PRIMA SPORT IS SET TO ENTER THE FREE-TO-AIR TV MARKET; NOVA AND O2TV HAVE PREVIOUSLY PAVED THE WAY

1. 7. 2026 The Prima television group wants to shake things up in the sports channels sector. However, this is a challenging sector in which not everyone will succeed.

ONEPLAY IS PLANNING MAJOR CHANGES TO ITS BROADCASTING OF THE FOOTBALL CHANCE LEAGUE. THE NEW STUDIO WILL ACCOMMODATE 80 SPECTATORS

30. 6. 2026 Whilst the World Cup dominates television screens, behind the scenes at the Oneplay streaming service, major changes are afoot regarding the broadcast of the new season of the domestic Chance Liga. According to Marek Kindernay, director of Oneplay Sport’s pay-TV sports channels, this is set to be one of the biggest transformations in the service’s history. The changes will be visible on screen in just a month’s time. Programmes with a live studio audience are to be introduced It has been known for some time that Oneplay Sport is setting up a new television studio in the Stages Praha building. The pay-TV sports channels are due to move to the new premises in the middle of the summer holidays.“We’ve got a really busy month ahead of us. A new studio, new facilities, moving the editorial team and loads of details that need to fall into place,” explained Marek Kindernay on the professional social network LinkedIn.“It’ll be a big step forward. But it’s precisely moments like these that make the world of television so enjoyable for me,” he says. The new studio will also feature a visitor area with capacity for up to 80 spectators. It will therefore be used to film programmes for which Oneplay Sport has an audience, such as the popular sports show TIKI-TAKA.

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

24. 6. 2026 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.

THE WORLD CUP WILL CAPTURE YOUNGER CONSUMERS’ ATTENTION AND BUDGETS

8. 6. 2026 Many companies are betting on the World Cup to capture consumers’ attention, build awareness, and drive spending.

THE FOOTBALL CHANCE LEAGUE HAS ATTRACTED MORE VIEWERS TO ONEPLAY, WITH A 23% INCREASE OVER THE PAST YEAR

5. 6. 2026 The past season of the Chance League confirmed the growing interest in Czech league football on television. Viewership of matches broadcast on Oneplay Sport rose by more than 23 per cent year-on-year, and the Prague ‘S’ derby became the most-watched broadcast in the channel’s history.

STUDY: LATE WORLD CUP KICK-OFFS TO CHANGE UK VIEWING HABITS, SAYS EE

4. 6. 2026 Late-night World Cup kick-offs are expected to change how UK football fans watch this summer’s tournament, according to new research from EE.

STUDY USA: TOP REASON FOR SUBSCRIBING TO PAY TV IS LIVE NEWS AND TV

14. 4. 2026 Parks Associates reports that 33% of subs said they liked the idea of having their content aggregated into one place.

ČT SPORT AND NOVA WILL BE BROADCASTING THE CZECH REPUBLIC’S MATCHES AT THE WORLD CUP. WHEN WILL THEY BE SHOWN?

3. 4. 2026 Live coverage of the Czech national team’s group matches at the World Cup will be provided by both ČT sport and Nova. However, most of the matches will be broadcast outside prime time.

TV EVENINGS HAVE GOT INTO FULL SWING. PEOPLE ARE WATCHING DRAMAS AND REALITY SHOWS IN PUBS TOO

28. 3. 2026 Watching television in the United States is becoming a social experience. Fans of TV series and reality shows are increasingly heading to bars for so-called ‘watch parties’, which are emerging as a new cultural and marketing phenomenon, notes Erika Luzsicza.

AGAINST ALL ODDS: LINEAR TV’S SURPRISING RESILIENCE

26. 3. 2026 For years, we’ve been told that linear television is declining. Streaming services would render traditional broadcasting obsolete, the story went, as viewers abandoned scheduled programming for the freedom of on demand content.

STUDY USA: STREAMERS STRUGGLE TO DIFFERENTIATE THEMSELVES WITH ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING

24. 3. 2026 YouTube is gaining ground with audiences as a `TV network’ rather than simply being a creator platform, according to Hub

SURVEY REVEALS STREAMERS’ DOMINANCE OVER MEDIA SPORTS RIGHTS

16. 3. 2026 Report says driving factors are streaming's 'global reach' and data collection.

66.7% OF AD-SUPPORTED TV VIEWING BY 18 TO 49 YEAR OLDS GOES TO STREAMERS

12. 3. 2026 New Nielsen guide says sports account for 29.2% of ad-supported viewing by 25–54-year olds.

STUDY: WOMEN’S SPORTS OUTPERFORM PRIME TIME TV

10. 3. 2026 Third annual EDO report finds that women’s sports ads drove 15% more impact than the average primetime spot, led by financial service, insurance, and restaurant brands.

NOVA GROUP ALSO ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP, WILL SHARE BROADCASTS WITH ČESKÁ TELEVIZE

4. 3. 2026 Czech Television took advantage of the sublicensing option and sold part of the broadcasting rights to the 2026 World Cup to the Nova group in the new World Cup format with 104 matches.

OUT-OF-HOME VIEWING REACHED SEVEN PERCENT IN FEBRUARY

4. 3. 2026 Total television viewership in February increased by ten per cent year-on-year. The inclusion of out-of-home viewership measurements contributed significantly to this increase. As a result, daily viewership is higher by an average of 17 minutes.

GLOBO CREATES HOME SCREEN PROMINENCE FOR FREE-TO-AIR TV ON SMART TVS

26. 2. 2026 Globo, Brazil’s largest commercial TV group, is rolling out DTV+, a next-generation free-to-air TV standard designed for connected TVs. It brings broadcast channels into the TV operating system, with app-like navigation, login and interactive layers placed directly on top of live programming.

FIRST DATA: OUT-OF-HOME VIEWING INCREASED THE RATING OF TOP OLYMPIC BROADCASTS BY 13%

25. 2. 2026 Extended ATO measurement provided the first hard data on how watching broadcasts "outside the home" can increase the overall television rating of a major sporting event. Broadcasts from the 2026 Winter Olympics showed that outside-the-home viewing increases the reach of the most-watched sports broadcasts by up to 13 per cent.