TV MARKET HAS EXTENDED DATA ON OUT-OF-HOME VIEWING - ScreenVoice.cz

Since the beginning of February, the Czech television market has officially had new data on television viewership. The data has been expanded to include out-of-home viewing. It will now be delivered at around 9:30 a.m.

From 1 February 2026, the Association of Television Organisations (ATO) is expanding its official television audience measurement to include data from a new mobile panel. In addition to the existing measurement in households, the new measurement will also include viewing of television content outside the home, for example in restaurants, holiday cottages, waiting rooms and other public spaces.

The expansion is based on the connection of the existing people meter panel (PCEM) with ReDAM mobile measurement. For the first time within the ATO project, the new system will make it possible to obtain data on television viewing outside the home environment and at the same time capture the television behaviour of people from households without a television.

The current panel of approximately 1,900 households (4,200 individuals aged 4 and above) is supplemented by approximately 1,500 additional respondents aged 15 and above, who are involved in mobile measurement carried out by ResSolution Group. The data fusion of both sources is provided by Nielsen Admosphere, which developed the solution specifically for the needs of the Czech television market.

Television viewing data will now be delivered at around 9:30 a.m., abandoning the originally intended two-day delivery (morning and afternoon).

According to ATO, the expansion is part of a long-term strategy aimed at a more robust and flexible measurement system that better responds to changes in viewer behaviour and technological developments. "Measuring out-of-home viewing has been a long-term goal of ATO, which has been achieved thanks to the cooperation of ATO members with supplier companies," said Michal Jordan, ATO's managing director.

Representatives of television groups and media houses see the inclusion of out-of-home viewing as an important step towards more accurate data and a more realistic picture of the overall reach of television broadcasting, especially for sports, music and thematic channels (see below).

Based on tests, ATO estimated that the increase in viewership could be between 6 and 10%. To confirm this estimate, it is necessary to wait for the live operation, which began on 1 February 2026.

What ATO members said

Marek Singer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Prima Group: "The expansion of measurement to include out-of-home viewing is a natural response by ATO to changing viewing habits and the growing consumption of television content regardless of place and time."

Daniel Grunt, CEO of TV Nova: "For TV Nova, it is crucial to understand viewers in detail, their needs and how they consume television content. The new, innovative measurement system will allow us to monitor viewer behaviour even more accurately based on enriched data."

Hynek Chudárek, CEO of Czech Television: "The inclusion of out-of-home viewing in the official data is an important step towards making the measurement more reflective of the reality of today's viewing behaviour. For Czech Television, this will mean that viewers who watch content in public spaces or communal areas will be more fairly represented in the figures. This could already have a significant impact on the Winter Olympics on ČT sport, as people often watch sports broadcasts outside the home. More accurate data will strengthen the credibility of the common currency for the entire market and enable better evaluation of the actual reach of broadcasts."

Ivan Mikula, Director of Televize Seznam: "As a technology company, we are convinced that expanding the existing measurement with results from the new out-of-home measurement project will contribute to a significant improvement in the quality and accuracy of television audience measurement."

Michaela Suráková, Managing Director of Atmedia Czech: "Thanks to the inclusion of out-of-home viewing, thematic stations will obtain more accurate viewing data. This step is particularly important for sports and music channels, which viewers also watch in public spaces. Thanks to the new currency, advertisers will gain a more comprehensive and data-accurate view of viewer behaviour."

Štěpán Wolde, CEO of Stanice O: "Óčko offers stations that create a pleasant atmosphere for entertainment. It is obvious that people enjoy them outside the home. Now this is also evident from official data."