TV viewing during the blackout: dramatic drop in affected areas offset by growth in other regions.
The power outage that hit a large part of the Czech Republic on Friday, July 4, had a significant impact on television viewership. In the most affected regions, live viewership fell by up to tens of percent. However, the impact of the blackout was mitigated nationwide by increased viewer interest in unaffected areas, according to Atmedia, citing data from ATO-Nielsen.
The largest power outage in recent years hit Prague, the Central Bohemian, Ústí nad Labem, Liberec, and Hradec Králové regions, as well as parts of the Pardubice and Olomouc regions on Friday, July 4.
In the most affected regions, there was a dramatic drop during the outage. For example, in the Ústí nad Labem region, live viewership between 12:00 and 15:00 was 80% lower than the average Friday afternoon over the previous three weeks. In the Liberec region, it fell by 67%, in Prague by 44% and in the Central Bohemian region by 40%.
In contrast, people in unaffected regions spent more time in front of their screens than usual. The South Bohemian Region recorded a 28% increase in viewership, the Pilsen Region 27%, and the South Moravian Region 23%. Higher viewership was also reported in the Vysočina, Zlín, and Moravian-Silesian regions.
“Total live TV viewership between 12:00 and 15:00 was 11% lower than on the previous three Fridays. The significant decline in some regions was partially offset by increases in others,” explains Pavel Müller, Senior Head of Research & Marketing at Atmedia. According to him, all-day viewership was only 4% lower.
According to Atmedia representatives, it is common for exceptional situations to increase interest in television broadcasting. Viewers turn to television not only as a source of information, but also for entertainment and relaxation.
“Extraordinary events usually increase television viewership,” says Michaela Suráková, director of Atmedia. “We saw this, for example, during the floods in September last year or when COVID-19 measures were announced. At that time, television became a daily companion for millions of people.”
According to her, we see similar trends during major sporting events such as the Olympic Games or the Ice Hockey World Championship. TV viewership is also traditionally strong during Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Last year, an average of 5.6 million viewers aged 15+ tuned in to television in the Czech Republic every day, spending 3 hours and 36 minutes in front of the screen – which is above the European average.
Despite a decline, Czech Television maintained its highest share of all-day viewing in the universal 15+ group in the first half of this year. However, Nova recorded the highest growth, winning in the younger viewer categories and in prime time.
Česká televize maintained its strongest position on the television market in all-day broadcasting in the first half of 2025. In the 15+ target group, it achieved a share of 29.29%, which still puts it in first place ahead of Nova and Prima. However, due to savings in its programming, the public broadcaster recorded a year-on-year decline in all monitored viewer categories. This is shown by data from ATO-Nielsen for the period from 1 January to 30 June 2025.
ČT recorded a more significant decline in prime time, where it reached 28.50% (-1.71 pb) of the total population aged 15+. It recorded greater losses among the younger target groups surveyed, i.e. 15–54 and 18–69.
The NovaGroup, on the other hand, continues its growth trend. In the all-day measurement, it recorded year-on-year growth in all groups. In the key 15-54 group, its share increased by 1.7 percentage points year-on-year. In prime time, it maintains its leading position in all viewer groups.
The Prima Group maintains relatively stable performance in terms of viewership. In all-day broadcasting in the 15+ target group, it achieved a share of 26.91%, which represents a slight decrease of 0.41 percentage points. It reported a similar result in its target group of 18-69.
Among smaller television players, the biggest shift was recorded by Televize Seznam, which strengthened across all target groups and daily time slots. In all-day broadcasting in the 15+ target group, its share rose to 1.98% (+0.44 pb), and in prime time to 1.95% (+0.48 pb). In the commercial groups 15–54 and 18–69, its results are slightly above 1.8% and show a similar trend.
TV Nova is the year’s biggest climberIn terms of individual stations, the most significant year-on-year increase in the first half of the year was recorded by the main channel TV Nova (+0.91 pb to 18.21%). It was followed by the news channel ČT24 with an increase of 0.68 percentage points (to 4.54%). The third highest increase was recorded by the station Nova Gold (+0.52 pp to 2.45%). All figures are for the 15+ target group in all-day broadcasting. CNN Prima News continued the trend from previous periods and strengthened by 0.43 percentage points year-on-year (to 2.41%). Among thematic stations, growth was recorded by, for example, Prima Krimi (+0.28 pp to 4.46%) and Nova Lady (+0.13 pp to 1.0%).
The first half of the year was dominated by ice hockey
The most watched programme of the first half of the year was the ice hockey match between the Czech Republic and Sweden at the World Championships (ČT sport). It was watched by 1.66 million viewers aged 15 and over (47.4% share). The second most watched programme was the January TV detective film Kroky vraha (ČT1), based on a novel by Michaela Klevisová. It was watched by 1.64 million viewers. Czech ice hockey matches at this year’s World Championships appear five more times in the top ten. The series Limity (ČT1), Vraždy v kraji (Nova) and Televizní noviny (Nova) also made it into the top ten.
A man who pocketed £300,000 through the operation of an illegal streaming service before he fled the country, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Mark Brockley, 56, ran a subscription-based IPTV service known as aFINITY IPTV for around five years, between 2014 and 2019.
The sentencing follows an investigation led by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), following a referral from BT, which identified Brockley as being involved in the illegal sale of streaming services.
Brockley was arrested and later charged with fraud and copyright offences at Liverpool Crown Court in June 2021. After being released on police bail, he failed to appear at multiple court hearings, and sentencing proceeded in his absence in May 2023.
Financial investigations revealed that Brockley had been using bank accounts based in France. Further digital enquiries eventually traced him to an apartment block in Spain. In August 2024, he was located and arrested in Girona during a coordinated operation involving the PIPCU, National Crime Agency (NCA), Europol, and Interpol.
However, having been released pending further investigation, Brockley appealed his extradition back to the UK and was subsequently bailed. He failed to attend multiple court hearings in Spain and was circulated as wanted by Spanish authorities.
In a coordinated effort between UK and Spanish authorities, Brockley was eventually arrested at Barcelona Airport while attempting to board a flight to the UK last week (Friday, 20 June).
He was remanded in custody at Heathrow Airport and will now commence his five-year sentence.
Spanish LALIGA clubs are losing between €600 and €700 million a year as a result of online piracy, according to LALIGA president Javier Tebas.
Last season, LALIGA introduced new AI monitoring technology to monitor registration patterns, track suspicious behaviour in traffic and amplify the capacity of teams working to detect fraud. As previously reported in Broadband TV News, LALIGA has also been engaged in the dynamic blocking of IP addresses.
Speaking at the second edition of the LALIGA EXTRATIME industry forum in Singapore, Tebas said:
“Fighting audiovisual fraud has a high cost for LALIGA, but we choose to lead, because the cost of not doing so is much higher. We are facing highly organised criminal networks that cause unimaginable damage across the economy.”
“The scale of the challenge means that there must be total commitment at the institutional level and between companies, both in the sports industry and technology. This fight is global and collaborative, and we must also act by denouncing the inactivity of some intermediaries, who are allowing criminal content to be shared through their infrastructures,” he said.
Delegates heard that according to a report by the Live Content Coalition (LCC), 10.8 million illegal sports broadcasts were detected in Europe alone in 2024.
LALIGA participated in 2024 in Operation Kratos, led by Europol, which succeeded in dismantling a network of 22 million users in Europe. In this operation, weapons and drugs were also seized in searches. Legal milestones have also been achieved, such as the landmark ruling that allowed LALIGA to carry out dynamic IP blocking. In addition, LALIGA has strengthened its cooperation with responsible intermediaries such as Meta, YouTube or TikTok in recent seasons.
Nova TV completes a major transition of customers from O2 TV to its new platform, Oneplay. In an interview with e15, Nova CEO Daniel Grunt describes why Nova has given up the successful Voyo brand, how it is handling the technical difficulties that accompanied the launch of Oneplay, and explains where the new streaming giant plans to go next. “Globally, we are seeing a trend of a decline in pay TV in favour of streaming services,” says Grunt, explaining the end of O2 TV.
When exactly will the transition of O2 TV customers to the new Oneplay platform be complete, and why has it been staggered into so many stages?
We are now finalising the last part, which should be done in the coming weeks. By the end of June, the entire base should be completely migrated, and O2 TV will cease to exist.
What were the biggest unexpected challenges during the transition to the new platform?
The most obvious problem occurred on the very first day, when unfortunately, our service went down for two hours due to a database failure within Amazon’s AWS. It was supposed to be zero-downtime service, and there should have been an automatic capacity increase, but that didn’t happen. There was another fifteen minute outage the next evening, but we haven’t experienced any massive problems since then.
As expected, we are still experiencing minor technical problems. Even though we spent two years preparing for the migration and four months testing the final version, a real deployment will always show a million different combinations – TV type, hardware, software updates, home connection and other factors. It’s only in live operation that these issues start to become apparent and are resolved.
Are you still dealing with any transition-related issues now?
We are currently dealing with isolated issues that affect perhaps tens to hundreds of users. Fortunately, our customers communicate well, and their feedback allows us to address individual issues effectively. Overall, the quality and availability of the service are already close to the level that customers were used to with Voyo. We will be fine-tuning minor technical improvements for a few more weeks, but overall, we are on track.
Many people have experienced problems due to older equipment. How many users have been affected by these limitations, and how have you addressed this?
Unfortunately, we had to stop supporting some of the oldest devices. Voyo has historically supported the widest range of TVs dating back to 2013-2014, but the new service is more technically challenging. Customers started advising each other on social media about what devices, like Chromecast or different set-top boxes, to get to make the service work. It’s great to see that the user community was able to help itself. Of course, we tried to advise them as well.
One user experience: Why do I have to manage my subscription through a web browser rather than directly in the app?
We haven’t managed to implement this functionality yet. The service is large, and every time we launch something this big, not all the planned features fit into the first version. However, we have this functionality in the roadmap, and it will be available in a few weeks to months. We have deliberately tried to launch the service quickly, so some things have been deferred to later updates.
Voyo is still working in Slovakia. Do you have any plans yet to merge this service with Oneplay?
Not yet. At the moment, we are fully focused on completing the migration of O2 TV in the Czech Republic and getting users used to the new service quickly. We are going through a sensitive period right now, as people have lost the services they have been used to for years and have been given a product that looks different and in some cases is more expensive. We need to get through this period, and then we will continue to build customer satisfaction.
The Voyo brand was already well established. Isn’t it a shame that it’s now being replaced by a new platform?
The Voyo brand has been really successful, and we have invested a lot of money and energy in it. People are asking a lot about this change. When we started the re-launch of Voyo four years ago, few people believed we would grow from 60,000 users to a million and become a major streaming service and love brand. Now we are starting again, and we believe Oneplay will be even more successful.
Why did you decide to create a new Oneplay brand instead of developing your existing services?
Many people laughed at me and said I had lost my marbles when we started building Voyo as a strong brand with the goal of growing to a million paying customers. Very few people really believed that. Ironically, the same people ask me today why we cancelled this successful brand. But the decision had a rational basis – we were combining two different services, pure streaming Voyo and classic IPTV O2 TV.
Our goal was to create an entirely new category of services, not just enhanced versions of existing products. We are creating a central point for Czech households where they can find quality Czech content, live TV, plenty of sports and other interesting shows. We are convinced that such a big change should be underlined by the new brand, and we believe that Oneplay will soon become a love brand for Czech households.
Did the reasons for the merger also include concerns about a potential decline in the future popularity of O2 TV?
Globally, we see a trend of pay TV declining in favour of streaming services. In America, Western and Northern Europe, this trend has already happened. In the Czech Republic, the pay TV market has been stagnant for the last three years. That’s why we wanted to combine the most successful Czech IPTV with our streaming service in time to prevent future decline and offer users a unified and comprehensive service.
Do you still have any plans for the original Voyo brand, such as using it in other countries?
At the moment, this is not yet decided. We are focused on successfully completing the integration in the Czech Republic. Other possible markets for expansion are Slovakia and Romania. In each country, we will decide individually, depending on the market situation and the available options. For example, in Romania, we do not have a telecom operator, while in Slovakia, our operator is relatively small. The decision on whether we will use the Oneplay brand or keep Voyo has not yet been made.
Is it possible that you would extend the Oneplay concept to countries where you are not yet operating?
So far, we are only focusing on countries where we have strong TV stations or telecom operators. These factors are key to the success of a streaming service. For example, in Serbia, we launched Voyo in cooperation with the Yettel operator, although we don’t have a TV station there, and we use content from Croatia and Slovenia. So, there is the opportunity for cross-border expansion, but it has to make business sense.
How did the name Oneplay come about, and what other names did you consider?
We considered hundreds of different names. Personally, I was closest to the Voyo brand for a long time, but we knew we couldn’t use it. We needed a simple, easy-to-pronounce name. Other options included Vixo or Epic, which we ended up not using because of trademark complications. In the end, we chose Oneplay because it met our requirements.
Source: Petr Kobliha
How has your content strategy changed since the unification of services?
There have been no major changes in our original production, fiction and documentary, we continue to grow. We are adding more shows and reality shows, which are very popular with the younger generation. For example, this summer we will launch a new reality show called The Farm. In addition, we are significantly expanding our sports offerings as the new service has combined the content portfolio of both platforms. Oneplay will thus offer viewers a unique combination of exclusive quality content, including sporting events.
What place does news have in your strategy?
News is a key pillar of any great television. Our TV news (Televizní noviny) has long been the most watched news programme in the Czech Republic. In recent years, we have also strengthened our journalism and political debates.
You described news as an important part of your strategy. What are your future plans in this area?
News is key for us, whether it is linear television or digital platforms. Nowadays, people don’t want to be tied to a specific airtime, so we distribute our content across different channels such as social media, our website TN.cz or YouTube and TikTok. This allows us to create a wide reach. We have also recently expanded our digital channel, TN Live, where we are testing new formats and faces. Gradually, we want to turn it into a full-fledged digital news and lifestyle channel with new shows, including podcasts.
You buy shows from Czech Television. Is it profitable for you?
Buying content from Czech Television is a must for us because we want to be the biggest platform with local content. Voyo had the largest range of Czech and Slovak films and series, which continues with Oneplay. Czech Television produces quality content, which we regularly buy, although it is not cheap. I can’t give exact figures, but the volume of content we buy is growing every year.
Source: Petr Kobliha
How do you try to reach young viewers?
Nova has historically always targeted a younger audience, and that is still the case. Our main target group is viewers aged 15 to 54. We invest in content that appeals to young viewers, such as reality shows. This year, for example, we will launch a new reality show, The Farm, which is successful in Slovakia. We also have other popular formats such as Survivor or Love Island. Reality shows are most successful on the digital platform, while shows like crime dramas are more popular on TV. We try to distribute content in a balanced way between the digital platform and TV, which helps us reach a diverse audience.
How much revenue does Oneplay generate for the Nova Group?
We don’t disclose specific figures, but I can say that Voyo already had a double-digit share of total revenue. TV advertising accounted for about 60 per cent of revenue last year, with the rest coming from other sources, including the digital platform, which is now in its second year of profitability.
The streaming service prima+ has been on the market for over two years and, according to Marek Singer, head of the Prima Group, it has reached what he calls an “imaginary halfway point.” In an interview with e15, he describes what genres work, why they rely on Czech originality and why they decided to work exclusively with Viaplay. “We expect the cooperation with Canal+ to deepen,” says Prima’s CEO.
How do you assess the development and current position of the prima+ platform after more than two years of operation? Has it met your expectations?
I think we are at a kind of imaginary halfway point. We already know what works and what doesn’t. The current priority is to scale production appropriately and to build what we call a “retention supply”—ensuring there are enough compelling titles in each genre to give viewers a reason to stay. For reality shows, we are already gearing up for another season of The Traitors, and we will be adding a fun new reality series to the spring season. Honza Maxa is now starting a “series supply”—the production of dramatic content that will regularly feed the streaming service.
What works and what doesn’t on prima+?
It turns out that the Czech audience is divided. One part of the audience has progressive, cosmopolitan tastes, prefers VOD platforms and seeks content without ads. The other part is more conservative, watches mainly linear broadcasts, likes familiar faces and established formats. We try to offer both groups what they expect—in different channels and different ways. Reality shows work well on VOD, but they may not include just the ones produced abroad. Viewers want original content that has an identity. The Traitors, a reality show with detective game show elements, is one example.
Genre experiments such as true crime or miniseries inspired by true events have proven successful in the fiction sector. At the same time, we have found that audiences are ready for more challenging topics if they are presented with high-quality execution. And this applies to both documentaries and dramatic works. But not everything works right away. Some projects have underperformed. For example, Starhouse this spring did not repeat the success of last year’s Traitors.
You recently announced a collaboration with Scandinavian streaming service Viaplay. Was this an initiative on your part or were you approached?
It was an active choice on our part. We are looking for quality international content to complement our offering. Viaplay offers Scandinavian production that is different in genre and style from what we normally see in the Czech Republic. And we know that this style resonates strongly with a certain type of audience. This is a major difference from, for example, Disney+, where many titles run in parallel elsewhere. We have an exclusive partnership with Viaplay that includes more than 200 hours of content annually. It’s a multi-year deal with an option that allows us to include some shows in the linear broadcast, not just on prima+.
Viaplay will offer something for an audience that likes Scandinavian production, while complementing our Czech portfolio. The first titles will start appearing in the summer. We are dubbing them now. We have secured the best Nordic true crime films such as Fenris, Furia, Rebus, Crime Scene Sweden, and A Murderer Goes Missing. We are sure that this selection will delight our TV viewers and users.
Is it somehow related to the fact that Prima had Scandinavian owners in the past?
Indirectly. Of course, past contacts help – when you know people, it’s easier to get along. But it wasn’t a decisive aspect.
Viaplay is less than 30 per cent owned by the Czech investment group PPF, which also runs your direct competitor, Oneplay, in the Czech Republic. Is this just a funny coincidence?
Yes, it is a funny coincidence. But PPF did not interfere in any way in those negotiations.
One of Viaplay’s other shareholders is Canal+, which is now active in the Czech Republic. Do you plan to work more closely with it?
Yes, we already represent it commercially and sell advertising on its behalf. We believe that the cooperation will continue to deepen. I think they are still looking for the ideal model for the Czech market and the Czech audience. You can see it in the way they are testing dramatic formats.
prima+ offers two versions: a paid, ad-free option and a free, ad-supported one. How has this model performed so far?
The model has proven successful. We have approximately 21 per cent paying users. In total, we have over 1.4 million registered users. But we are still not at the point where we have “exploited” everything. We haven’t yet covered all audience segments with regular content, which is a prerequisite for subscribers to come back and stay.
Is it possible to build an interesting business on the advertising model?
It’s getting more interesting. For one thing, the reach of prima+ is increasing, but at the same time, the opportunities for targeting advertising are improving as part of partnerships with operators. IPTV is growing fast, and this opens new opportunities. So far, TV advertising and online advertising are not that different in terms of advertisers, but the online version allows us more targeting and personalisation. In the future, we expect more diversification and separate advertising strategies for each environment.
Which operators are key for you?
Primarily Vodafone. We have a joint product with them, and we are also preparing a deeper cooperation for the autumn season. For example, within The Traitors, we plan to create a dedicated ‘channel’ on their platform in the zero position. The other major partner is, ironically, Oneplay, where cooperation was initially difficult, but we ultimately found a commercially attractive model. A new partner is SledovaniTV, with whom we are testing new forms of targeted advertising and integration of our content.
Are advertisers’ requirements changing?
Not as significantly as we would expect, but it is starting to happen. The online environment allows for more variability and immediate feedback. We will see what the next few years bring. For example, we are trying new types of advertising formats with some advertisers, such as “theme block” style sponsorships or interactive elements that link the show to the brand.
Is there a trend in the development of the two versions of prima+?
The free version more closely follows the evolution of TV ratings. It is stable, less prone to short-term fluctuations. The paid version is more sensitive to specific titles. Once you have strong content—like last year’s Traitors—you can get thousands of new subscribers in a few days. Conversely, when supply is stagnant, churn can be very rapid. That’s why we are working on retention tools: genre collections, series sequels, community features, podcasts or making-of.
Like Oneplay, you also buy content from Czech Television’s iVysílání. How big is this segment for you?
It is definitely a good addition to our offering. If we want to be one of the two biggest video content providers in the Czech Republic, we have to include public service content. I wouldn’t say it’s core for us, but it certainly has its quality. In total, we offer almost 20 popular shows and almost 200 episodes from Czech Television.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
We follow the RTL+ model in Germany. They have a great combination of a strong linear brand and a digital platform that can offer relevant content to different audience segments. In America, we follow Hulu and Paramount+ with their Pluto TV model, which tests different types of advertising variants. We have also taken inspiration from France, where a ‘catch-up hybrid’ model works, combining archive and premiere content with advertising and paid versions.
Where do you think CNN Prima News has moved in its four years of operation?
We started as a TV channel. Today, we are a digital brand. This year, we launched a new newsroom where we combine the work of the TV, online team and social media. We create content in a modular way—each medium gets its version of the news. For example, a report from the field will be edited for TV and, at the same time, an article for the web, a short video for Instagram and a clip for TikTok will be created. And sometimes we make a podcast or a longer investigative format.
Source: E15 Michael Tomeš
How do you want to differentiate yourself from Czech Television in the election broadcasts that are soon to come before the autumn parliamentary elections?
We are already starting with a series of debates in June and plan a continuous campaign until October. The first big pre-election debate in the Czech Republic, aptly titled 100 Days to the Election, will take place on Thursday, 19 June. We are now working on a weekly basis with STEM, which supplies us with data on voters’ priorities. We will confront politicians with what voters demonstrably want, not what politicians say they want. We are also preparing several format innovations. We want the debates to be not just a TV ritual but a tool for voters’ navigation.
Is CNN Prima News economically self-sufficient?
Just barely, yes. But we are doing it primarily because of the broad reach of the news. CNN Prima News is part of a media ecosystem that has synergies with the group’s other activities. Economically, it’s hard to separate, but in terms of brand and reach, it makes sense.
What is the future of linear TV and its audience profile?
Linear broadcasting will gradually age with the audience. But it’s not just about age—regions or value settings also play a role. It turns out that young viewers are not lost to linear TV, they just aren’t watching it every day like their parents. If the content appeals to them, like The Traitors, they will come. But otherwise, we have to follow them where they are.
Are you working more with fragmentation of attention and the role of media personalities?
Everyone is learning how to work with influencers these days. We have a small advantage in that some actors or performers act as “unpaid influencers”. They are active in social media and create a secondary campaign. We want to do better and more with this, although it is a challenging discipline. But technology will start to help us do that.
Are you incorporating artificial intelligence into the process?
New technologies, including AI, are already helping us in video production. We have seen what our people can do overnight with new software. The quality is already good enough to go on air. It’s not just about distribution, it’s about transforming production processes.
How has AI specifically transformed content selection and production?
All routine operations—whether in post-production or pick-ups—can be made faster, more cost-effective, or enhanced through the use of AI—or all three at once. It can be used in automated subtitling, transcription, translation, and editing. We are also testing synthetic voices and AI visualisations for some news formats. It depends on how creative you get. It will definitely start with shorter formats, but over time, it will transform the whole thing. We are also trying AI in predicting viewership or analysing what viewers enjoy.
Which Prima thematic stations are growing the most?
Prima Krimi has strong long-term growth. People like the crime genre, and when they get it in a clear package, it works. Prima Star also has good development, benefiting from nostalgia and well-targeted content. For the main channel, last season was excellent, and now we are gearing up for the autumn news.
Source: E15 Michael Tomeš
Is there going to be any consolidation of the TV market? There is talk of a possible sale of TV Barrandov. Would you be interested?
Maybe. If Barrandov were to be sold, and the price were realistic.
There is also a convergence between Karel Pražák as the owner of Mafra and Marek Dospiva, who controls the media house Vltava Labe Media. It is possible that after a prospective merger, they may have to sell some of their media due to the antimonopoly authority. Will you be interested, for example, in the radio station Impuls?
We do not comment on our business activities in the long term.
Are negotiations underway?
As I said, we do not comment on our business activities. In general, the Czech market can’t be expanded endlessly. When supply meets demand, consolidation is a logical step.
What were Prima’s economic results last year?
Last year, we consolidated the sales of all fourteen companies in the group for the first time. They reached almost seven billion crowns. Profit at the EBITDA level amounted to CZK 1.712 billion. This is a significant shift from the days when we had a turnover of 3.5 billion and a profit of 150 million. Growth was driven by digitalisation, the development of prima+, the development of advertising models and more efficient operations.
Piracy has become normalised for four out of ten adult Italians who now consume unlicensed services.
According to a Fapav-Ipsos report, in 2024, 38% of Italians used audiovisual content illegally. The figures represent the loss of €2.2 billion in turnover, an estimated loss of €904 million and over 12,000 jobs.
“It is not just an economic or industrial problem but increasingly takes on a social connotation where the individual pirate becomes part of a criminal system, whose only objective is business,”
said Federico Bagnoli Rossi, president of Fapav.
While the February 2024 introduction of the so-called Piracy Shield has helped – the blunt instrument has managed to take down legal streams as well as the illegal ones – it applies only to sport, leaving movies and series available to the domestic hackers.
“The new regulation from AGCOM regarding a 30-minute block is producing initial results. There is still much to be done, but the path taken is the right one. We are convinced of this, and in the next report, we will have specific data. This slight contraction does not overall diminish the seriousness of the phenomenon, which remains alarming, especially in terms of the economic damage caused to audiovisual and sports industries, as well as to the economic and employment system of our country”.
The cost is put at €61 million in lost admission fees, translating to damages of €530 million, a figure that rises to €778 million when the impact on legal subscriptions is included.
Piracy data monitoring specialist Muso has released its 2024 Piracy Trends and Insights Report in which it suggests that in 2024, piracy didn’t vanish – it evolved.
Muso tracked 216.3 billion visits to piracy websites in 2024. “While that’s a modest 5.7 per cent decline from 2023, the full picture is far more nuanced,” said the company. Beneath the surface, some sectors surged while others receded, painting a complex map of shifting global media demand.
Piracy Trends by Content Category
TV Piracy: TV piracy remains the dominant form of unlicensed content consumption, with a total of 96.8 billion visits globally. This represents a 6.8 per cent decrease. The continued demand for episodic content, particularly Anime, is a key driver.
“The genre’s relentless release cycles and delayed localisation make it a magnet for unlicensed consumption,” said Muso.
Publishing Piracy: Publishing piracy experienced an increase in 2024, with visits rising to 66.4 billion. This represents a 4.3 per cent increase. The rise of Manga and digital self-publishing contributes to this growth.
“This isn’t a niche trend anymore. Publishing piracy is now the second-largest piracy category, behind only TV,” noted Muso.
Film Piracy: Film piracy declined in 2024, with visits dropping to 24.3 billion, an 18 per cent decrease. This decline may be attributed to the increasing availability of legal streaming options and a decrease in major film releases due to production delays.
“The Hollywood strikes of 2023 left gaps in the release calendar, reducing demand simply because there was less to pirate,” suggested Muso.
Software Piracy: In 2024, software piracy declined to 14.9 billion visits, a 2.1 per cent decrease. The shift towards cloud-based subscription models continues to impact software piracy.
Music Piracy: Music piracy saw a decline, falling to 13.9 billion visits, a 18.6 per cent decrease. The growth of licensed streaming services has likely contributed to this decline.
In conclusion, Muso sees piracy as a demand signal, suggesting that it persists not because consumers reject legitimacy, but because legitimate options still fail to meet expectations in price, access, or timing. The data from 2024 makes this clear:
Publishing piracy is now structurally driven, not seasonal
TV remains hampered by platform fragmentation
Film piracy reflects real-time release trends
Music and software sectors show what success looks like when access models evolve
Piracy insights can directly inform revenue recovery strategies
“Piracy is a map of unmet audience demand and a signal of where the industry must go next,” concluded Muso.
Italian public broadcaster RAI has joined the International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP).
As part of RAI’s membership. IBCAP will provide monitoring and takedown services for all of Rai’s channels, including Rai Uno, Rai News 24, Rai Movie and Rai Sport, which offer family entertainment, news, sports and talk show programming. Rai Italia will also be included under IBCAP’s protection, which features variety shows, sports, and other popular programming for Italian communities around the world. Rai television programming, movies, sporting events and other content are available in 174 countries on five continents.
“We welcome Rai to the IBCAP coalition and look forward to further expanding our coverage umbrella with the addition of Italian channels,” said Chris Kuelling, executive director of IBCAP. “Rai’s membership, alongside that of BBC and NHK, represents another leading national broadcaster entrusting IBCAP with reducing piracy of their content.”
With nearly 16 million people in the United States identifying as Italian American, Italian-language content is a popular media source for piracy and illegal streaming services.
MultiChoice has run a four-day anti-piracy training and enforcement operation in Malawi, the first stage of a long-term initiative to combat piracy and protect the creative economy in the South East Africa country.
21 participants, including officers from the Malawi Police Service, prosecutors, and representatives from the Ministry of Justice, were involved in the event, which covered topics including types of piracy, enforcement techniques, legal frameworks, and the growing threat of internet streaming piracy.
A seminar held on 21 May 2025 was followed by a successful enforcement operation was carried out in Lilongwe, Malawi’a capital city.
Acting on intelligence and strategies discussed during the training, the Malawi Police Service, with support from COSOMA, raided an illegal internet streaming operation. Two suspects were arrested, and several hundred pieces of pirate streaming equipment were seized.
Frikkie Jonker, MultiChoice Group Africa Anti-Piracy Director, said:
“This raid is a testament to what can be achieved through strong partnerships and dedicated training. We are proud of the collaboration with the Malawi Police Service and COSOMA and commend them for their swift action and commitment to enforcement. This is the first of many efforts to come in Malawi, and we look forward to supporting more initiatives that strengthen content protection and uphold the rule of law.”
Under Malawi law anyone with devices capable of infringing copyright law faces to a fine of MWK 10,000,000 (€5,000) and imprisonment for four years. The fine can be increased by MWK 50,000 for each day during which the offence continues.
Statement of the Association of Commercial Television on the draft amendment to the public service media laws
MAY 2024
We see the draft amendment submitted in May 2024 as a move towards setting long-term sustainable rules for financing the dual TV broadcasting system in the Czech Republic. At the same time, we identify several issues that should be subject to further adjustments during the legislative process to maintain legal certainty. They include mainly the following:
The definition of public service and its tasks in the existing public service media laws is unclear in terms of both broadcasting and multimedia services and new technologies. To meet the EU law requirement that the definition of public service should be as precise as possible[1], the existing statutory definition must be supplemented, whether by law or in another form that will be binding on public service media. The draft amendment includes the institute of a memorandum on the way the public service is performed. It should clarify the definition of public service, however, the memorandum is expected to be issued only after the amendment of the law and the collection of increased licence fees become effective. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the draft amendment to provide that the binding clarification of the public service definition (e.g. by memorandum) must precede any future increase in fees. We consider it highly appropriate that the process of adopting the memorandum should formally provide for stakeholder engagement through comments and an obligation to address those comments. xx
We are not confident that it is appropriate for the fee amount to be regulated only by a government decree and believe that it should be stipulated by law. We do not share the view that it is appropriate to allow fee increases based on inflation as the costs of public service broadcasters do not rise in line with inflation. Nevertheless, if such a solution is selected, any increase by government decree should be clearly and strictly limited only by meeting the indexation criteria. x
The Ministry has declared that public service media should not be allowed to disseminate commercial messages in their services on the internet and in applications. However, the draft amendment contains an explicit exemption for the dissemination of commercial communications in audiovisual media services on demand (video on demand), including video advertising. The restriction of commercial communications in online services (prohibition of video advertising) thus requires rewording of the relevant provisions of the law. x
The amendment provides for a limitation of the overall scope of sponsorship messages on Czech Television (ČT) programmes but does not regulate in any way the transfer of the volume of sponsorship messages between individual ČT programmes. It would therefore be appropriate to supplement the overall limit on sponsorship messages with a maximum range of sponsorship messages on individual
[1] The Communication from the Commission on the application of State aid rules to public service broadcasting (2009/C 257/01) states in paragraph 45: “The definition of the public service mandate by the Member States should be as precise as possible. It should leave no doubt as to whether a certain activity performed by the entrusted operator is intended by the Member State to be included in the public service remit or not. Without a clear and precise definition of the obligations imposed on the public service broadcaster, the Commission would not be able to carry out its tasks under Article 86 (2).” The need to define the public service as precisely as possible is also apparent from paragraph 46 of the above-mentioned Communication from the Commission. “Clear identification of the activities covered by the public service remit is also important for private service operators, so that they can plan their activities. Moreover, the terms of the public service remit should be sufficiently precise, so that Member States’ authorities can effectively monitor compliance.”
OCTOBER 2023
Joint statement by the Association of Commercial Television, the Association of Private Broadcasters, the Internet Development Association, the Union of Publishers, and the Association of Online Publishers
Media market appeals to the Minister of Culture: a discussion on the definition of public service is necessary before making any change in the funding of public service media
Media associations representing the most important media houses, television and radio broadcasters, online and press publishers have united forces in a joint appeal to Culture Minister Martin Baxa. He introduced the “major media amendment” regulating the financing of the public media, Česká televize (Czech Television) and Český rozhlas (Czech Radio). However, during the preparation of the draft, there was no discussion about the potential impact on the media market as a whole.
The planned changes have not been consulted with media representatives in any way, nor have any of the documents that the Ministry of Culture has put into the legislative process addressed the impact on the commercial market. We consider this to be a fundamental error. Public service media do not operate separately and apart from commercial entities but are part of the same ecosystem. It is therefore necessary to assess any possible intervention from the point of view of all the entities that are part of the media sector and contribute to maintaining media pluralism in the Czech Republic.
The proposal of the Ministry of Culture has also been much criticised by ministries and other institutions. The amendment is considered to be ill-conceived and does not fully reflect the current situation. In a situation where the state, companies and citizens of the Czech Republic are facing high inflation and are forced to adopt many austerity measures, Czech Television (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo) seem to be the only ones who do not have to save money and strive to operate more efficiently.
The argument that this will only make up the fair value of the budgets of ČT and ČRo for the period when the licence fee was not increased is not justified. The commercial media have been fundamentally affected by the economic crisis and the one-third drop in the advertising market in 2009 or the recent coronavirus crisis, while the public media have managed a stable budget throughout the whole period.
In our opinion, such a significant change in the financing of public service media should be preceded primarily by an expert discussion, which will open up the question of the form and scope of public service in the 21st century, and which will then reveal what budget public service media really need to fulfil their role. The procedure chosen by the Minister of Culture reverses this process and, on the contrary, writes a blank cheque for a service that nobody can define at the moment and that nobody can evaluate and control in the future.
We are therefore once again asking Culture Minister Martin Baxa to completely revise the draft of the major media amendment in the light of the wave of justified criticism the draft has provoked.
“The proposed amendment will fundamentally disrupt the commercial media market on several levels. For TV broadcasters, for example, there is a risk of depleting production capacity and making original content more expensive,” says Daniel Grunt, CEO of Nova Group.
“Czech Television has repeatedly said that it lacks CZK 300 to 500 million a year in its budget to maintain its current functioning. However, the proposal adds up to CZK 1.5 billion irrespective of the fact that there is still a question whether the current scope of ČT’s services continues to meet the definition of a public service,” adds Marek Singer, CEO of FTV Prima.
“The entire commercial radio market operates with half the budget of Czech Radio. Yet we operate twice as many radio stations and reach three times more audience than public radio. Increasing licence fees and introducing an across-the-board ‘mobile phone tax’ or unjustified fees for legal entities as proposed in the amendment by the Ministry of Culture is therefore out of place in our opinion. It rather seems that the Ministry of Culture has failed to take a comprehensive consideration of the proposal and has primarily tried to find as much money as possible, regardless of what it will be used for,” says Jiří Hrabák, Chairman of the Association of Private Broadcasters (APSV) and CEO of Rádio Impuls.
“The additional hundreds of millions of crowns for Czech Radio, while retaining advertising, will seriously shift the balance on the radio market and dramatically affect competition. In terms of the composition of their broadcasts and music, what Czech Radio stations offer licence fee payers for their money is content that is in fact no different from private stations for most of the day, and that private stations have to produce at a fraction of the cost of ČRo,” warns Daniel Sedláček, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Media Bohemia. “This amendment will only strengthen Czech Radio’s dominant position in terms of finance in direct competition with private operators for the same listeners without improving the public service in any way,” Sedláček adds.
“The public media have already been online competitors to our news projects. We are competing in the same field not only for readers but also for employees or advertising revenue. Increasing the budgets of ČT and ČRo without resolving the relationship between public and private media has unquestionable and significant consequences for economic competition. The submitted proposal does not specify for what purposes the increased funds are to be used, and furthermore, it extends the exemptions from the placement of online advertising,” said Michal Hanák, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Internet Development Association (SPIR) and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of MAFRA.
“We are in a situation where a number of activities are moving online but where neither the limits nor the specific objectives of the public service are clear for public service media. At the same time, the implications for the online environment have not been assessed. It should go without saying that public service institutions do not seek to compete with commercial entities in the online market. Public service media should focus on fulfilling their public service mission and present concepts of how they want to achieve it,” adds Libuše Šmuclerová, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Union of Publishers (UV) and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Czech News Center.
“Our organisation represents smaller and medium-sized publishers operating mainly on the internet. We are very concerned about the expansion of public media into new platforms in the online space. Beyond that, public service media on new internet platforms are not just distributing content that originally appeared on TV or radio airwaves but are adding new content. Given that the new European Media Freedom Act, the final wording of which is expected to be approved in the coming months, will, among other things, establish a new right of citizens to pluralistic and independent news, it will be the duty of Member States to create the conditions for a pluralistic media market. To preserve plurality, it is essential that fair conditions of competition are set, especially in the online environment,” concludes Ondřej Neumann, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Online Publishers (AOV) and founder of HlídacíPes.org.
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.
Viewers primarily want local content, says Didier Stoessel from PPF about his plans in the television business. In a month, he will become one of the two heads of the group. In an interview with CNBC, he described his intentions for Nova and other channels.
Traditional TV may have been in decline for years, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be profitable. You just need to get the TV programme to people in various ways, believes Didier Stoessel, one of the two newly appointed co-CEOs of the PPF investment group.
“We all in the media business are ultimately content creators. Now we just need to find the best ways to deliver it to people,” summarises his vision for the coming years Stoessel, until now the Chief Investment Officer and head of PPF’s media division.
In the Czech Republic, PPF controls, among other businesses, TV Nova and the newly merged platform Oneplay, which has 1.4 million subscribers to the Voyo and O2 TV brands. It also owns major commercial stations in other Eastern European and Balkan countries. In all these markets, PPF is also active in telecommunications, which it intends to leverage for media expansion.
Stoessel outlined his ideas in an interview for the paid American business channel CNBC Exclusive. It was his first public appearance since early May, when PPF owner Renáta Kellnerová appointed him as one of the two Chief Executive Officers of the entire group.
In an unconventional dual leadership model, Stoessel will lead PPF alongside CFO Kateřina Jirásková starting in July. Both have been long-term employees of PPF since the days of Petr Kellner and are being promoted to top positions due to the departure of the current CEO, Jiří Šmejc.
Stoessel, as one of the biggest TV players in the Czech Republic, doesn’t see a major problem in the fact that the traditional living room screen now has many competitors — from mobile displays to global networks like Netflix and HBO. According to him, the main thing is to penetrate these worlds as well and broadcast the same programme not only on classic “linear” TV but also through their own video library or streaming services.
“When we add up all these channels together, our total viewership in our markets is growing,” said Stoessel. According to him, the merged Oneplay in the Czech Republic has half as many more subscribers than Netflix and many times more than HBO or Disney+, which Stoessel sees as proof that a promising business can be built by digitalising traditional TV.
Similarly, Šmejc spoke about the television business at the beginning of May during his last public appearance for PPF. Presenting the financial results, he described the TV experience from the Czech Republic as “know-how” that should be replicable elsewhere.
“It’s about us trying to develop a platform where you can find everything in one place in the living room or — as we call it — on the big screen. This includes enough channels as well as streaming. We have ambitions to bring plenty of sports content and original content in general,” Šmejc said.
According to him, Oneplay in the Czech Republic should grow from the current 1.4 million to 2.5 million subscribers within five years. “Our intention is to be the most used service in the Czech Republic. That is our goal,” Šmejc added.
Both Stoessel and Šmejc portray “local content” as the main key to attracting viewers. According to Stoessel, it is common in Europe—including Germany, France, and smaller Eastern markets where PPF operates—that domestic production makes up 60 to 70 per cent of the programming.
According to Stoessel, however, there are no significant savings to be made in content creation.
Thanks to domestic production, PPF is confident against global TV competitors. “We operate in smaller markets where it is difficult for companies like Netflix to produce as much local content as we can. And that is our competitive advantage,” says Šmejc.
Stoessel would like to replicate the television “know-how” from the Czech Republic and other countries in Germany as well. PPF has acquired a minority stake in the ProSieben channel in Germany and has offered to buy shares from other shareholders. According to him, greater influence by PPF should help accelerate the digitalisation of ProSieben.
