The level of viewing to television services in the Central Europe region remained high during the last 12 months, according to research published by Atmedia.
Hungary led the pack, spending 5 hours a day in front of the TV, while the Czech Republic were tuned in for three and a half hours and their Slovak neighbours 4 hours. In Poland 4.5 hours were spent with the small screen.
“While television viewership experienced a slight decline in the Central European region last year, it continues to maintain a high level compared to certain Western or Northern European countries. For instance, viewers in Norway or Sweden spend less than two hours a day on television consumption,” explains Pavel Müller, Head of Research & Marketing at Atmedia, which represents 24 measured thematic TV channels on the Czech market.” Residents of Southeastern Europe emerge as the most avid television consumers, as illustrated by countries such as Serbia or Romania, where television viewing surpasses five hours per day,’ adds Müller.
In contrast to neighbouring countries within the Visegrad Group, consisting of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, television viewership in the Czech Republic has consistently ranked the lowest. Viewers aged 15 and older in the Czech Republic spent an average of 3 hours and 39 minutes in front of television screens. ‘
“Despite experiencing a marginal 3% decline in television viewership last year, TV continues to assert its dominance as a potent medium, with viewers spending over 3.5 hours daily in front of their screens, which truly means that Czech viewers still allocate a substantial portion of their day to watching television,” explains Muller, pointing out that on average, 70% of viewers aged 15 and older did tune in daily, with 87% tuning in at least once a week. Notably, television programmes are watched at least occasionally by 93% of Czech households.
Conversely, Hungary maintains the highest television viewership among the V4 countries. Despite a two-minute decrease in daily television consumption compared to 2022, Hungarian viewers still exceeded the five-hour mark in television viewership last year. In 2023, Hungarians aged 15 and older invested a cumulative 5 hours and 6 minutes daily in front of television screens. Slovakia closely mirrors the TV viewership patterns of the Czech Republic, with last year’s average of 3 hours and 59 minutes per day (viewers aged 12+), marking a 15-minute decline from 2022. In comparison to the previous year, television viewership in Poland did see a decline, with Polish viewers spending 11 minutes less in front of their television screens per day – amounting to an average of 4 hours and 18 minutes.
