Seznam.cz, the strongest player on the domestic internet, wants to expand its paid content services. Matěj Hušek, a member of the board of directors of Seznam.cz, said this at the Czech Internet Forum ( CIF 2025) conference on Tuesday, which was organised by Internet Info, in a great debate among representatives of the Czech media. "This week we are launching the possibility for authors to turn on the paywall on Médium.cz and we have a plan how to work with other services. We will launch something by mid-2026," Hušek said. It may be a freemium model or a paid section, it hasn't been decided yet. He added that a combination of advertising revenue and paid content makes sense for the future.
Hušek also admitted that Seznam.cz is not abandoning the idea of introducing central access to paid content for more sites. On the other hand, he does not believe in the Piano-type single-payer model that Slovakia once tried. "The idea is a kind of central box on Seznam where subscribers would get access to all paid content of all involved parties. It's a very sensitive topic, but one worthy of further debate," he said. Research by Seznam.cz has reportedly found that the expansion of paid services could triple the number of paying users on Seznam.
Unequal fight with tech giants
Libuše Šmuclerová, chairwoman of the supervisory board of the Czech News Center (CNC), summed up the situation of the Czech media vis-à-vis global platforms in the debate by saying that "this is the most difficult thing we are facing. In terms of their size, it is a David and Goliath fight. We are riding on unfair terms to them," she described. According to Shmukler, Meta and Google are "siphoning off not only most of the advertising, which takes many years, but also the data streams, which is energy intensive." She added that the struggle with the big platforms will take time and that local media will have to be "very smart."
Vit Nantl, chairman of the board of Vltava Labe Media, pointed out that it is very difficult for domestic media to achieve the kind of bargaining power that US media can exert in relation to large multinational platforms. But he expects local players to negotiate the terms of content use with platforms.
According to Shmukler, the situation regarding negotiations with large platforms on payment for the content used by news media is complex. "Meta pretends we don't exist, Google pretends it doesn't use the content, Microsoft is the most accommodating. Negotiations have also started with Seznam. It's going step by step," she outlined.
Globally, the introduction of AI Overviews, an aggregated per-query report on Google's search engine, has sparked concerns among news media about a drop in traffic. Vit Nantl, however, does not view the situation so pessimistically. "So far, we don't see a decline in our news content. We are diversified, which is our advantage, but our news section is holding or growing. AI Overviews is not yet a threat to the news part, but it may be different for non-news content," he said.
There will be no advertising tariff on Oneplay for now
Daniel Grunt, CEO of TV Nova, explained the strategy of the new streaming platform Oneplay by betting on local content and creating a content offering that users will enjoy. "That's more difficult for algorithms to handle," Grunt said, adding that in every market in which parent CME operates, it wants to go the local route.
The mooted introduction of an ad-supported tariff will not appear on Oneplay any time soon, certainly not in the first half of 2026, according to Grunt. But Nova is preparing a technology solution for advertising on its video platform and wants to be ready for the introduction of advertising when the time is right. "The prices for video advertising are terribly low in the Czech Republic, YouTube sells it cheaply, and it doesn't pay us to cheapen our tariffs," Grunt explained. According to him, the demand for targeted video advertising on the market, as well as the development on the TV market and the rate of selling out of advertising space in linear broadcasting will decide when the tariff with advertising will be launched. If it increases, the likelihood of an advertising tariff being introduced on Oneplay will increase.
A dual system is needed
The discussion also touched on the public service media in the context of the forthcoming arrival of the new government and the stated aim to abolish the financing of Czech Television and Czech Radio from the TV and radio licence fee. "There is a lack of debate about what the public service is and how to support it," mentioned Vít Nantl. According to him, the fees should remain, but "expanding into the online space may lead to a reduction in media pluralism. Public service websites without advertising are a great competitive advantage," he added.
Daniel Grunt supported the dual system and the existence of strong public service media and strong commercial media. However, it is not for him to decide exactly how public service media should be financed. "Public service media should have a clearly defined funding method that is stable and sustainable. But on the other hand, strong commercial media must also be maintained," he said.
"I am a big fan of the dual system, to include them in the budget does not make me happy. Funding must be separate from the state budget," said Matěj Hušek, who suggested that ČT was "overcharging" Seznam employees on terms that Seznam allegedly could not offer.
Libuše Šmuclerová stressed the need to control the management of public service media through the SAO. "Public service media lived by their own rules," she said, adding that in her opinion, for example, ČT had reserves in what it spent the money it had.
The merger of VLM and Mafra? No
When asked directly about a possible merger of the media groups Vltava Labe Media and Mafra, Vít Nantl replied unequivocally that such a merger would not happen. "Nothing of the sort was on the table," he added.
Source: mediaguru.cz