Slovakia’s media landscape – overview

History and legal framework

The media landscape in Slovakia has undergone dramatic changes in the last 19 years. After years of severe censorship and strict control by the Communist Party leadership, there was explosive development after November 1989. Soon after the fall of Communism, the floodgates opened, resulting in the creation of a variety of media.

The media market in Slovakia is characterised by three factors:

- a high concentration of media due to the relatively small size of the country
- the state still holds a large stake in the electronic media, which hinders competition
- several networks, based on unclear ownership and personnel issues

Since 2000, a concentration in electronic media has been forbidden by law. This rule has, however, only been paid lip service in the past few years.

New media law

In 2008, the old media law from 1966 was replaced by a new law. This requires information about publishers and owners, as well as about possible shares in other media, to be made public. This represents an improvement compared to the old law, which demanded no information about ownership structures.

The new media law forces newspapers to publish responses from people mentioned in their articles, without journalists having the chance to prove the accuracy of the articles. In future, it will be possible in Slovakia for people to have this right of reply, even if the articles are true, if the people concerned – such as criticised politicians – feel that their rights are being infringed.

Both publishers and international media institutions warn of potential abuse of this right by politicians. They consider that the press in the new Slovakian democracy is in danger of losing its freedom. The implementation of this law has so far, however, given no cause for concern.

Media companies in Slovakia

In the past few years, the Slovakian media market has become extremely international. Besides Slovakians, German, Swiss and also British companies have a stake in the national newspapers. The regional media market currently lies in the shadow of the national print media. Americans have become increasingly involved in Slovakia’s electronic media.

The Swiss media company Ringier (www.ringier.sk) holds a strong media portfolio in Slovakia, consisting of the leading daily newspaper ‘Nový Čas’ (New Time – www.cas.sk), several society weekly publications, and monthly magazines. In 2007, the Swiss gave up several European TV schedule magazines, including the Slovakian ‘Eurotelevízia’, ‘Telemagazín’ und ‘TV-Max’. These three titles were completely taken over by Bauer, the German publishing house. This purchase brought Bauer (www.bauermedia.sk) directly onto the Slovakian market for the first time – until then, it had only been represented by imported magazines (Bravo or Tina). Since TV schedule magazines continue to sell well, Bauer has joined the market leaders. In 2008, further titles were added to its portfolio. ‘Chvíľka pre teba’ (A moment for you) and ‘Napísané životom’ (Written by life) appear weekly and ‘Čas na lásku’ (Time for love) is published fortnightly.

After Pavol Rusko relinquished ownership of TV Markíza, the business tycoon Ivan Kmotrík was one of the few Slovakian media moguls remaining. After exchanging shares with the Slovakian financial group J&T (now the owner of the second biggest private TV channel TV JOJ), he became the sole owner of the TV news channel TA3. He also owns the biggest Slovakian printers "Versus” (www.versusprint.sk/deutsch/home/index.php), as well as three further smaller printers, the largest Slovakian newspaper printer Mediaprint-Kapa Pressegrosso (www.mediakapa.sk/index/) and the leading Slovakian advertising agency EURO RSCG Artmedia

Increased American presence

The American media company Central European Media Enterprises (CME) increased its presence in Slovakia in 2005. After buying a majority holding in TV Markíza from Pavol Rusko, CME bought the rest of the shares in 2006 and is now the sole owner. The founder of the Markíza brand withdrew from the business.




Besides international publishing houses, two larger Slovakian ones can be found on the media market – 7Plus (www.7plus.sk) and Trend Holding (www.etrend.sk). The 7Plus publishing house has been involved on the market since the beginning of the 1990s. To begin with, it had a weekly magazine commenting on contemporary issues – now, it produces 12 weekly and monthly magazines as well as a daily newspaper. The Trend Holding publishing house has a similarly long history behind it. Originally, the business weekly magazine Trend appeared on the market, establishing itself over the years as the undisputed number one in the business press, with a strong internet presence. The publishing house also publishes the fortnightly business magazine Profit.


Slovakia’s media landscape – print media
Slovakia’s media landscape – electronic media