What will be on Nova’s website?

We will focus on content related to our shows, faces and topics we promote on TV. We are not going to make microsites for every show. Rather, it will be a section dedicated to that show, with an archive of full episodes, and accompanying bonus material that the team collects during the course of filming. Extensive content does very well for reality shows such as Survivor. You can work with it for a long time and it still works well. It is not disposable content that you post on the networks and nobody comes back to. It is good for search engines.

Will you direct people from there to Voyo to pay for watching more content?

We make TV content available to Voyo subscribers seven days in advance and without ads. Then it goes to TV from where it continues to the archive on Nova.cz. There, people can watch shows for two weeks with ads. And finally, we put them back into the paid archive on Voyo. We play with and monetise value added. You pay to watch the show earlier, in higher quality and without ads. If you do not want to pay a monthly subscription, you watch it with a time-shift, but with ads.

But you also place bonus content of your shows to other platforms, such as Stream.cz. How does this fit into the described strategy?

The short content has three main functions. The first one is monetisation: we want to use it for video advertising, which largely feeds digital services. But the second and third reason we have it is to support Voyo and linear TV. So it is important for us to have maximum reach so that as many people as possible can access the content and make some kind of attachment to it. Then they will watch it on Voyo or on linear TV.

Voyo is an international brand. Can your colleagues abroad use it at their discretion?

In Slovenia, for example, they are pretty much independent because they have been developing Voyo throughout its existence. They monetise all the shows through it. It may be a small market with two million inhabitants but they have developed the service. In all the other markets, Voyo’s curve has been flat for a long time, it has not moved for maybe ten years. When I joined Nova, we decided to focus on the Czech Republic and Slovakia rather than pursuing everything at once. We will find out what works and once we learn that we will start with the other countries. We have had a very successful start in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. We will focus more on Romania later this year. Then it is just Croatia and Bulgaria, which will be next year’s business.

What about promotion?

The definition of brand and product is central. Individual states have a free hand in soft brand extension and communication. Each nation has its own specifics, this is also seen in the content strategy. The more you are in the south-east, the more soap operas and sports you have. We seek to control the core, i.e. what Voyo is, what it looks like and how it is profiled, but the demographic targeting and content policy may differ slightly. In any market, Voyo logically has to fit somewhere where there is room for growth.

Where does it fit in the Czech Republic, especially compared to global platforms?

Voyo is the strongest source of local content. In every country where CME operates it is supposed to be the strongest first-choice service when you want to see quality local movies, TV series, reality shows, and anything else. We have no ambition to compete with Netflix or Disney+ because we will never have their budgets. We are the number one local service in every country, except Bulgaria, where we are number two.

You stress that the content should be of high quality. What do you mean by that?

We push for premium services. Voyo, as we now define it and as it has started to develop in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, has a high production value. The content we shoot for Voyo Originály is more expensive than the content we shoot for prime time TV Nova. It also has to do with the choice of topics. It is the premium product in the entire portfolio of the media house.

The world’s film studios are gradually launching their own services where they exclusively host their production. Does this make it more difficult to get content for Voyo?

This applies not only to VOD services but also to licensing films for local TV. Getting content from groups such as Disney is becoming increasingly difficult. They have decided to keep the content only with themselves. It only encourages us to emphasise the local aspect. I am not saying that we do not have high quality acquisitions but we have other sources than the American film studios. Scandinavian crime films, for example, work very well for us. We have quite a lot of interesting UK series from the BBC and ITV.

Who typically subscribes to Voyo?

Households and individuals from young people in their thirties to older 40-somethings. Most of the people watching Voyo are women, for example, women with children. A lot of users use the account to its full potential, all five devices, often watching simultaneously. That is why I say households rather than families because these can be childless households or multiple people watching together. On average, they watch over 12 hours of content per week. According to various research studies we have had done, Voyo has the highest proportion of people who watch daily or multiple times a week compared to other services in the market. And logically, because you have to pay for the service, Voyo also has a higher socio-economic category of viewers compared to TV. Their education is primarily high school and university.

What is the biggest success and how do you define it?

We track the number of views but it is not a key metric for me. The most important one is the number of paying accounts, and we set annual goals for each team based on that. Right after that, the time watched weekly is important to me. That tells me whether people are happy with the service or not. If it starts to drop, we start to address it and we get nervous. There is a proportion that the less you use the service, the more likely you are to leave it. All Voyo Originály work extremely well for us. And the series Ordinace v růžové zahradě. It helped us that we had the courage to move it from linear TV to Voyo in the autumn of 2021 where it still had from 900 thousand to a million viewers on a single broadcast day. It showed the market that we were serious. The quality, length or cast has not declined, the series is still the same. Rather, it has got a second wind. Another thing that works is the previews of the key shows that work well on the main Nova channel. Some viewers are more sophisticated, they pay extra to see the content earlier and without ads. And there is also the big mix of the library that works well, we have clearly the most Czech films on the market, about 750.

It has been repeatedly discussed whether domestic TV stations should join forces and create something like Czechflix. Is it passé now that each group has announced its own solution?

Theoretically, it is possible that in the medium term this can happen. But I am sceptical. There is the question of how to implement such a Czechflix. How do you do it practically? Whose platform will it be? Who will have what shares? How will the revenue be distributed? And how will the share that each TV station has to contribute be determined? How will you calculate the value of the content? These practical aspects are very important to get something like this off the ground. You must also not forget that on a single platform you are bringing together entities that are competitors and proudly compete in all other areas. And suddenly they have to come to an agreement in one place. Nowhere in the world, be it Britbox, Joyn or Salto, does this work properly. There is always a grand announcement and a budget, the plan looks great from the outside and from afar, but then each of the companies involved still have their own platform anyway. And none of them have the courage to discontinue theirs and fully focus on the common one.

Source: lupa.cz

CME AND TV NOVA ANNOUNCE ORGANISATIONAL CHANGES TO SUPPORT GROWTH AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The management of CME and TV Nova announce significant changes in the organisational structure of both companies. These changes are intended to further support not only the rapid growth of the group as a whole, but also its digital transformation.

The new CEO of TV Nova will be Daniel Grunt from 1 January, who will focus on further consolidating TV Nova’s position as a market leader, its innovative approach to programming and digital transformation, with an emphasis on continuing Voyo’s growth. Daniel will also remain Head of Digital within CME for the time being until his successor is appointed.

As of the same date, Dusan Švalek becomes Deputy CEO at CME and will develop his leadership competencies across the following CME markets: Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bulgaria.

Dušan Švalek; Source: TV Nova

CME management will be strengthened by the current CEOs of TV Nova, Klára Brachtlová and Jan Vlček. Klára Brachtlová will become CME Chief External Affairs and Jan Vlček CME Group Revenue Officer, both reporting directly to Dušan Švalek.

Klára Brachtlová, Jan Vlček; Source: TV Nova

Klára Brachtlová will cover activities related to strategic partnerships and the development of relationships within the industry, and together with Dušan will oversee CME’s operational agenda. Jan Vlček will continue to support TV Nova’s business growth and work on strategic initiatives such as targetable advertising, which will be gradually implemented across all CME markets.

THE 15+ POSITIONS RATINGS ARE HELD BY NOVA AND PRIMA, ČT LEADS IN NOVEMBER

The Czech Television is the strongest TV group in November in the universal audience over 15 years of age in terms of all-day viewership. The position of the commercial groups Prima and Nova is balanced in this audience category.

The Czech Television stations remained the strongest TV group in November in terms of all-day viewership in the over-15 age group. The aggregate share reached almost 30 % (29.96 %). The position of the Prima and Nova groups is balanced in this audience group, according to official ATO-Nielsen Admosphere data.

In the 15-54 and 15-69 audience groups, Nova remains the most watched group and has the highest share in prime-time.

Compared to last November, TV groups performed differently by airtime and target group. Czech Television managed to increase its share year-on-year, especially in prime time. The Nova group also fared better in evening than in all-day viewing, and slightly increased its share in the universal 15+ group in prime-time. Conversely, the Prima group fared better year-on-year in all-day than in prime-time, where its share fell by 1.5 percentage points year-on-year.

The representation of thematic stations Atmedia improved year-on-year on all parameters. The Barrandov group achieved comparable results to last year.

The start of the football World Cup in Qatar was reflected in the fact that compared to last November, CT Sport (up 4.54%, 15+) and Nova Action (up 1.71% in v1 5+ and 2.16% in 15-54), as well as Prima Krimi (up 3.63%, 15+) grew the most.

Of the other stations, Nova Gold, Nova Lady, CNN Prima News, Prima Star and Prima Show continue to grow. Conversely, all of the top three stations’ main channels were lower this November than in the same month last year.

Source: mediaguru.cz

UNRIVALLED PARAMETERS OF TV ADVERTISING: IT GENERATES THE MOST ATTENTION, HAS THE BEST MEMORABILITY AND IMPACT

ScreenVoice TALKS, the autumn conference organised by the Association of Commercial Television on the occasion of World Television Day, focused on the topic of attention in advertising. International speakers revealed why attention is such an important parameter and how to measure or maintain it. The programme also included the presentation of the exclusive Czech edition of the Track the Success research, which compares the effectiveness of advertising spots on television, BVOD and on the online platforms YouTube and Facebook.

The Track the Success study was originally conducted in German-speaking countries (DACH region – Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and the Czech Republic is the fourth country where the same conclusion was confirmed. Television in all the countries studied shows the best results in several key parameters – it generates the most interest, attention, memorability and understanding of the advertising message.

“Television benefits from a number of advantages at the same time. 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. Which formula holds true across all countries where we have conducted research,”

comments researcher Marvin Vogt from the German agency Eyesquare on the results. “The research in the Czech Republic showed that TV advertising works best here too, closely followed by BVOD. YouTube and, by an even greater distance, Facebook often have problems reaching comparable attention and therefore have less effect,” adds Marvin Vogt.

“What’s also significant about the Track the Success study is that it shows that TV in the Czech Republic holds an even more privileged position in a number of areas than it does in foreign households. The big screen is indispensable in capturing attention and conveying detail, which has a major impact on memorability and, of course, ultimately on buying behaviour,”

says Jan Vlček, President of AKTV and CEO of TV Nova.

The topic of attention was introduced at the conference by Matt Hill, director of research and planning at UK-based Thinkbox. His presentation “Giving attention a little attention” showed why attention in advertising is so important, how to attract it, how to keep it and last but not least how to measure it. The final speaker was economist, IPA and WARC Effectiveness Awards judge and WARC and Marketing Week columnist Dr Grace Kite. Her specialism is marketing effectiveness and her presentation showcased the benefits of TV advertising for online brands, whose presence on TV screens is increasing year on year.

Videos, presentations and photos from the event are available at ScreenVoice.cz/TALKS.

In addition to this year’s event, recordings of speakers from previous years are also available in the event archive, including Mark Ritson, Les Binet, Karen Nelson-Field, Wiemer Snijders and many other world-renowned names.

TV AROUND THE WORLD CELEBRATES THE POWER OF ATTENTION

TV companies around the world celebrate World Television Day on 21 November to remind us of the attention-grabbing power that Total TV holds. As part of the annual United Nations initiative, a 30 second-spot will be broadcast and shared online worldwide.

Today’s TV captivates, fascinates, and holds audiences’ attention

The 26th edition of World Television Day celebrates a global reality: TV has a way of pulling you in more than any other medium. Television is always available, at home and on the go, across all screens – large or small – live or streamed; offering both collective and feel-like-me experiences.

From the very start, television has kept its finger on the pulse of society by drawing viewers’ attention to newsworthy events and societal issues. It keeps audiences glued to the screen with information they trust, high-quality series that fascinate, movies that captivate, content that holds their attention – and more.

Attention has also become increasingly important to brands, who understand the impact of this new metric: the greater the ad attention, the greater the business results. As TV delivers one of the highest and most consistent levels of attention to both its content and advertising, it is a medium with unequalled effectiveness.

“Television plays a crucial role in bringing important issues to our attention and forming public opinion. It helps people to stay informed on the topics that matter, from peace and security to climate change, from the pandemic to inequality. It is also a symbol for global communication that can help us to find solutions to the world’s issues, together.” – Sherri Aldis, Director, UNRIC

“The TV industry continues to build a more sophisticated understanding of ad attention. As content providers and brands compete for consumers’ attention, this emerging metric will help demonstrate that TV delivers the short and long-term results both programmers and advertisers require. On World TV Day, we shine a light on the emerging attention economy and celebrate Total TV’s role in it,” asserts Katty Roberfroid, Director General, egta.

For more information, please visit http://www.worldtelevisionday.com

Press contact:

Alain Beerens,

Head of Communications, egta

Association of television and radio sales houses

T : +32 2 290 31 38

alain.beerens@egta.com

ABOUT THE GLOBAL TV GROUP

The Global TV Group is a grouping of broadcasters’ and sales houses’ trade bodies in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and Latin America, whose joint objective is to promote television and remind advertisers, journalists, agencies and industry peers about the effectiveness and popularity of TV.

http://www.theglobaltvgroup.com/

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCIAL TELEVISION IN EUROPE (ACT)

The European commercial broadcasting sector is a major success story. We entertain and inform hundreds of millions of EU citizens each day via thousands of channels available across Europe. The Association of Commercial Television in Europe represents the interests of 29 leading commercial broadcasters across Europe. The ACT member companies finance, produce, promote and distribute content and services benefiting millions of Europeans across all platforms. At ACT we believe that the healthy and sustainable commercial broadcasting sector has an important role to play in the European economy, society and culture.

https://www.acte.be/

ABOUT EBU

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is the world’s foremost alliance of public service media (PSM). Our mission is to make PSM indispensable. We represent 115 media organizations in 56 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and have an additional 31 Associates in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas. Our Members operate nearly 2,000 television and radio channels alongside numerous online platforms. Together, they reach audiences of more than one billion people around the world, broadcasting in more than 160 languages. We strive to secure a sustainable future for public service media, provide our Members with world-class content from news to sports and music, and build on our founding ethos of solidarity and cooperation to create a centre for learning and sharing.

https://www.ebu.ch/home

ABOUT egta

egta is the association representing television and radio sales houses, either independent from the channel or in-house, that markets the advertising space of both private and public television and radio stations throughout Europe and beyond. egta fulfils different functions for its members in fields of activities as diversified as regulatory issues, audience measurement, sales methods, interactivity, cross-media, technical standards, new media, etc. During its more than 40 years of existence, egta has become the reference centre for television and radio advertising in Europe. egta counts more than 160 members operating across 43 countries.

http://www.egta.com/

ABOUT UNRIC

The Brussels-based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Europe – UNRIC – provides information on UN activities to 22 countries and is active on social media and websites in 13 languages. It acts as the European communication office of the United Nations and it aims to engage and inform European citizens about global issues. It also liaises with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities, joint public information campaigns and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, the creative community, and local authorities.

https://unric.org/

AXOCOM: VIDEO PIRACY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC INCREASED BY 160 PERCENT THIS YEAR

Illegal downloading of video content in the Czech Republic has increased 160 percent year-on-year this year, according to Axocom.

This is due to high inflation combined with the growing supply of TV content in the form of streaming platforms. This is based on an analysis by distribution company Axocom of the prevalence of illegal content on download servers as well as by measuring user searches for titles.

“The worsening economic situation together with inflation is forcing Czechs to save money. Culture has come under enormous pressure this year. This is evident in the attendance of Czech cinemas, which improved compared to the previous year, but it is not enough to reach pre-pandemic levels,”

said Erika Luzsicza, director of Axocom.

By contrast, time spent in front of TV screens has risen to record levels since the start of the covid period, the company said. The average Czech spends more than four hours a day watching shows, the most in 25 years, according to the data. And so far, there’s no sign of anything changing in that trend.

“The supply has multiplied several times in recent years, but it has also fragmented dramatically across a variety of platforms, most of which are pay-per-view. Moreover, each of them has a portfolio of content that is trending. And since viewers want to stay in the loop and keep up not only with what people in their environment are watching, but also with the trends being discussed, piracy unfortunately not infrequently comes into play,”

Luzsicza said.

Moreover, she said, the situation will only get worse. Piracy will be fuelled both by the continuing deterioration of the economic situation, which will force people to save money, and by the fact that TV ratings traditionally increase over the winter. Traditionally the busiest period is associated with the end of the year.

The most popular video platform in the Czech Republic is Netflix (39 per cent), according to Eset’s analysis. It is followed by the Czech platforms Voyo (18 per cent) and iPrima (16 per cent) or the HBO Max platform (16 per cent).

Commercial TV is trying to fight piracy by combating stolen content on online repositories. Last week, for example, it reached an agreement with Internet storage operators Hellshare and Hellspy to deploy filters that will search for illegal content. The filters will be continuously modified and updated to reflect the behaviour of users who illegally distribute audiovisual works.

Source: mediaguru.cz