Last year, an average of 5.4 million Czechs aged 15 and over turned on their televisions every day, representing 66 per cent of all television viewers in this age category. "As many as 84 per cent of viewers, or almost 7 million people, watched television at least once a week. Even in today's fragmented media environment, television retains its key benefit – the ability to reach a large number of viewers with premium and trustworthy content," says Michaela Suráková, Managing Director at Atmedia, which commercially represents 20 thematic TV stations on the Czech market.
The average time spent watching television last year was 3 hours and 30 minutes per day. "Traditionally, the highest figures were in the winter months – in January and December, daily viewing time exceeded four hours," adds Suráková. During the working week, Czechs spend an average of less than 3.5 hours a day in front of the television screen, with viewing figures rising significantly at the weekend. Sunday remains the most watched day of the week, with viewers watching television for more than four hours.
We are many times ahead of Northern Europe in terms of television viewing
Television viewing in Czechia remains high in the long term, which is characteristic of the entire region of Central and Eastern Europe. Among the Visegrad Four countries, Hungary has the highest long-term figures, with viewers aged 15 and over spending an average of 5 hours and 8 minutes a day watching television last year. Poland follows, where television viewership in the same age category reached 4 hours and 31 minutes per day last year. Slovaks spent a similar amount of time watching television last year as Czechs – viewers aged 12 and over watched an average of 3 hours and 44 minutes per day.
In all V4 countries, television viewing remains stable year-on-year – it grew slightly in Poland and Hungary, while in Czechia and Slovakia it declined slightly. "Despite a slight decline, television viewing in Czechia remains high, as in other Central and Eastern European countries. Compared to Western and especially Northern Europe, it is a completely different story," Suráková points out the differences. In countries such as Norway, Sweden and Iceland, viewers typically spend between one and two hours a day watching television – significantly less than in the V4 countries.
New unified TV currency will increase overall viewership
In 2026, television viewership in Czechia could grow thanks to the introduction of a new unified TV currency on 1 February. In addition to live and delayed viewership (up to three days), this now also includes out-of-home viewership on large screens, for example in restaurants, bars or at public screenings. "The market expects an increase in total viewership of approximately 6 to 10 per cent, depending on the target group. We already have the first data available, but it is still too early to draw general conclusions," says Suráková.
According to Michaela Suráková, in addition to the increase in television viewership itself, the expansion of measurement is important for another reason. "Television stations and advertisers will get a much more accurate picture of television viewership. Watching television outside the home can be significant in some cases, such as during major sporting events. Until now, we have not seen this part of viewership. That is now changing," she points out, noting that the new unified TV currency came into effect in the month of the Winter Olympics. Thanks to the new methodology, an increase in viewership is expected, especially for sports and music television stations, whose content is often consumed outside the home.
Source: mam.cz