Small screen, big dreams: new generation of Czech broadcasters

Five new nationwide free-to-air channels have emerged in the Czech Republic over the past 15 months. They diversify the market with offerings from teleshopping to sports, while facing viewership challenges in a competitive landscape.

A11

When you visit the website of A11 television, you'll find a cheerful statement: "We are now watched by more than 1,150,000 households!" However, this is a marketing-inflated term, as the number doesn't reflect the actual viewership of the programs. Elsewhere on the website, this figure is clarified as the number of households that had A11 tuned in via the nationwide DVB-T2 network of Czech Radiocommunications as of March 1st last year.

But how many people actually tune in to watch the station's programs? The latest available presentation for advertisers on the station's website is from last September. It reported a stable audience share of 0.03% in the target group of viewers aged 15 and over on an average day. The reach was 54,000 viewers daily, representing the number of people who watched A11 for at least three consecutive minutes. Weekly reach was 135,000 viewers, and monthly reach was 383,000 viewers.

In spring this year, A11 decided to withdraw from electronic audience measurement, as it no longer made sense given such low numbers. The station announced its latest programming changes in spring. New additions included a Sunday cooking show, a consumer magazine featuring a TikTok personality with money-saving tips every Friday, and a weekend program with interviews of prominent classical music figures.

In April, A11 announced the arrival of new commercial director Zuzana Kořenková. "I see great growth potential in the A11 media group, especially in television activities. It's incredible how much work A11 television has managed to accomplish in a year. What takes years elsewhere is created here in months or even weeks," she said optimistically when tasked with strengthening the team of salespeople focused on television.

Regional news remains the core of the broadcast, as the station evolved from the original RegionálníTelevize.cz project. It broadcasts nationwide via DVB-T2 multiplex 23 and is available on most major IPTV services, with the notable exception of O2 TV.

Hit TV

On December 12, 2023, the teleshopping channel Hit TV began broadcasting. The project was created by Per Anders Everbring, an experienced entrepreneur in direct television product sales. At the channel's launch, he spoke about wanting to provide opportunities for Czech manufacturers and Czech products. The channel uses the same Czech Radiocommunications network as A11, the DVB-T2 multiplex 23, and its live broadcast also runs continuously as a stream on YouTube.

Viewership data for Hit TV is not readily available. The station doesn't operate on the principle of a traditional programming schedule. Instead, it continuously rotates a loop featuring several types of products, from kitchen utensils to car accessories and "slimming" teas. Viewers can order products by phone or through e-shops operated at various addresses by the Prague-based company Hit Direct. This company, like the TV station, is owned by Per Anders Everbring.

The promotional clips are often dubbed presentations from the British company Best Direct. Other distributors are represented by companies such as the Czech branch of the German MediaShop. It was not possible to find a commercial offer for potential domestic advertisers interested in product presentations.

Sporty TV

The free-to-air sports channel Sporty TV released its first (and so far only) viewership data in April, a month after launching. During that month, 298,000 viewers aged four and above watched the channel for at least three consecutive minutes. The average daily reach was 25,000 viewers.

The channel's owner, Perinvest Group, is satisfied with this performance. "The result is very positive – viewership is higher than we expected before launching Sporty TV. We're glad that viewers appreciate our team's work, and we believe they will continue to enjoy our broadcasts," said Jan Smíšek, CEO of Perinvest Group.

Given the competition from major sporting events on established channels, the station is in its ramp-up phase. It offers indoor sports and competitions like box lacrosse. "It's pointless to compete with the Euro and Olympic Games with content that's hard to produce. So we'll try out play-offs, build partnerships, and from September, we'll focus on domestic sports, both men's and women's," explained editor-in-chief Jiří Kalemba.

The latest addition is the broadcast of the second-tier football league. "You can look forward to a live broadcast from each round, and we'll always choose matches after Czech Television, as the second pick. We'll offer a program with a studio expert, involving a team of people who know the second league well, either as former players, in other roles, or as journalists following it," Sporty TV announced.

As a bonus to the studio broadcasts, there will be a follow-up show after each round, summarizing and analyzing in-depth everything that happened during the matches. The main face of this program is football journalist Jan Podroužek.

Sporty TV broadcasts on the nationwide DVB-T2 Multiplex 23. It is also available through most major IPTV operators, with the notable exceptions of Skylink and O2 TV.

Warner TV

Warner TV, a film channel, began broadcasting on April 2, 2024. It became the first free-to-air station from Warner Bros. Discovery's portfolio in the Czech market. Given the high popularity of terrestrial broadcasting, the American media holding decided to target a different type of audience than that of its paid channels. At the same time, it aims to capture a share of the advertising market, hiring Atmedia to handle advertising block sales. Atmedia expects Warner TV to achieve a stable audience share of around 1% within a year.

Unlike paid channels, which usually have a common schedule for several countries with different audio tracks and localized graphics, Warner TV's program is tailored to the Czech market. It consists of older series and films produced by Warner Bros. Discovery and its subsidiary studios, currently including titles like The Flash, Roswell: New Mexico, Veronica Mars, Southland, and Pretty Little Liars. The main target audience is viewers aged 25 to 59.

The average audience share for the first month of broadcasting was 0.53%, and the channel reached nearly 900,000 television viewers aged four and above who watched it for at least three consecutive minutes. In the commercial category of 18 to 69 years old, the number of viewers reached over the entire month was 713,000.

Warner TV broadcasts on the nationwide DVB-T2 Multiplex 23. It is available through most major IPTV operators and T-Mobile's Magenta TV satellite service. However, it has not yet reached distribution agreements with O2 TV or Skylink.

OK TV

Viewers have been able to tune into OK TV on the DVB-T2 Multiplex 24 of Digital Broadcasting only since May 16, 2024. However, the channel currently labels its broadcast as a test run, with many reruns during the summer. When will it transition to standard operations? "We can tentatively say during autumn, but no specific date has been set," the channel responds to curious fans on Facebook.

Among the TV stations mentioned in this article, OK TV has the highest ambitions and the largest number of studios - four in total. It has established its base in a former bank building in Prague's Žižkov district, emphasizing original content with a relaxed and positive spirit. In the medium term, it aims to achieve a 2% audience share. However, current viewership data is not available.

The original project was planned as a music station, with music producer and founder of the Votvírák music festival, Artur Kaiser, involved in OK TV. Eventually, the programming expanded to include entertainment, talk shows, and game shows, with the station even purchasing shows from the Czechoslovak Television archive. Music remains a significant part of the daily schedule, either in the form of music charts or long blocks of music videos. OK TV generously describes its target audience as "viewers over 35 years old".

OK TV broadcasts on the nationwide DVB-T2 Multiplex 24. It is available through some smaller IPTV operators, but has not yet reached agreements with major pay-TV platforms. The channel is still negotiating with larger providers, while satellite distribution is not currently planned due to cost considerations.