Czech Television maintains market leadership for seventh consecutive year

Czech Television became the most-watched television group in 2024 with a 30.43% market share, defending its position for the seventh consecutive year. Compared to 2023, it managed to increase its performance by more than half a percentage point.

Czech Television was the market leader in all-day viewership and also recorded above-average results during prime time, when its audience share reached 30.75%. The most popular program of the year was the Ice Hockey World Championship final, while among series, "Docent II" was the most watched, and among entertainment shows, "StarDance" took the lead.

The public broadcaster dominated the list of most-watched programs last year, claiming all top fifty positions. While Czech Television excelled in all-day share, the commercial television group Nova was on average the most-watched during prime time across all key viewer demographics.

According to Silvia Majeská, Nova's programming director, the group's stations reached 3.7 million viewers aged four and older daily. "This is an extraordinary result," she stated, noting that a reach is counted when a program is watched for at least three consecutive minutes.

The most-watched program on ČT1, the main channel of the public broadcaster, was the Christmas content – particularly the original Christmas Eve fairy tale "Three Princesses." Including additional viewership from internet archives, it was seen by 2.40 million viewers aged four and older, achieving a 53.45% share.

The second place was also taken by a Czech Television fairy tale, "Angel of the Lord 2," which attracted 2.10 million children and adult viewers with a share of 44.43%. The most sought-after program in entertainment and drama was the thirteenth season of StarDance, the Czech adaptation of the British format Strictly Come Dancing.

StarDance was watched by an average of 1.78 million viewers aged four and older, achieving a 44.90% share. The second place went to the continuation of the original crime miniseries "Docent," which attracted 1.38 million viewers aged fifteen and older with a 35.65% share.

The series "Sense of Tumour" (Czech version of a Belgian original) made an impact not only in terms of viewership but also from an educational perspective, with an average audience of 1.37 million adult viewers and a 31.22% share. ČT1 achieved an average audience share of 16.08% for the entire year.

The ČT2 channel achieved its second-best result in the last five years. Viewers were most interested in the original production cycle "Stezka Českem" (Path Through Czechia) about a long-distance hiking trail, which attracted 304 thousand viewers.

The single documentary "The Secret Life of Bedřich Smetana" took second place with 300 thousand viewers. Lucie Výborná's talk show "Výborná Show" came in third with an average viewership of 264 thousand, moving from ČT2 to ČT1 in October.

There was high interest in Czech Television news during extraordinary events, such as the European Parliament elections, regional council elections, and especially during the September floods. The flood coverage on ČT24 on September 15, 2024, reached 3.1 million viewers aged four and older.

This represented the largest reach since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The ČT24 channel achieved an audience share of 4.13%, reaching the average of the years 2014-2019.

The main news program "Události" on ČT1 and ČT24 channels was watched by an average of 786 thousand viewers, with a market share of 26.73%. Události maintains stable values from the pre-COVID years 2013-2019 and is the only main news program that has managed to maintain stable viewer interest compared to ten years ago.

ČT sport, with an average audience share of 4.57%, celebrated its highest annual performance since its launch in 2006. The Ice Hockey World Championship, hosted in Prague and Ostrava, attracted a total of 6.82 million viewers on the ČT sport channel.

The final match between Czechia and Switzerland was watched on television or online by 3.74 million children and adult viewers, achieving a 76.14% share. This made it not only the most-watched broadcast on the ČT sport channel in its history but also the most sought-after program across all television stations since 2022.

The ČT :D children's channel also achieved a record, reaching its best result since its launch in 2013. Among children aged 4-12, ČT :D achieved a 31.29% audience share during its broadcasting time, and among younger children aged 4-9, it reached 36.45%.

Children particularly appreciated the premiere short animated evening fairy tales from Czech Television's own production. They were also engaged by the original live-action series "Elin's Super Secret Diary," which teaches children to develop interpersonal relationships.

On the cultural station ČT art, viewers most watched a recording of a bitter theatrical comedy from Prague's Studio Dva scene, with 158 thousand viewers. The channel achieved an audience share of 1.03%, the second-highest result since the station's launch.

On the last day of the year, Czech Television achieved an audience share of 39.01%. Viewers were most attracted to the talk show "Všechnopárty," with 1.21 million adult viewers and a market share of 34.86%. The "Musical Night Full of Stars" engaged 935 thousand viewers.

Unless otherwise stated, data is always for the 15+ viewer group. Data source: ATO-Nielsen, live TV viewership + timeshift in the first three days, as of January 1, 2025.