With this move, Nova is following in the footsteps of its rival station Prima, which has enforced measures against fast-forwarding adverts on its channels since June 2022. “We at GeniusTV are prepared for this step and respect the broadcaster’s decision,” Ladislav Růžička, executive director of the North Bohemian operator Grape SC, told the editorial team.
Nova declined to comment on further technical queries regarding exactly how the fast-forward ban would work. However, statements from the operators suggest that they were not offered any alternatives and that Nova will implement the strictest form of restriction. “At this stage, a complete ban on adverts and previews with no alternatives,” noted Ladislav Růžička when asked what options Nova had offered.
Brief information about the planned ban on fast-forwarding through adverts on Nova Group channels has also appeared as a link in the footer of its official website. On a special subpage, the broadcaster confirms: “It will no longer be possible to fast-forward through ad breaks when watching programmes on catch-up. The Oneplay library remains unchanged, and you can continue to watch programmes there without adverts. We are responding to a situation where investment in our own content is constantly growing in an unstable television market.”
It justifies its move in a similar way to Prima previously, namely by protecting commercial revenue. “Thanks to advertising revenue, we are able to invest in our own content. In a situation where production costs are rising in the long term and the TV advertising market is unstable, preventing ad-skipping is therefore one way of ensuring further investment in our programmes,” Nova reiterates.
Unlike Nova, operators of Prima Group channels were able to choose different approaches to limit ad-skipping, or alternatively charge customers a surcharge for the option to fast-forward through ad breaks. However, Prima has also recently tightened its conditions somewhat. Since February, viewers have no longer been able to skip to any point during the first minute after rewinding a programme ( the so-called “grace period” has thus been removed). Users must either watch the entire ad block or stop rewinding. Fast-forwarding is currently technically disabled.
The Nova Group is in a unique position vis-à-vis operators. It is not merely a television broadcaster; it also operates the Oneplay internet television platform itself. This platform has an advantage over other providers of paid services because, even in its default form, it already has an archive of TV Nova programmes. There are currently no adverts in this on-demand catalogue, and according to information on the aforementioned official website, there won’t be any either. Only when watching live broadcasts on a delayed basis will adverts not be skippable, just as with other operators. From July, the Oneplay platform is set to separate from Nova and operate under the independent company CME Services, which will oversee its international development.
Internet TV on the rise
The popularity of paid TV services that allow programmes to be watched on demand continues to rise in the Czech Republic. Internet TV remains the driving force behind the segment, whether provided via operators’ own networks or as digital services and applications independent of a specific connection (OTT).
According to a recently published survey by ResSolution for Atmedia, 54 per cent of viewers aged 15 to 69 cited IPTV or cable TV as their main source of television viewing. Satellite, by contrast, is in decline. The structural difference is particularly evident based on the size of the locality: in towns with over 100,000 inhabitants, 64 per cent of viewers use IPTV or cable TV, whereas in towns with up to 20,000 inhabitants, the figure is just half. It is in smaller towns, however, that satellite maintains a stronger position, with 16 per cent.
Similar figures were also published in another survey commissioned last September by the Association of Mobile Network Operators from the agency NMS Market Research. In that survey, 52 per cent of viewers aged 15 to 79 reported using IPTV, which is ten percentage points more than in 2023. At the same time, 24 per cent cited this platform as their main source of television content.
According to the cited survey for Atmedia, the ability to skip adverts is also the third most common motivation for subscribing to a paid TV service. It is the decisive factor for 32 per cent of viewers. The ability to watch programmes that viewers missed during the live broadcast ranks first among the motivations.
At the same time, TV stations are seeing a growing share of time-shifted viewing in audience interest data. According to last year’s figures from the Association of Television Organisations, its average share already stood at 12.5 per cent of total viewership. However, this figure can vary significantly depending on genres and programmes.
Revenues from traditional television advertising remain crucial for Nova. According to the latest available annual report for 2024, its total revenue stood at nine billion crowns. Of this, revenue from television advertising reached five billion crowns, whilst other revenue from the sale of commercial messages on television exceeded 881 million crowns. Sales of online advertising space and subscriptions to the streaming platform (then still known as Voyo) accounted for 1.16 billion crowns, thereby exceeding the billion-crown mark for the first time.
Nova had been considering a ban on skipping adverts for several years. It was already on the cards in spring 2018, when representatives of the television station calculated that the entire Nova group was losing 35 per cent of viewers on IPTV platforms who watched programmes but no longer watched adverts. In the end, however, Nova changed its mind. In 2022, in connection with the announced ban on ad-skipping on Prima, the then CEO Jan Vlček stated that Nova had no plans to restrict IPTV functions on its channels. Nova’s current boss, Daniel Grunt, admitted last year that this is a European trend, but it is not yet clear whether and when the channel will implement a ban on skipping adverts.
Meanwhile, Markíza, Nova’s sister channel in Slovakia, has introduced the measure. “Advertisers pay Markíza for the number of ad views by viewers. If viewers watch a programme from the archive or on a delayed basis and skip the ad, the broadcaster is unable to guarantee advertisers the required number of views, which affects revenue,”she explainedin May 2025.
In this context, Markíza has set out minimum rules that operators must adhere to. If viewers are replaying a programme from the archive whose live broadcast has already ended, they must watch the first three minutes of the advertising block. The same applies if they are replaying a programme that they have recorded and saved via the operator’s app. If viewers are watching a recording of a programme whose live broadcast has not yet ended, they cannot skip the entire advertising block.
Source: lupa.cz