Streaming services will have to contribute to the making of Czech films and series. They will be obliged to contribute to the state audiovisual fund under a new law similar to those elsewhere in Europe.
The approved audiovisual law unified the fee paid to the state fund by commercial TV stations, cinemas, film distributors and Czech and foreign streaming services. In simple terms, it will be 2% of the annual turnover on the Czech market.
The money in the fund is used to finance the production of new Czech films and now also projects for TV screens and digital platforms. Game developers will also be able to apply for support.
What streaming services are actually used in Czech households?
The most common one is Netflix, the global king of streaming services, according to a September 2024 survey. In our country, 68% of respondents who use a video platform have it. Voyo comes in second place with 44%, followed by Disney+ with 26%, closely followed by Prima+ with 25%.
Up in fifth position is Max, cited by 22% of respondents. By a wide margin, Amazon Prime is next in line (8%), followed by Apple TV (6%) and SkyShowtime rounds out the rankings with a share of three per cent. No other services appeared in the published NMS Market Research data.
Most streaming services have become more expensive in 2024. SkyShowtime started doing so in April. In addition, it was the first in our market to introduce a discounted flat rate with advertising, offering it for CZK 159 a month from spring. In the autumn came a second update of its price list and with it an increase in the technical quality of its programmes, and it finally started to support Ultra HD. But only for those who pay extra - 4K resolution and surround sound can be enjoyed by subscribers to the premium variant for CZK 299 a month.
In May, the redesigned Max app, the successor to the former HBO Max platform, arrived on the Czech market to great acclaim. The revised concept also meant revised pricing. The subscription price went up to CZK 219 per month, or CZK 299 per month for the Premium variant. Its catalogue was expanded to include shows from Discovery or live coverage of international CNN, but the key summer draw was coverage of the Olympics.
New Max has absorbed Eurosport's previously separate digital production, so fans can watch many matches with Czech commentary. Czech users watched a total of 1.4 million hours of content on Max during the Olympics from 26 July to 11 August. The average time spent per viewer on the app was 4.6 hours. Tennis, athletics and basketball were the most popular.
However, all sports broadcasts outside the Olympics require activation of the Sport add-on for an additional CZK 70 per month. Eurosport (and Max) have secured the broadcasting rights for example, to Wimbledon, and this year for the first time the US Open tennis grand slam was also completely streamed. Cycling (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and La Vuelta), winter sports, the PGA tour and the Le Mans race, for example, also remain on the list.
After the holidays, Netflix also raised prices. The basic tariff with a single device limit has risen to CZK 239 per month. The price of the standard subscription has risen to CZK 309 from the previous CZK 259. And those who want the highest quality with Dolby Atmos sound and Ultra HD resolution will pay CZK 379 for the Premium tariff (previously CZK 319). A new feature on Netflix is Moments, which lets you share your favourite scenes with friends.
The Disney+ app increased prices from 17 October, with the basic tariff rising to CZK 299 per month. At the same time, however, a cheaper option has been added for 199 CZK per month without Ultra HD resolution. Disney is also more strictly policing the sharing of passwords between users. It offers the option to add an extra user to your account, but will make you pay for it: the extra charge is CZK 119 on top of the main tariff. Stowaways, by the way, make up about a fifth of Czech streaming service users.
Czech Canal+ subscribers can also watch Apple TV shows from February 2024. They have Czech subtitles and the maximum available resolution is HD. However, Canal+ also wants to attract a wider Czech audience with original productions. In cooperation with Czech Television, it first made the series Dcera národa (Daughter of the Nation), and in the autumn it completed the political thriller Moloch with production company Bionaut. He has expanded his sporting offerings after the Premier League and WTA to include French rugby.
Prima TV announced in the summer that it had over 160,000 paying users for its streaming service, prima+. The total number of users at the time was 1.2 million. It has probably increased since then: it was able to attract new subscribers mainly in the autumn thanks to the tactical competition game Traitors, which has become a phenomenon among young viewers. The high-quality Czech treatment generated follow-up attention on social media and podcast apps. In addition, Prima added content for children and lured young users to the exotic dating game Honeymoon - Honeymoon to Survive.
Before the end of the year, the series The Replacements directed by Alice Nellis premiered on Prima+, and subscribers could also see episodes of ZOO New Beginnings in advance. The latter is Prima's first daily series.
Prima's VOD service has been overseen by a new manager, Petr Král, since this autumn. The broadcaster has also partnered with Vodafone and from 21 May 2024, every Vodafone TV tariff includes access to Prima+ in the Premium version. Those who have a mobile tariff or fixed internet connection from Vodafone will get the Vodafone TV+ product for CZK 220 per month, otherwise for CZK 390 per month.
Rival broadcaster Nova boasted that more than 950,000 users subscribed to its Voyo in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at the beginning of December. It is therefore just short of its original target of one million paying customers. It will reach that target essentially a year earlier than planned. In 2025, it plans to increase access by a few tens of crowns, with an advertising version not yet on the horizon.
Nova has decided to withdraw Voyo from the offer of Vodafone and T-Mobile operators. The collaboration with T-Mobile has already expired and the operator has prepared a redesigned Video Library because of this. Vodafone clients can still use Voyo through their flat rate until 31 January 2025.
Nova's digital platform continues its extensive investment in original content. At the beginning of the year, it wowed critics and viewers alike with the series Method Markovic: Hojer. The spy thriller Extractors went into international distribution and won the award for best Central and Eastern European series at the Zagreb festival.
Another three-part miniseries, Mathematics of Crime, even won Nova the first ever Czech Lion for original drama. Originally a web series, Iveta, which she deployed in regular broadcasting as a trailer on Voyo, had great audience success.
In protecting their commercial interests, the big Czech commercial TV stations have cracked down on servers where users share pirated copies of their shows. Using a new legal tactic, they can achieve disabling of specific domains, even if the operator moves outside the European Union. Some servers have gone out of business, others have started changing their URLs, while others have agreed with commercial stations to filter content. And some have returned to the scene after temporarily ceasing operations.
The Broadcasting Council caused quite a stir at the end of November with its press release inviting entrepreneurial internet video creators to register. The Minister of Culture Martin Baxa (ODS) then proposed an amendment to the Audiovisual Media Services Act so that YouTubers do not have to actively register, but the authority will identify them itself.
According to available information, at least one association is being formed to defend the interests of influencers - the Association of Digital Creators. Now politicians, officials and digital creators are meeting in joint meetings to try to reach reasonable terms of regulation. The Broadcasting Council has received advocacy from the Commercial Television Association on the issue.
But producers of titillating content will not escape their obligations. The Directorate General of Finance will officially focus on the earnings of Czech accounts on the OnlyFans platform. The tax administration has found out from the operator that it paid over CZK 600 million to Czech creators between 2020 and 2022. And the state wants its share of that amount.
Source: lupa.cz
