TV audience viewership in the Czech Republic is shaped by two distinct trends. Prices for Pay-TV channels continue to rise, yet interest in these services is growing. On the other hand, a significant part of the audience remains loyal to Free-to-Air TV channels, which have held a strong position in the country for many years. These findings come from the Atmedia Index survey for H1 2025, regularly conducted by Atmedia, which commercially represents 20 thematic TV channels on the Czech market.

The average monthly amount viewers spend on services of satellite, cable, or IPTV operators rose in H1 2025 to 430 CZK, representing a 9% year-on-year increase. ‘The more significant price increase started last year, when the CZK 400 threshold was exceeded for the first time. Until then, the monthly amount spent on Pay-TV had been hovering around 390 CZK for quite some time,’ says Michaela Suráková, Managing Director at Atmedia.

Despite rising prices, interest in Pay-TV does not decline – quite the opposite. IPTV has seen the most substantial growth. ‘The share of viewers who use IPTV or cable TV as their main platform for receiving television broadcasting has already surpassed 50%,’ adds Michaela Suráková. The growing interest in IPTV is linked to the fact that more and more households have their TV connected to the internet, enabling viewers to take advantage of new ways to watch content. The main reasons viewers use Pay-TV services include the ability to watch programmes retrospectively, skip advertising, watch TV channels on multiple devices, and access channels not available via Free-to-Air broadcasting.

How Much Are Viewers Willing to Pay? The Optimal Price Point Is 150 CZK per Month

Although IPTV is currently the dominant platform, a part of the Czech population still relies solely on Free-to-Air broadcasting, which continues to have a firm position. ‘The main reason is the sufficient range of TV channels available in terrestrial multiplexes – viewers can choose from dozens of channels of various genres,’ explains Michaela Suráková, adding that some viewers therefore have no motivation to pay for TV content. Specifically, 29% of these viewers do not want to spend anything on Pay-TV, and 19% consider Pay-TV too expensive.

If they were to decide to use Pay-TV services, they would be willing to pay between 100 CZK and 400 CZK per month. ‘This is what we call the ‘broader range of price acceptability’, which we defined based on the Atmedia Index survey for H1 2025,’ describes Michaela Suráková. According to her, the optimal price point is around 150 CZK per month. For this price, viewers would expect access to a service offering more than 100 TV channels, at least 70 of which in HD quality, the ability to watch programmes retrospectively and record them, as well as the possibility to watch video content on four devices simultaneously.

The survey research for Atmedia – sales house of thematic TV channels – was carried out by the ResSOLUTION research company using the CAWI method. The survey involved 4,051 respondents from the Czech National Panel (online population aged 15–69). The survey took place in four waves from first to second quarter of 2025 (April 3–18, 2025, July 1–13, 2025). Atmedia introduced the Atmedia Index in mid-2021. It offers TV channels, media agencies and other interested parties a comprehensive data, information and insight into two researched areas: (1) use of Pay-TV and Free-to-Air TV, and (2) use of paid video on demand (SVOD) services.

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