FAQ ON BACK-TO-SCHOOL MARKETING: SPENDING, TIMING, AND THE EARLIER-EVERY-YEAR SEASON

26. 6. 2026 | 4 min read The back-to-school season is gaining momentum for retailers in 2026. It’s worth $85.42 billion in US retail sales, according to EMARKETER. And the season keeps starting earlier as price-conscious families spread purchases out across the summer. This FAQ covers the season's timeframe, top categories, and channel preferences, and how marketers should position campaigns in 2026. How big is back-to-school spending? Expected to hit $85.42 billion in US retail sales this year, back-to-school is accelerating 3.3% year-over-year, up from 2.5% annual growth in 2025, per EMARKETER. A full $53.06 billion will come from physical retail sales. Another $32.36 billion is expected from back-to-school season retail ecommerce sales. A big driver behind the season is college-bound students, whose families will spend $36.16 billion, up 3.9% YoY. Families with students in grades K-12 will spend $49.26 billion this back-to-school season, up a more modest 2.8% from 2025. College-bound students represent a 42.3% share of back-to-school retail sales, up from 39.9% in 2022. The season has expanded from backpacks, school supplies, and new outfits to include big-ticket electronics, dorm furniture, and other accessories for college life. When does back-to-school shopping actually start? The season begins earlier than most marketing calendars assume. Two-thirds (67%) of back-to-school shoppers had already begun purchasing by early July, per the NRF. Price anxiety drives the early start: 51% of back-to-school families said they were shopping earlier due to concerns about tariff-related price increases, per the same survey. The season now effectively opens in June, overlapping with mid-summer deal events like Prime Day, and stretches through September as college move-in dates arrive. For marketers, a campaign that launches in August reaches a market where most of the spending decisions are already made.

THE MEDIA ACADEMY FOCUSED ON BUSINESS, MARKETING AND CROSSMEDIA PLANNING

26. 6. 2026 | 2 min read The Media Academy, organised by ADMEZ and the Karel Friml Institute for Management Research, continued in June with a follow-up advanced module.

CARAT WINS THE ‘MEDIA NETWORK OF THE YEAR’ TITLE AT THE CANNES LIONS

26. 6. 2026 | 2 min read Carat, the media agency network part of the Dentsu Group, was named Media Network of the Year at the 2026 Cannes Lions Festival. It secured the award thanks to three Gold, one Silver and two Bronze Lions.

PRIMA HAS CONFIRMED A THIRD SERIES OF THE REALITY SHOW *ZRÁDCI*, AND *POLABÍ* WILL ALSO CONTINUE IN THE AUTUMN

25. 6. 2026 | 3 min read Prima TV is switching to its summer schedule, but this autumn it will launch the third series of the reality game show *Zrádci* and the next series of *Polabí*.

ONEPLAY IS ADDING PODCASTS, UPDATING THE PIN ENTRY PROCESS AND EXPANDING ITS SPORTS STATISTICS

24. 6. 2026 | 2 min read The Oneplay service has also started offering podcasts. Their introduction is one of the platform’s June updates. The process for entering the parental PIN when programmes play automatically has also been revised, and more detailed statistics have been added for Formula 1 races.

PRIMA GROUP RESHUFFLE: KUBÁT TO BECOME CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SINGER JOINS THE SUPERVISORY BOARD, RUZEK TO HEAD THE RADIO DIVISION AS WELL

24. 6. 2026 | 2 min read From 1 July 2026, the Prima Media Group will be changing its organisational structure and the composition of its senior management. The current Chief Executive, Marek Singer, will move to the Supervisory Board, whilst the current Managing Director, Lukáš Kubát, will take over as Chief Executive. In addition to television broadcasting, Alex Ruzek will now also oversee the group’s radio operations.

THE SUMMER SCHEDULES OF CZECH TELEVISION, NOVA AND PRIMA WILL FEATURE REPEATS OF DRAMAS, FILMS AND COMEDIES

23. 6. 2026 | 3 min read Twice a week, Polda on Prima, Případy mimořádné Marty on Nova, or Vyprávěj on the main channel of Czech Television. The country’s leading broadcasters will rely primarily on their archives for their summer programming.

AI AGENTS HAVE PURCHASED ADVERTISING SPACE ON THE CZECH MARKET FOR THE FIRST TIME

23. 6. 2026 | 3 min read The first purchase of advertising space via autonomous AI agents has taken place on the Czech digital market. The pilot project between Omnicom Media and Mafra, on behalf of their client Skylink, was technically facilitated by R2B2.

STREAMING HAS BECOME A SOCIAL NETWORK AND EVERY SHOW IS AN EVENT: DISNEY’S DANA MCGRAW

23. 6. 2026 | 5 min read Marketers have spent years trying to figure out how to keep consumers engaged. Disney Advertising’s Dana McGraw may have a simpler answer: give people something to obsess over together.

PRIMA IS CHANGING THE BROADCAST DAYS AND TIMES FOR THE REALITY SHOW ‘ARE YOU THE ONE?’

22. 6. 2026 | 2 min read Prima is revising the programme schedule for its main channel. The dating reality show Are You The One? Česko is moving from the early evening slot to late evening, after 10 pm.

KNOWLIMITS STILL LEADS THE RANKINGS OF MEDIA AGENCIES. OMNICOM IS THE LARGEST NETWORK

22. 6. 2026 | 3 min read COMvergence has updated its ranking of media agencies and networks based on clients’ advertising volumes for 2025. Knowlimits remains the largest media agency by volume, whilst Omnicom Media is the largest network of media agencies.

BRANDS ARE HEADING TO FESTIVALS, METRONOME AND ŠPALÍČEK ARE PLAYING THIS WEEKEND

20. 6. 2026 | 3 min read The festival season attracts more than just music fans. Brands are capitalising on partnerships with Metronome and Valašský špalíček.

THEMATIC FILM CHANNELS ARE ADJUSTING THEIR STRATEGY AND TAILORING THEIR CONTENT MORE TARGETEDLY

20. 6. 2026 | 3 min read Films and TV series remain the most-watched type of television content in the Czech Republic. Television companies are therefore expanding their range of themed channels and increasingly targeting specific viewer groups.

NOVA WILL BROADCAST ITS NEWS PROGRAMME LIVE FROM BRNO’S MAIN SQUARE THIS SATURDAY

19. 6. 2026 | 1 min read TV Nova is moving its Saturday edition of *Televizní noviny* to the centre of Brno. Presenters Lucie Borhyová and Rey Koranteng will broadcast the main news programme from Náměstí Svobody as part of the Czech Republic MotoGP Grand Prix weekend.

PRIMA IS LAUNCHING A SPORTS CHANNEL. IT HAS BEEN GRANTED A LICENCE FOR PRIMA SPORT

18. 6. 2026 | 2 min read The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting has granted FTV Prima a licence to operate a new nationwide sports channel, Prima sport, for a period of 12 years. The channel is to be available both via digital terrestrial broadcasting and online.

CME IS SET TO INTEGRATE AI INTO FILM AND ANIMATION PRODUCTION. IT IS CONSIDERING REVIVING THE ‘BRATŘI V TRIKU’ BRAND

18. 6. 2026 | 3 min read The CME media group plans to use artificial intelligence to create original local video content in smaller markets. It also hopes that this will lead to the development of new genres and projects that would be financially unviable under traditional production methods.

TV NOVA TO KICK OFF ITS SUMMER ROADSHOW, ‘A DAY WITH NOVA’, IN OLOMOUC

17. 6. 2026 | 2 min read Nova TV will kick off the latest edition of its summer roadshow, ‘A Day with Nova’, at the end of June. The first stop will be Olomouc on 27 June, followed by Vysoké Mýto, Havlíčkův Brod, Plzeň and Teplice.

NOVA IS NOW BROADCASTING TN LIVE OUTSIDE OF ONEPLAY AND HAS ADDED IT TO MAGENTA TV

16. 6. 2026 | 2 min read TN Live, the TV Nova Group’s online news and lifestyle channel, is set to reach a wider audience. T-Mobile is adding it to its Magenta TV service.