Czechs lag behind Slovaks in pay-TV use, study shows
The number of Czech viewers who watch television through one of the pay-TV operators has been growing in recent years, but is still not at the level of other European countries, including neighbouring Slovakia.
The results of the AtMedia Index study for the second half of 2022 show that while 57% of Czech viewers aged 15-69 used pay-TV services during this period, the figure was 95% in Slovakia.
"A significant proportion of Czech viewers do not pay for television and only watch free-to-air channels available via digital terrestrial broadcasting. There are many such channels in the Czech Republic and their number is growing thanks to the transition to DVB-T2. The latest example is the Spektrum Home TV channel, which started broadcasting on one of the digital multiplexes at the beginning of March this year," explains Pavel Müller, research director at Atmedia.
Read more: Pay-TV channel Spektrum Home to be available for free on DVB-T2
The most popular pay-TV platforms in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia are IPTV and cable TV. "IPTV has experienced a significant boom in recent years. Viewers have become accustomed to new ways of watching TV, such as replaying TV programmes," says Müller.
Specifically, 62% of Czech pay-TV viewers use IPTV or cable TV, while the remaining 38% use satellite TV.
In Slovakia, the proportion is 53% for IPTV or cable and 40% for satellite. The remaining 7% is attributed to digital terrestrial pay TV. This type of TV reception is offered to Slovak viewers by Plustelka within the encrypted digital multiplex. In the Czech Republic, the operator Skylink tried this form of pay-TV with the service Anténa+, but it will be discontinued in 2022.
In the second half of 2022, Czech viewers spent an average of CZK 389 (€16, $17) per month on pay TV, while Slovaks spent €18 ($20 or CZK 437).
The survey, paid for by Atmedia, was conducted by ResSolution/Nielsen using the CAWI method. The survey included 3,910 respondents (Internet TV viewers aged 15-69, knowing their type of TV reception) from the Czech National Panel and 2,941 respondents (Internet TV viewers aged 15-69, knowing their type of TV reception) from the Slovak National Panel.
The survey was conducted in two waves in the third and fourth quarter of 2022 (Czech Republic: 4-16 October 2022, 2-15 January 2023, Slovakia: 14-28 October 2022, 2-17 January 2023).
