Even during the summer months, when television audience viewership typically wanes, Czech viewers aged 15 and older still do spend over three hours a day in front of their TV screens. Films and series dominate their viewing habits, with their total audience share steadily increasing, while news and entertainment programmes experience a decline. Regular TV channels often rely on reruns, whereas Pay-TV channels continue to deliver premieres of new TV shows. This year, major sporting events like the European Football Championship and the Summer Olympics have had a significant impact on viewing patterns, drawing in substantial audiences.
Despite summer months hitting the lowest viewership levels, Czech viewers aged 15 and above still maintain an average of over three hours of TV viewing per day. This information is drawn from the official audience viewership data for July and August from the last two years. [1] ‘Viewers do dedicate the most time to TV viewing during the winter months, with daily viewership exceeding four hours. In contrast, during July and August, warmer weather and holidays naturally reduce this number. Nonetheless, three hours of daily viewing is still remarkably high,’ notes Pavel Müller, Head of Research & Marketing at Atmedia – a media sales house currently representing 25 measured thematic television channels on the Czech TV market.
Even with reduced audience viewership in July and August, Czech TV viewers do maintain consistent habits all year-round. Viewing does remain steady from Monday to Friday, rises over the weekend, and peaks on Sundays. The evening prime time remains unchanged, with the highest number of viewers tuning in between 7 PM and 11 PM. ‘Television remains a primary leisure activity even during the summer holidays. Sundays, traditionally the most-watched day of the week, do see Czech viewers aged 15 and above spending an average of over 3,5 hours in front of the screen during the two summer months,’ explains Pavel Müller. [2]
Movies and Series Typically Rule the Summer Season, With Sports Also Capturing Significant Attention This Year
And what captures the attention of Czech TV viewers during the summer holidays? Films and series take precedence, making up 47% of the total viewing time for those aged 15 and older. [3] ‘Films and series consistently top the viewing charts throughout the year, but their total audience share expands even more during the months of July and August,’ says Pavel Müller. In contrast, audience data over the past two years do indicate that the time spent on entertainment programs, such as reality shows and news, diminishes during the summer holidays.
Even as the enduring trend of watching movies and series during the summer holidays continues, this year, major sports events are making their mark on audience viewership figures. For example, The Ice Hockey World Championship in May and the European Football Championship in July have been the ones that were particularly influential. ‘Major sporting events do play a crucial role in shaping the television viewership, regularly appearing on the list of the year’s most-watched shows,’ confirms Pavel Müller. He remarks that while sports programs normally account for 5% of yearly total viewing time, this year, they surged to 9% in the first half of July, largely attributed to Euro 2024. [4] ‘Furthermore, the Summer Olympics in Paris, beginning at the end of July, are anticipated to have a substantial effect on overall television viewership.’
Pay-TV Channels Do Take a Different Approach to Summer Programming
In response to reduced audience viewership, channels do regularly broadcast reruns of TV shows throughout July and August. Local series and entertainment programs such as reality TV and competitions are the main draws. Additionally, foreign movies and series remain quite popular, with many titles making a recurring appearance on Czech TV channels every summer. ‘Czech TV viewers are quite conservative. Just as they associate Christmas with fairy tales and family films, they eagerly anticipate classic series during the summer,’ adds Pavel Müller. He also points out that new TV show premieres are usually saved for the spring and autumn – periods of higher viewership and increased TV advertising investments.
However, not all TV channels adopt the same strategy of airing reruns during the summer holidays. ‘Pay-TV channels, in particular, have a different approach to the summer programming. They cater to a more discerning audience and continue to offer premieres of TV shows even during the summer months,’ continues Pavel Müller, referring to the channels in Atmedia’s portfolio. For instance, do take the documentary Discovery Channel or lifestyle TLC – these channels continue to present new series throughout July and August. Moreover, Discovery Channel launched a new documentary series In the Eye of the Storm on 21st July. Similarly, the CANAL+ Action movie channel adopts a summer programming strategy by premiering films such as The Beekeeper (2024), Ferrari (2023), and One Life (2023) during the summer holidays.
Atmedia
Atmedia Czech s. r. o. is a media sales house of almost 30 thematic TV channels, which has been active on the Czech market for more than 15 years. Atmedia does handle the selling of TV advertising, facilitating the connection between TV advertisers and thematic TV channels, and it currently represents many local as well as most of the international TV channels and TV groups on the Czech TV market, in particular AMC Networks, Warner Bros. Discovery, The Walt Disney Company, Antenna Group, or the Slovak JOJ group. These concern both Pay-TV as well as Free-to-Air channels. Atmedia’s key mission is also to support and foster the thematic TV channels’ market in our country. Since 2021, it has been regularly publishing the Atmedia Index, a valuable resource providing extensive data, information, and insights in three key domains: (1) the evaluation of television channels’ quality through the eyes of their viewers, (2) adoption and usage of Pay-TV and Free-to-Air services, (3) adoption and usage of subscription Video-on-Demand (SVoD) services.
[1] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–7, 2022–2023, July & August, ATS / Day, TG 15+
[2] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–7, 2022–2023, July & August, Sunday, ATS / Day, TG 15+
[3] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–7, 2022–2023, July and August, ATS, TG 15+
[4] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–7, 2022–2023, 1st July – 15th July 2024, ATS, TG 15+
