MEDIA 2025: THE EMERGENCE OF ONEPLAY, THE FIGHT FOR THE CZECH AND THE CZECH ONLY AND THE FEARS OF AI - ScreenVoice.cz

Uncertainty about the impact of artificial intelligence, potential regulatory changes, changing user behaviour and a volatile and spillover advertising market are increasing pressures on the survival of media companies.

The year 2025 was another year of systemic change and conflicting trends for Czech media. On the one hand, after long debates, the funding of public service media was strengthened, while on the other hand, immediately after the autumn parliamentary elections, a political debate opened up about the complete abandonment of licence fees. The new shift in the VOD and TV market was set off by the emergence of the Oneplay platform in the first quarter, some ownership changes in media houses took place and part of the market faced existential problems. A major concern about the impact on business models and the viability of online media has been the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and its advanced functionality, particularly in internet search, resulting in a decline in website traffic. However, the impact of AI on content creation and user behaviour is also a question mark. This will undoubtedly be a topic that the media will be grappling with in the new year of 2026 and beyond.

A key legislative event was the adoption of a major media amendment, which increased TV and radio fees from May, while expanding the range of payers. The amendment was intended to stabilise the financing of Czech Television and Czech Radio at a time of rising costs and declining real value of fees. At the same time, it provoked a strong political and social response. The incoming coalition of ANO, SPD and the Motorists declared its intention to abolish the fee system and change the financing of public media during the year. However, it is not yet clear how. However, the intention has raised fears of weakening the independence of public service media, which representatives ofCzech Radio, Czech Television and President Petr Pavel have repeatedly warned against.

A major change has hit the TV and VOD market. In the spring, the Oneplay service was launched, combining pay-TV service O2 TV and online video service Voyo into a single platform and creating the strongest pay-TV offering on the market by combining IPTV and streaming. Oneplay quickly established itself, expanded its sports rights and gradually rose to the level of familiarity of the original Voyo. In addition, the Nova Group took 100% ownership of O2 TV at the end of the year, strengthening its position in paid sports content. In response to this move, rival Prima+ platform announced its intention to expand its premium programming and look for cooperation with other operators. However, the Prima group itself has undergone significant personnel changes during the year. The global VOD market is clearly moving towards consolidation, with too many services in the satellite market no longer economically sustainable. So far, the best chances in the competition for the Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes HBO Max (the service reverted to its HBO brand mid-year, which it had previously abandoned), is Netflix. More mergers or acquisitions can be expected to follow.

The club of Czech billionaires acquiring media was expanded in the second half of the year by Pavel Tykač, who acquired a half stake in media group Mafra alongside current owner Karel Pražák. Time will tell to what extent this is a longer-term ownership split, but a 50% stake does not give either side much room for manoeuvre. Overall, the transaction confirmed the continued consolidation of the media market and the increased interest of strong business groups in strategic media. At the same time, Mafra divested Ticketportal prior to this acquisition, clearing the portfolio of non-media activities.

At the same time, 2025 was a challenging year for smaller TV players. The A 11 group, which operates, among other things, the eponymous national television station, went into insolvency, OK TV suspended broadcasting and TV Barrandov is trying to complete its restructuring and emerge from bankruptcy, which complicates the planned capital injection by the new owner.

The year 2025 was a turning point for the radio market. The launch of new networks for the digital DAB standard opened up opportunities for expanding radio distribution, to which all major private station operators(Active Radio, Media Bohemia, Radio United Broadcasting, Londa) gradually responded. Public Czech Radio was already broadcasting in DAB before 2025.

Overview of selected media events in 2025

January

Seznam.cz acquired a one-third stake in the publishing house Reporter magazine. The transaction was connected with the transfer of Robert Čásenský, editor-in-chief and founder of the Reporter magazine, to the head of Seznam Zpravy.

The transfer of Londa, operator of Impuls, Český Impuls and RockZone 105.9 radio stations, to Mafra has been finally completed. Londa, previously owned by the owner of Mafra, has become its subsidiary.

A study by the ResSolution Group highlighted a significant decline in regular news consumption since the pandemic. Up to a quarter of users actively avoid news, according to the research.

After Matyáš Zrno took over as head of Aktuálně.cz, the editorial staff was significantly changed, some familiar faces left and the editorial team was strengthened by new writers.

February

IPTV and cable reception became the most widespread way of watching TV in the Czech Republic, overtaking terrestrial reception. This was revealed in data from ATO-Nielsen's Continuous Research.

České Radiokomunikacehas launched a nationwide commercial digital radio broadcasting network , DAB , which Radio United Broadcasting Group was the first to enter.

BigBoard increased its direct and indirect stake in Praha TV to 80% and effectively became its sole owner.

Media Club expanded its portfolio by selling advertising on the FAST channels of the Sweet.tv streaming platform, strengthening its offering in the CTV advertising sector.

Seznam.cz began using its own artificial intelligence tool SeLLMa to aggregate articles and discussion topics.

March

A new service , Oneplay, launched on 10 March, bringing together O2 TV and Voyo under one brand.

The Chamber of Deputies approved in the third readinga major media amendment to the Czech Television, Czech Radio and TV and Radio Fees Acts. It also included the abolition of compulsory registration of vloggers with the RRTV.

The Publishers' Licensing Rights Manager (SLPV) was granted permission by the Ministry of Culture to enter into licensing agreements with global platforms such as Google and Meta.

RRTV granted IFIS Acquisition II a licence to operate TV Barrandov.

Czech Television has announced that it will suspend the broadcast of several journalistic programmes on ČT24 from April due to cost savings.

Netmonitor research has expanded to include data from multinational platforms and has started to regularly publish the landscape of the internet market.

Platform prima+ announced a significant expansion of premium content and further investment in original content.

April

Google finally backed away from its planto block third-party cookies in Chrome, leaving users with a choice.

Jaromír Soukup returned to front of camera after leaving TV Barrandov with the online format Attention Soukup! run by JSF Holding.

The Londa Group has joined the Czech Radiocommunications' full-screen DAB network.

Publico.cz, a new online news project founded by Veselin Vačkov, was launched.

The ATO decided to expand TV viewership measurement to include viewing outside the home and in second homes from 2026.

Prima launched a new Sunday journalistic programme, Context. It wanted to attract viewers of 168 Hours, which had ended on public television.

Active Radio expanded the Evropa 2, Frekvence 1 and Bonton brands into full DAB broadcasting.

SPIR confirmed Gemius as the supplier of Czech internet traffic measurement company NetMonitor for the next five years.

May

The CT Council dismissed Director General Jan Souček on the grounds of violation of the CT Act and announced a new selection procedure.

A major media amendment came into force, modifying the system of TV and radio fee payments for households and companies.

CNN Prima News signed a new five-year contract with CNN International.

Google unveiled new advertising AI tools and its intention to expand into other countries in the field of artificial intelligence.

Petr Šimůnek transferred his stake in Forbes Czech Republic to the majority owner and finally withdrew from Forbes.

The TN Live news service has expanded its broadcasts to 24 hours a day.

June

The Czech Television Council elected Hynek Chudárek as the new Director General after his opponent Milan Fridrich withdrew from the election. He became deputy DG responsible for programme, content and digital services.

The daily Právo was introduced to readers in a smaller format and in a new graphic design by Studio Najbrt. The change was also related to the transfer of printing to Mafra Print.

Mafra agreed with the international company AS Piletilevi PLG to sell Ticketportal in order to focus more on media activities.

Bigboard chairman Richard Fuxa announced his intention to exercise his pre-emption right to buy a majority stake in the company from JOJ Media House.

The new owner of Playboy magazine is HFC Play from the CCS Premium Trust group . It bought the company from the Prima group.

July

Warner Bros. Discovery returned its streaming service to the HBO Max name and ended its two-year use of the Max brand.

Centrum.cz launched an endless stream of news on its homepage, similar to Seznam.cz.

Media Bohemia entered DAB digital broadcasting and announced further expansion of its station portfolio.

Seznam.cz established cooperation with the Demagog.cz project, which has become part of the ethics assessment of advertising messages.

Londa expanded its digital offer by adding the station Gold Impuls to the Czech Radiokomunikacije's nationwide DAB network.

August

The High Court annulled the decision on the reorganisation of Media Master due to doubts about its profitability for creditors.

Czech Media introduced a self-regulatory ten-point rule in the context of the entry into force of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).

Both Nova and Prima announced the launch dates for their new autumn key series Bratři a sestry and Polabí.

The new free-to-air children's TV channel TraLaLa entered the Czech market.

Oneplay gained access to Canal Sport sports channels thanks to a deal with Skylink.

September

Czech Television adjusted its management structure and created a newly integrated Program and Digital Services division, headed by Milan Fridrich.

PPF Group terminated its investment in German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 and offered its stake to media group MFE.

BigBoard Prague made changes in its management, with J&T Arch Investments becoming a new shareholder.

Czech Television published its Memorandum of Operations for 2026-2030, in which it committed to maintaining the number of channels and strengthening original programming. Czech Radio also published its memorandum.

The Vlny.cz project launched paid access to selected video podcasts.

The Prima Group made changes in its top management, with Marek Singer moving to the position of chairman and Lukáš Kubát becoming CEO.

Media Bohemia has expanded the range of its stations in digital broadcasting.

October

TV Nova became 100% owner of O2 TV and expanded its portfolio of sports channels to include Oneplay Sport (formerly O2 TV Sport).

The upcoming government coalition ofANO, SPD and Motorists announced its intention to abolish public media licence fees.

Google has launched AI Modesearch in the Czech Republic basedon generative artificial intelligence.

The A 11 Group fell into insolvency and at the same time the ownership structure of the company operating A 11 TV changed.

A study by the EBU and BBC highlighted the high error rate of AI assistants' responses when dealing with news content.

TV Nova has issued crown bonds to finance further development.

OK TV suspended its broadcasting again. This time for up to three months.

November

Kaprain, owned by entrepreneur Karel Pražák, and Tymeprax, owned by Pavel Tykač, concluded an agreement to split ownership of the Mafra media group. Thanks to the agreement, Pavek Tykač acquired a half stake in Mafra.

Seznam.cz launched the social network Lidé.cz.

Nova Gold was renamed Nova Krimi, completing the change in programming focus.

At the Forum Media conference, President Petr Pavel warned that the changes to the funding of public media could threaten their independence.

TV Prima confirmed the preparation of a third series of the detective reality series Traitors as a key premium format.

Seznam.cz owner Ivo Lukačovič announced legal action against Andrej Babiš's statements.

Antik Telecom' s Music Box TV offer includes several thematic variants. They are to replace the ending MTV.

BigMedia launched a network of digital outdoor screens PlayOn.

The investigative video project PastVina was launched.

December

Expert conferences highlighted the fundamental transformation of SEO due to AI and the shift to search everywhere optimization.

The publishers' licensing rights manager entered into its first licensing agreement with monitoring company Toxin.

SPIR analysis revealed a significant drop in traffic to Czech websites after the introduction of AI Overviews.

Netflix announced its intention to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (including HBO) and to link streaming services and catalogues. However, Paramount has stepped in and is trying to turn the situation around.

Czech Television has objected to the remarks made by presenter Václav Moravec. Tensions between the Czech Television management and the presenter increased after an interview in Deník N, in which the presenter criticised the Czech Television management.