Poland has one the most dynamic media markets in Europe. There are more than 300 TV and radio channels competing for the attention of listeners and viewers. Additionally, Poland has the third-biggest press sector in Europe, which is dominated by German media companies such as Axel Springer Ringier, Hubert Burda Media and Bauer Media Group.

Just as in its neighbouring countries, the Polish media landscape is struggling with the usual problems stemming from digitalisation (for example, in 2012, newspaper sales decreased 10 percent in total). Still, experts believe that the Polish media industry will continue to grow in the next decade. According to the “Global Entertainment and Media Outlook” published by the consulting agency PwC, the total net worth of Poland’s media and entertainment sector will increase to 9.5 billion Euros in this period.

Reflecting similar debates in both Great Britain and Germany, there is a considerable amount of controversy when it comes to the role and the funding of the Polish public broadcasting system. Critics frequently call for the complete dissolution of the institution, which maintains relatively high ratings and popularity among Polish citizens (especially among older people) but which faces economic turmoil due to difficulties in raising license fees.

Population: 38.5 million
Religions: Roman-Catholic (89%), Orthodox (1,3%), Protestant (0,3%)
Largest Cities: Warsaw (1.7 million people), Kraków (756,000)
Government: Republic
Head of State: Bronislaw Komorowski (since 2010)
Prime Minister: Donald Tusk (since 2007)
EU member since: 2004
Unemployment rate in 2012: 12.6 %
Debt in 2013: 53.8% of GDP
Budget balance to GDP ratio: -2.1%
Share of global GDP: 0.9%
Total advertising expenditures: 6.8 billion Zlotys (2012)
Television time per capita: 242 minutes per day(2011)
Average number of newspapers sold per capita per day: 0.12
Largest media and telecommunications companies: Axel Springer/Ringier, Bauer Media Group, Agora, Polsat, ITI Group

Public broadcasting
Poland has an important, albeit financially instable, public broacdasting sector. TVP (Telewizia Polska). This includes its three nationwide terrestrial channels (TVP1, TVP2, and TV Info), 16 regional channels (TV Regionalna) the foreign broadcaster TVP Polonia dedicated to Poles who live in other countries. as well as some cable channels (TVP Belsat, TVP Seriale, Parlament, Kultura, Sport, Historia), consituting a total market share of 35 percent. TVP is financed by both license fees and advertisement revenues. Every Polish citizen – with the exception of the unemployed, retired and handicapped – is obligated by law to pay an annual license fee of 199,80 Zlotys (roughly 45 Euros). However, the TVP group has generated significant losses in the last couple of years because two thirds of all Polish citizens have refused to pay the license fee. In 2011, only one third of Polish households claimed to own a television set. Even among this group only 1,2 million households actually paid the license fee. Therefore, the public broadcasting system stands on  shaky economic ground: in 2011, TVP operated with a budget of 1,757 billion Zlotys while generating only 205,4 million in license fees.

Private television
In December of 1995, TV Polsat became the first privately owned television channel in Poland. Two years prior, a newly established government agency officially started the licensing process for national and local television channels. One of the precious licenses went to Polsat, which in 1992 had already begun to broadcast a Polish language programm out of the Netherlands. Owner Zygmunt Solorz-Zaks is, according to the annual Forbes ranking, one of the riches Polish citizens, with an estimated net worth of roughly two billion Euros. He has transformed Polsat into the country’s biggest privately owned network. Its only rival is the TVN group, founded in 1997. TV Polsat and TVN each control about 15 percent of the television market. The rest of the market is shared among a handful of smaller competitors. In contrast to the press, the television sector is mainly controlled by Polish companies. When, in 2006, German media corporation Axel Springer tried to acquire parts of TV Polsat, the takeover was prohibited by national antitrust bodies.

TV Polsat
By 1996, four years after it went on air, TV Polsat had already reached one quarter of the entire Polish television audience. As of today Polsat has a market share of 15 percent, making it  number two among Polish networks after TVP. TV Polsat airs mainly entertainment programs for the 10-49 year-old demographic and operates more than 15 special interest channels, such as  Polsat 2 International, Polsat News, TV Biznes, Polsat Sport, Polsat Film, Polsat Cafe, Play, JimJam, Polsat Crime, Polsat Food, and the Pay-TV channel Cyfrowy Polsat. In addition, the network owns minority stakes of the channels TV4, TV6 and Superstacia.

TVN
TVN has been on air since 1997. The second-biggest network is part of the ITI group, Poland’s first major media company. In contrast to TV Polsat, TVN has a strong focus on information programs. This caters to TVN’s key demographic: more educated and higher-earning Poles. To position itself as a source for quality news, TVN has hired many former TVP-journalists and launched Poland’s first 24-hours news channel, TVN24, which in 2012 had a market share of three percent. Also part of the TVN group are TVN International, TVN CNBC (a joint venture with the US channel CNBC), TVN Style and the sports channel nSport.

The Polish radio landscape is dominated by privately operated stations. In 2012, the four national public broadcast radio channels had a combined market share of 21 percent. The ratings for Polskie Radio – with the exception of Radio Trójka – have steadily decreased over the past few years. Shrinking advertising revenues as well as the refusal of many Poles to pay license fees have lead to a weak position of public radio in the country. Just as in the publishing sector, private radio in Poland is being dominated by a German media company, namely the Bauer Media Group.

Polskie Radio
Public radio has a great tradition in Poland. From 1926 on, except during the war years, it has never ceased broadcasting. Besides the national Polske Radio S.A corporation with its four major channels Radio Jedynka (general profile), Radio Dwójka (cultural programs), Radio Trójka (news and information) and Radio Bis (youth channel) there are 17 regional broadcasters as well as Radio Parlment, which airs parliamentary debates.

RMF FM
RMF (Radio Muzyka Fakty) broadcasts music and information programs. Founded in 1990 as Radio Malopolska, it is Poland’s first privately operated radio network. Reaching more than one quarter of all listeners it is the biggest radio group in Poland. RMF is part of the media holding Grupa RMF/Holding Broker FM, which was acquired by the German Bauer Media Group in 2006.

Radio Zet
Controlling 15 percent of the market, Radio Zet is the second most popular channel in Poland. It is owned by the french media corporation Lagardere. Similar to RMF, Zet airs mainly news and information programs. Since 1999 it has partnered with CNN in order to deliver premium news content. Other channels that are operated by owner Eurozet are Chili ZET, Radio Plus, Antyradio, Planet FM, and Studio Zett.

Radio Maryia
Probably the most controversial channel in the last decades has been the fundamentalist-conservative non-profit station Radio Maryia, founded in 1991 by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk. 70 percent of its listeners are older than sixty, which is hardly surprising since Maryia mostly broadcasts prayers and gospels mixed with political commentary and talk shows. Critics argue that Rydzyk has used his channel to foster nationalism and Antisemitic bigotry.

Radio TOK FM
TOK is a 24 hours news channel. It has been on air since 1988 and is broadcasted within ten major cities. Partly because of a successful partnership with the British BBC, TOK is one of the most respected news sources in Poland. TOK is owned by the Polish media company Agora, which also owns the stations Radio Roxy, Radio Z?ote Przeboje, Tuba.pl, and Tuba FM. In 2012, TOK FM had a market share of 1,4 percent.

As in many of its neigboring countries, prior to the mid 1990s, the Polish internet was mainly an academic network. While starting in 1993 some companies started to launch their own homepages, regular citizens hardly used the web before the late 1990s. This changed when the the Polish Telecom began to offer cheap unlimited broadband rates. As a result of massive investments by the European Union in the expansion of broadband access – especially in poorer regions in East Poland – more than half of all Polish citizens are online today (out of people over sixty years of age, however, only ten percent are internet users). The number of smart phones has skyrocketed between 2010 and 2012 from one to five million.

As in many European countries, Google is dominating the online market in Poland. With its search engine as well as the video and blogging portals YouTube and Blogspot, the company controls three of the biggest online properties in Poland. Another major player is the South African media company Naspers, which in the wake of acquiring the Polish Grupa Allegro in 2008, now owns several popular E-commerce sites. The market for online news media, however, is in the hands of Polish companies. Onet.pl, the biggest news site, is part of the ITI group, which also owns the TVN television network (see table III).

Table III: The Most Popular Websites of 2012

Source: Alexa.com

Article 14 of the Polish constitution from 1997 states the freedom of the press and communications. Article 54 grants the freedom of opinion and prohibits any kind of censorship or influence upon the press by state actors.
The most important body concerned with regulating the media sector is the Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji (KRRit), which is responsible for the controlling and licensing of television channels. Out of the five members of the KRRiT council, one is elected by members of the Senate, two are elected by members of the Sejm, the lower house, and another two are appointed by the President. While in theory the KRRiT is an independent agency, there have been frequent accusations that it really represents the interests of the political parties that elects its members.

The legal framework for regulating the television landscape is the Broadcasting Act of 1992, which in 2004 was modified according to guidelines set out by the European Union. According to the law, both public broadcasting as well as privately owned channels should have a focus on information and entertainment, educate its viewers and foster respect for Polish national culture. In theory, all content should represent Christian values and shine light on social and public grievances. Also the Broadcasting Act lays out the rules regarding the on-air-time that each political party receives in news programs. According to the Television Without Frontiers initiative, the protection of minorities and the access of European media companies to the Polish market were added the Broadcasting Act in 2004.

• Ania Lara, The Polish Media Landscape in Georgios Terzis (ed.) European Media Governance. National and Region Dimensions, 2007, 399-411.
• Polen-Analysen Nr. 50, 21.04.2009. Deutsches Polen Institut, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde e.V.)
• Ryszard Filas & Pawel Planeta, Das Mediensystem Polens. In: Hans-Bredow-Institut (Hrsg.): Internationales Handbuch Medien 2009. Mediensysteme in Europa, 2009, 518-540.

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