Media in brief 1

Specialty Channels On The Up: Poland's largest terrestrial television channels-TVP1, TVP2 and TVP Info, Polsat, TVN, TV Puls and TV4-saw their slice of the advertising market fall in the first half of the year from a combined 75.26 percent to 71.78 percent year-on year. The fall comes as specialty channels continue to expand, drawing away viewers and advertising income from the large broadcasters. Lidia Kasprzycka, director general at the Starlink media house, estimates that smaller channels' slice of the TV advertising pie will rise to around 18 percent this year from 16 percent in the first quarter. The largest stations earned almost zl.5.2 billion from commercials before discounts in the first half of the year, according to Nielsen Audience Measurement. The figure was nearly 25 percent higher than in the first six months of 2009, reflecting increases in the prices of commercials. Popular TV Series Returns: Shooting of the third season of Days of Honor (Czas honoru), one of the most high-profile Polish TV productions of recent years, finished at the end of July. Produced for public broadcaster TVP, Days of Honor received a Platinum Remi Award at the 43rd Houston International Film Festival April 9-18. It also won a silver medal in the action/adventure category at the New York Festivals 2010 competition May 3. The TVP2 channel will start airing the third season Sept. 19, continuing the stories of characters viewers remember from seasons one and two. Days of Honor is set in Nazi-occupied Warsaw in the summer and autumn of 1941. The main characters are four Polish undercover agents trained in Britain: Bronek (Maciej Zakościelny), Janek (Antoni Pawlicki), Michał (Jakub Wesołowski) and Władek (Jan Wieczorkowski). In the third season, the men continue working for the Warsaw resistance, aided by Tadeusz (Paweł Małaszyński), a fifth agent from England assigned to their unit. Radio Market Expected to Expand: The radio advertising market is gradually recovering from the economic slowdown. Between 2010 and 2014, radio broadcasters' income will grow at an average annual rate of 3.9 percent, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates in a report on the media and entertainment market. The expansion will be boosted by radio broadcasters' growing income from online operations, according to the report. In 2014, the value of the radio advertising market is expected to exceed $50 billion, up by over 16 percent compared to this year, according to the report. The United States, the world's largest radio advertising market, with 236 million people aged 12 and over listening to the radio every week, will see a rapid growth in income from subscription fees for satellite digital radio services, which also broadcast commercials. There is no satellite digital radio service in Poland yet. This year, global income from commercials will reach $28.4 billion, satellite radio subscription fees will generate less than $2.9 billion, and subsidies for public radio stations, which are popular in Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region, will come to $12.9 billion. PwC has estimated the value of the Polish radio advertising market at $167 million this year and $209 million in 2014. New Polsat Sports Channel?: Commercial television station Polsat plans to launch a new sports channel called Polsat Sport News, according to the Presserwis website, which analyses the Polish media market. Polsat applied in July for a broadcasting license for the channel. Poles Against Radio and TV License: Two-thirds of Polish people think that the radio and television license fee should be abolished, research conducted by the PBS DGA polling center shows. Opposition to the license was the highest among 30-and 40-year-olds and cable TV and digital platform subscribers. Only 22 percent of adult Poles think that the radio and television license is needed and should not be abolished. The survey was conducted by PBS DGA in conjunction with On Board PR. Source: The Warsaw Voice