Slovenia’s Got Television

Michael Hedges April 5, 2010 Follow on Twitter

Media organizations always follow the money. Even with advertising shifting and the internet looming large the business model always remains true to attracting audience. Television in Slovenia has talent.

There was a bit of television history made in Slovenia when the grand final of reality/talent show “Slovenia’s Got Talent” (March 22) became the most watch non-sports broadcast. Nearly three-fifths of 18-49 year olds watching TV (58% share, 24% reach) gathered in front of the tube for the dancing and singing, according to AGB Nielsen, three point more than last year’s grand final broadcast. In the span of Slovenia television only the Slovenia-Russia World Cup football qualifier attracted more viewers.

Little else in Slovenian media, it seems, attracts great attention. Slovenes watch, on average, less than three hours of television per day, 30 minutes under the EU average and considerably less than viewers in neighboring Croatia and Hungary. At the same time, television broadcasters take significantly more than half (58%) of ad spending, considerably higher than the EU average.

Television in Slovenia is the domain of a reasonably strong but troubled public broadcaster RTV SLO and two big-time privately owned broadcasters. Pro Plus, part of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), operates three free-to-air channels (POP TV, Kanal A and TV Pika) while Modern Times Group (MTG) operates TV3.

There are, of course, scads of cable, satellite and internet channels. Impact is negligible; more than three-fourths of television viewing goes to national channels. A small but not insignificant share goes to Croatian public television channels. Twenty years ago when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia Serbo-Croat was the official language.

Another television show recently made the news, literally and figuratively. Producer/editor of Kanal A’s evening news show Bojana Travna was unceremoniously shown the door (March 31). Officially, more or less, Pro Plus wants to combine news departments at Kanal A and top rated POP TV. The Kanal A evening news, accused by local media watchers of pushing the tabloid envelope to the extreme, was regularly beaten by the evening news program from RTV Slovenija.

The public broadcaster once again has its fate in the hands of politicians. RTV SLO operates two free-to-air channels. A new General Director may be appointed soon. Anton Guzeju’s four year contract expired at the end of February. Several candidates applied by the March 31st deadline, including, by some reports, newspaper Dnevnik CEO Branko Pavlin. Mr. Guzeju will stay on for the interim. Swimming against the tide for many public broadcasters in the region, Mr. Guzeju brought a slight but significant profit to RTV SLO in 2009. About one-third of RTV SLO’s income derives from advertising.

One fly in the appointment process is debate in the National Assembly on both a new law governing RTV SLO and changes to the current media law. If, as expected, the new law on RTV SLO passes this autumn yet another general director selection would take place.

The media law being debated primarily harmonizes Slovenian law with EU mandates on digital television. Switchover to digital TV (DTT) in Slovenia is scheduled to take place by the end of 2010. So far only about 5% of Slovenian households watch DTT. RTV SLO built the first DTT multiplex and made it operational in 2007. After some haggling, the main national private sector broadcasters added their channels, then pulled the plugs. A second national DTT multiplex franchise was awarded to Norwegian telecom Telenor- owned Norkring. Testing, but no programming, began in December 2009. Target launch date is September 2010. The first commercial broadcaster to sign up for the second DTT multiplex is TV Pink.

Slovenian newspapers are equally immersed in tabloid style. Headlines scream, scandals in every story, not to forget racy photos. All major dailies have lost significant circulation over the last five years. Circulation at Delo has fallen to 138 thousand (October-December 2009) from 171 thousand in the same period 2005.

Kick-starting media in Slovenia are several popular websites. All major media producers are active on the web. Pro Plus operates the 24ur.com as an adjunct of POP TV and Telecom Slovenia operates the popular siol.net portal. Free-sheet Zurnal 24, owned by Styrya Media, the only foreign publisher active in Slovenia, operates the website zurnal24.si. Pro Plus also operates IPTV channel MAX TV. Slovenia has the highest internet penetration rate in South East Europe.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Western Balkans - The Struggle For Order And Independence

ftm reporting explores media development and investment in Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia / Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Albania. Emerging from conflict broadcasters, publishers and governments face ghosts of the past to forge a new future. 40 pages PDF (October 2007)

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Media in South East Europe

The countries of South East Europe are a mix of EU Members - Greece, Romania and Bulgaria - and two on the fringes - Macedonia and Moldova. The region has media billionaires and big broadcasters vying for ad share and market position. Challenges, not just on the fringes, remain daunting. Includes Resources. 56 pages PDF (May 2010)

Order here