The independent publishing house Media Expres has officially launched the Media Expres Yearbook 2021-2022, in online and printed version, continuing the series of catalogs of content distributors in the Romanian communications and audiovisual industry, started back in 2003.

“Significantly, the financial data for 2020 show that the pandemic brought profits for televisions, which took tens of millions of more than they expected from the market, after the ‘money for the press’ campaign of the Orban Government, in the context COVID-19 pandemic. The TV distribution had decreasing turnovers compared to 2019, as well as the advertising area except for online advertising”, said Mihai Pavelescu, editor of the Media Expres Yearbook and the Media Expres Magazine.

In the first chapter of the Media Express Directory, listing companies with cable TV, satellite and IPTV distribution notices, 134 companies are presented, compared to 147 in 2019, 188 in 2018 and 220 in 2017. Their turnover decreased, in 2020, to €3.5 billion, from €3.7 billion in 2019, including all telephony and internet services.

The cumulative loss on the TV and telecom distribution industry in 2019 of €22 million was dramatically reversed to. profit of €136 million last year, after Telekom transformed its 2019 losses of €167 million in profits of €30 million in 2020.

Orange, RCS. RDS and Telekom were at the top of the profits, while Vodafone, which took over UPC with all the historical debts from the time when the company bought local and regional networks to enter the market, was placed at the opposite pole of losses.

The Media Expres directory includes an extensive list of TV distribution companies, separated by objects of activity, which shows how traditional cable companies, led by RCS. RDS, with lower turnover (€1.457 million) compared to the major telecoms Orange and Vodafone (€2.092 million) and the other dozens of small companies that do not have as main activity TV distribution, but also offer these services.

The directory also includes one page dedicated to the distribution of online content notified in Romania, or “services on demand”, according to the official definition, which lacks, for example, Netflix, PrimeVideo, HBO GO and the Romanian provider Tiff Unlimited. The list is communicated by CNA and will probably be the last year without the mentioned brands, after the expected amendment of the Audiovisual Law and the inclusion of all online content providers under the effects of the law.

Regarding the foreign televisions that notified the broadcasting on the cable, satellite and IPTV networks in Romania, it is worth mentioning the almost total transfer of licenses from Great Britain, post-Brexit, to EU western countries, especially Spain, Holland and Germany.

The chapter dedicated to televisions with audiovisual licenses issued in Romania for satellite, cable and digital terrestrial, a total turnover of 126 companies with object of television activity (the same number of companies as in the previous year) was €506.6 million, almost €100million more than the 2019 €415.1 million, significantly due to the Government anti-COVID-19 campaign. With a balance of the profit account of over €113 million, compared to €93.9 million in 2019, it can be seen that the year of the pandemic was a financial success for televisions.

In the chapter “Equipment and services”, the Media Express Directory includes the double than previous number of companies listed with turnover, by adding local service providers that contribute in the service area to the direct relationship with viewers, by installing satellite reception antennas and not only.

Unlike televisions, the radio market fell in terms of revenues in 2020. In September 2021, there were 82 companies engaged in the transmission of radio programs, which achieved the previous year a turnover of €25 million, the global profit on industry being €3.1 million. In 2019, the turnover of private radios was €27 million.

The turnover of 44 creative and communication strategy agencies, monitored by the Media Expres Yearbook, was €107.01 million in 2020, down 18.7% compared to 2019, but the cumulative net profit amounted to €8.87 million, 2.6% more than the previous year.

In 2020, 48 Public Relations agencies had 15.2% lower turnover than in 2019, reaching €43.94 million. The cumulative turnover of 76 digital communication agencies, monitored by the Media Express Express Yearbook, amounted to €97.33 million in 2020, increasing by 2.85% compared to 2019.

In 2020, 58 market research and survey companies we monitored achieved a cumulative turnover of €132.27 million, compared to €129.28 million for 47 companies taken as reference in 2019. Four new companies have appeared in this branch, achieving. combined turnover of almost €2 million! Under these conditions, the market registered an increase of 2.32%.

The Media Expres Yearbook uses as sources the registers of companies with retransmission notices provided by the National Audiovisual Council, revised during October 2021, together with the balance sheets on the website of the Ministry of Finance. The Yearbook also uses the data provided by television companies for the list of international televisions and their own television websites for contact details and other details.