The overall TV viewership in Czech Republic dropped in the first four months of 2007 by 16% y/y. OMD Media study says that the drop is attributable to new kinds of entertainment (internet), cheap DVD, more affluent life style, and general dullness of TV program.
Separately, CME’s head of Romanian, Czech and Slovak operation Mr Adrian Sarbu, sold 5% in its Pro TV to CME for USD 49.8m.
Our view:
The acceleration in 2006 viewership decline is attributable to very good weather last year, encouraging more outdoor activities, rather than any other factor. The long term trend for declining TV viewership, along with flat readership of the press, is consistent with migration of advertising budgets to new media, which is factored in our valuation models for the media stocks. Within near-term horizon, we view the news as neutral for the trading on the stock.