Mediafactbook: ROMANIA 2019

mediafactbook
ROMANIA 2019
1
CONTENTS
This document is a product of INITIATIVE
In putting together the Media Fact Book we have used data and information
supplied by: The Romanian Association for Audience Measurement (AR-
MA),The Romanian Audit Bureau of Circulation (BRAT), The Romanian
Association for Radio Audience Measurement (ARA), Kantar Media, In-
ternational Advertising Association (IAA), Interactive Advertising Bureau
(IAB), PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Business Monitor International, ANRC-
TI, The National Institute of Statistics (INSSE), EuroStat, focus-econom-
ics.com, ANCOM, Profit.ro.
EDITOR’S FOREWORD 6
Acknowledgements to the following members of the INITIATIVE team
who significantly contributed to this book: MEDIABRANDS 8
Alexandra Olteanu, Ruxandra Stefan, Catalin Florea, Dana Marinescu,
Ruxandra Stan, Catalina Ghita, Alexandru Miu, Cristina Chinde, Razvan
Simionescu, Daniel Popescu, Cosmin Otel.
CEE COUNTRY PULSE 10
Special contributors: ROMANIAN ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 17
• Oana Osman - Founding Member and Deputy Editor in Chief at Profit.ro
MEDIA MARKET 24
TELEVISION 32
SHOWCASE: CONTENT STREAMING 46
DIGITAL MEDIA 49
© INITIATIVE MEDIA S.A, Bucharest, 2019 All rights reserved
RADIO 64
This publication is protected by copyright. No parts of this book may be
reproduced without the prior written consent of the copyright owner. PRINT 75
Readers should understand that the data contained in the Media Fact Book
is as actual and accurate as the sources could provide at the moment the
book was written.
OOH 83
Your comments and suggestions are welcome as a valuable input for the
future editions of this book.
MEDIA RESEARCH 88
EDITOR’S FOREWORD The last year has shown us that media growing with more Under these circumstances, the media market is also
than 10% YOY is not sustainable long term and that no slowing down from 13% in 2017 to 10% in 2018 and to 7%
matter how eager the media market is to reach quickly half a in 2019, which is likely to further shrink in the coming years
billion euros, the achievement of this goal is still to be waited depending on the economic realities.
for!
The media consumer is also in a constant transformation,
The Romanian economy is under a real risk of a technical video consumption is dominant today with its two
recession that could be counteracted only by the government’s representatives: television and digital.
very bold, unpopular measures. But the government is
acting exactly the opposite, we are still ahead of 3 rounds of Television holds the supremacy of budgets in the advertising
elections (2019 – European Parliament, Presidential, 2020 – market, but free-to-digital (YouTube) platforms or paid
local and parliamentary) which makes unpopular measures video streaming platforms have convinced the consumer to
to be postponed sine die. spend important time outside the TV set.
Romania has already entered an economic slowdown – from We estimate that 2.5 million people use Netflix in Romania
7% economic growth in 2017 to 4.1% in 2018 and only 3.1% in 2018, and that over 600,000 are daily users. At the same
in 2019 with 3% forecast in 2020 from the International time, the vast majority of our digital population is on
Monetary Fund. Youtube – over 8 million adults.
Despite all these pre-crisis evidences, the government is Streaming, paid or free, is becoming the default way of
preparing for a new wave of populist measures, such as interacting with content. But not with ads. For viewers, this
pensions and salaries increase in the public sector, with a is a welcome break from the wide exposure to advertising
clear electoral purpose. on commercial TV stations. For brands and agencies it’s a
serious issue, expected to grow bigger.
Inevitably, the bill will be paid with tax increases and the
highest price inflation recorded in Europe – factors that will Could we ever leave happily together, consumers, advertisers
erode the real purchasing power of the Romanian consumers. and content providers?
In the background of the euphoric public sector is a private Outstanding creativity has always been a solution –
sector that has been forced to adopt unsustainable salary unfortunately, one in short supply. What we are looking
increases, from productivity point of view, and which also for is an easier-to-replicate answer, one which could be
faces a shortage of labor force. systematically applied to most businesses.
It is well known that in Romania emigration has steadily Initiative aims this year to bring a little more light to video
increased, 600K people have left Romania only in the last consumption in Romania – throughout the year we will do
3 years. quantitative studies to capture the transformations within
the TV and video digital media consumption.
Consumer confidence in Romania’s economic performance
is decreasing every year, which does not create the premises Let’s see what happened in the media market last year!
of a frenetic consumption for the next period.
6 www.mediafactbook.ro 7
ABOUT
Mediabrands was created by Interpublic Group
(NYSE: IPG) in 2007 to manage all of its global
media related assets. Today Mediabrands
manages and invests $37 billion in global media,
employs over 8,500 diverse and daring marketing
MEDIABRANDS
communication specialists and operates in over
130 countries.
IPG Mediabrands is a new world agency group

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agencies includes Initiative, BPN, UM. Its roster of
specialist service agencies include Magna Global,
Cadreon, Ansible, Mediabrands Publishing,
Identity, Ensemble and the IPG Media Lab.
In Romania IPG Mediabrands consolidates

over 25% market share being the most powerful
international media group. With over 100 media
specialists, IPG Mediabrands Romania manages
the media activities of a wide array of ‘blue-
chip’ clients in most categories: telecom, finance,
automotive, soft drinks, food, retail, DIY, beer,
alcoholic drinks, IT & technology, cosmetics, etc.
The Analysis
CEE COUNTRY
Despite a slowdown in global growth which reduced
the demand for EU products abroad, EU growth is
projected to keep solid but remain low and, with aging
populations and slow-moving investment, to become
increasingly dependent on productivity growth.
PULSE
The uncertainty concerning the Brexit agreement
negotiations is also putting a strain on the European
economy.
The pronounced economic weakness in the Eurozone

impacts directly the CEE economic growth which is
expected to slow further in 2019, but it should remain
healthy. Despite being more moderate, consumer
spending will continue to expand, supported by strong
salary growth and tight labor markets. Similarly,
Overview growth in fixed investment will remain robust, yet it
will decelerate due to slowing EU fund inflows. CEE is
In 2018 Television continued to be the backbone projected to grow 3.3% in 2019 and 2.9% in 2020.
of the vast majority of the CEE media markets, as (Source: http://www.focus-economics.com).
it still dominates the media consumption habits of
local population. It keeps its place of most impactful The effect of consumer spending increase in 2018 is
touchpoint on brand performance such as awareness clearly reflected in a very dynamic growth of the media
and recall. Still, year over year, TV is marginally advertising expenditure in most of the CEE countries
losing budget shares in favour of Digital, driven by and an overall regional growth of 6% vs. 2017.
an increasing internet usage and by the very dynamic
growth of “smart technology” ownership. 2018 Net Market Spent Evolution (%)
15%
12% 11%
9% 10%
8%
6% 6% 8% 5% 6%
5% 5%
2% 1%
Montenegro
Moldova
North
Macedonia
Albania
Croatia
Poland
Bulgaria
Hungary
Romania
Serbia
Slovenia
Herzegovina
Slovakia
CEE
Czech Republic
Bosnia &
Source: IPG Mediabrands local agencies
Clearly, then dynamics is different by market, with

Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Romania reflecting
an increase of over 10% in net media expenditure,
followed closely by Hungary and Albania with a 8%-
9% growth in 2018. A wider third cluster is represented
by countries such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria,
Poland, North Macedonia with a 5%-6% growth, while
for Slovakia and Croatia the increase was marginal.
Net Media Spend per Capita (EUR) highest Net Media Cost per Capita. In this context, the
200 level of the Net Media Spend per Capita in Romania is
175
reasonable.
165
180
160 2017 2018
140
120 2018 Net Local Market Size Levels (Million EUR)
100
84
2,500
80
68
80
63
61
1,930
56
2,000 1,853
50
48
48
60
48
34
32
28
40
25
23
1,500
21
18
18
17
16
13
12
10
20
9
7
7
0 1,000
596 454 372
Herzegovina
Bosnia &
Bulgaria
Croatia
Hungary
Montenegro
Czech Republic
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Moldova
North
Macedonia 500
Albania
242 197 197 176

36 34 37 11 27
0
Albania
Bosnia &
Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech
Republic
Hungary
Montenegro
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Moldova
North
Macedonia
In terms of Net Media Spend per Capita, the Czech

Republic reflects by far the highest level with €175/
capita and growing year over year, followed by a second
layer of countries with an average spend of €50-€90 / In 2018 the CEE media market size map continues to
capita. Although it is the second largest country in CEE be extremely heterogeneous as it brings together very
after Poland and despite the recent economic growth, large and very small countries. Top five markets by net
Romania continues to reflect a very low Net Media media volumes are: Poland and the Czech Republic,
Spend/Capita of €23 due to frequent fiscal changes each reporting close to 2 billion EUR net, followed by
which make advertisers approach their marketing Hungary, Romania and Slovakia with over 350 million
investments cautiously. EUR each.
GDP per Capita (US$, PPP method)
With the support of the continuous development of
2017 2018
“smart” technology, CEE consumers’ media habits
continues to shift towards a more integrated multiscreen
consumption which triggers every year a marginal
Digital media share increase in the local media mix.
The increase of the Digital media share is most visible in
Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland where it reached
30%-35% of the total net media budgets in 2018, while
other countries such as Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania,
11,381
11,862
11,620
11,992
19,831
20,583
22,535
23,308
32,322
33,219
13,612
13,964
26,968
28,358
16,209
16,928
27,015
28,390
22,438
23,508
14,894
15,605
30,033
31,227
31,285
32,663
6,239
6,493
Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Serbia are now in

the range of 15-20%. In Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina
and North Macedonia the reported digital media share
Herzegovina
Bosnia &
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech
North
Hungary
Montenegro
Republic
Macedonia
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Moldova
Albania
was below 15%, despite Digital being on the rise year

over year driven mostly by Mobile, Video content and
Programmatic with the highest growth potential.
Source: http://www.imf.org
Generally, TV still reflects the highest shares of
Still, having a look at the GDP/capital level across the spending in CEE, most of the countries reflecting 50%-
region, one can see that the media spend is correlated 70%, with Albania (67%), Romania (66%) and Bosnia
to the GDP level, the strongest economies reflecting the
In most CEE countries, the TV budget shares tend to
correlate with the ATS (average time spent viewing per
& Herzegovina (66%) showing a clear TV dominance. day) and countries such as Albania, Romania, Bosnia
In countries like Poland (48%) and Slovakia (43%) & Herzegovina and North Macedonia confirm this
the gap between TV and Digital shares is significantly rule with a level of daily ATS above regional average
lower, while in Czech Republic (35%) and Hungary (4.7 hours/day for Urban 18+ population). The same
(32%) the difference is marginal. correlation can be seen in the Czech Republic, Poland,
Slovenia and Moldova where the much lower daily TV
Print is constantly losing share across the region, with consumption impacts the TV shares in the respective
more publishers moving online every year and less and countries. Exceptions to the rule could be considered
less printed titles. Still, Print ads continue to play an Bulgaria, where the TV share is high (60%), while the
important role in Hungary and the Czech Republic, ATS was below the CEE average in 2018 and Hungary
where it achieved over 15% of the local media where the TV share is the lowest in the region (32%),
investments in 2018. while the daily ATS is above the CEE average.
Radio generally has a share below 10% in CEE, with the 2018 Average TV Viewing Time (hours/day)
highest level in Czech Republic, Croatia and Poland.
6.3
Radio stations fight the ad revenue decline by building
5.8
5.6
5.2
5.1
solid digital platforms and striving to deliver higher
4.9
4.9
4.9
4.9
4.7
4.6
4.5
reach and engagement for brands’ consumers.
4.4
4.3
4.0
4.0
4.0
3.9
3.7
3.6
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.2
Out-of-Home advertising supports continue to
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.7
play an important role in the region given the high
2.5
geographical flexibility and the fact that it enables a
high creative potential. It certainly becomes a very
strong local support in every market during elections
years. It collects media budget shares from around 20% Albania Bosnia & Bulgaria Croatia Czech
Herzegovina
North Hungary Monte- Poland Romania Serbia
Republic Macedonia negro
Slovakia Slovenia Moldova CEE Average
in Montenegro and North Macedonia to 5%-7% in the Source: IPG Mediabrands local agencies
18+, Urban 18-49, Urban
Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.

In CEE the Internet penetration of urban population
is over 70% in the large majority of the countries,
2018 Media mix in CEE Markets
with the exception of Albania. The countries with the
Albania 67% 13% 3%1% 14% 1% highest urban internet reach are Slovenia (96%), North
Bosnia & Herzegovina 66% 9% 6% 5% 11% 4% Macedonia (92%), Moldova (92%) and the Czech
Romania 66% 19% 3% 6% 7% Republic (91%).
Bulgaria 60% 20% 5% 4% 10% 1%
North Macedonia 57% 10% 9% 5% 19% 1%
Moldova 56% 20% 4% 6% 15% 2018 General Internet Statistics
93%
55% 17% 12% 5% 12% 0%
92%
92%
91%
Serbia
86%
86%
86%
85%
85%
84%
84%
83%
83%
81%
81%
52% 17% 8% 3% 21%
79%
Montenegro
78%
76%
75%
73%
72%
71%
71%
71%
52% 17% 12% 6% 13%
68%
Slovenia
67%
Croatia 51% 18% 13% 9% 9%
Poland 48% 31% 6% 8% 6% 1%
Slovakia 42% 35% 9% 5% 9%
Czech Republic 35% 34% 15% 9% 6% 1%
0%
Hungary 32% 27% 21% 6% 13% 2% Albania Bosnia & Bulgaria Croatia Czech North Hungary Monte- Poland Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Moldova
Herzegovina Republic Macedonia negro
Source: IPG Mediabrands local agencies TV Digital Print Radio OOH Other Urban Reach Urban Daily Usage
ROMANIAN
2018 General Facebook Statistics
1.5 1.7 3.9 1.8 5.3 1.0 5.4 0.3 22.5 11.0 2.9 2.4 1.0 1.2
99%
88%
85%
82%
81%
ECONOMIC
77%
77%
76%
75%
69%
69%
68%
59%
58%
55%
55%
55%
54%
53%
52%
50%
49%
48%
46%
44%
41%
41%
34%
Albania Bosnia & Bulgaria Croatia Czech North Hungary Monte- Poland Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Moldova
Herzegovina Republic Macedonia negro
OUTLOOK
Source: IPG Mediabrands local agencies % of Population % of Internet Users FB Users (Million)
The increasing penetration of smartphones and

portable devices, the high demand for video content as
well as the need to be permanently connected in social
media networks and instant messaging platforms have
a significant impact on the internet daily usage in the
CEE. The daily consumption map is split into three
groups: in the first group are Slovenia and Romania
with over 85% daily usage among urban internet users,
the second and largest group gathers countries with a
daily usage of 70%-85%, while Hungary (55%) reflects OANA OSMAN
the lowest daily usage among urban internet users.
Despite the major political scandal in early 2018 Growth based on consumption only, near the end. Bills
when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica has are starting to pile up
harvested the personal data of millions of people’s FB
profiles without their consent and used it for political After an exceptional 2017, with record numbers in terms
advertising purposes, Facebook remains very popular of economic growth amongst EU countries, followed by a
in CEE with 62 Million users across 14 countries (53% 2018, in which the advance toned down, Romania is about
of the reference population). The highest penetration is to find out, again, the hard way, that prosperity obtained
shown in Poland (59%), Romania (58%) and Hungary through forced administrative measures and budgetary
(55%) and the lowest in Moldova (34%), Serbia (41%) irresponsibility doesn’t live long.
and Croatia (44%).
From Europe’s growth champions, we woke up faster than
we expected with the worst macro-economic indicators
in the region. What is worse, we are facing a context of
authorities having the least tools to face a global economic
Perspectives for 2019 contraction that is more and more likely to happen.
CEE countries are expecting to see a further growth of The main causes of this dramatic perspective change
the net media budgets in their local markets, although are high government spending and the unbalanced
overall, the region will grow at a slightly lower pace (4% external position. These problems are hard to be solved
vs. 6% in 2018). The increase will be driven by two main courageously by authorities, in a time with four rounds of
factors: the consumer spending which will continue elections (European and presidential elections this year,
to expand due to the constant salary growth and the local and parliamentary elections in 2020) and a national
significant media cost inflation pressure coming mostly currency under pressure.
from TV, generated by the increasingly higher air time
demand and a limited inventory.
From growth champion, to deficit leader rate of 2.8% (the IMF sees it at 3.3% at the end of the year),
which should ensure that the cash budget deficit will not
Over the course of a few years, Romania has changed exceed 2.55% of GDP or 2.57% in terms of ESA (European
its status from the leader of deficit reduction rankings, System of Accounts).
immediately after the crisis, to the unfortunate leader,
within the rankings of the highest fiscal and external deficits Public finance remains, therefore, the main vulnerability
in the region. The current account deficit is the worst in the and threat to the economy. This branch is entering the
region, with a 4.7% of GDP last year, above the 4% alarming fourth year of budget waste, following successive series of
value, caused by the accelerated growth of imports. salary and pension increase (also the largest in the region)
and investment cuts, with little room left to mitigate the
2019 also started the worst way possible, creating the effects of a global crisis when it will produce.
premises for instability of external balance, that may even
exceed 5.4% at the end of the year. This situation is leading many economists to anticipate
inevitable tax increases in the coming years, the first at risk
This devolution is the result of the economic growth being the single rate of income tax.
slowdown, from 7% in 2017, to 4.1% in 2018 and just over
3.1% this year, all the way to 3% in 2020, according to the The fiscal downturn will be much harder to avoid this year
latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts. through special measures like those that were taken in
the previous years: special dividends paid by state-owned
IMF recently revised the forecast on the advance of the companies, from which the Government took most of the
Romanian economy this year at 3.4%, by far the most revenue to the state budget, and investment cuts.
pessimistic scenario regarding the evolution of gross domestic
product among the big international financial institutions, With already large deficits and in a more vulnerable position
at a time when European Commission projected a 3.8% than all countries in the region, this year Romania is still
growth rate for 2019 and 3.6% for 2020, and the World Bank preparing for new measures of budget irresponsibility, such
predicted an advance of 3.5% in 2019 and 3.1% in 2020. IMF as the pension increases from the new law, which can worsen
also predicts that the current account deficit will continue even more these problems. Such a substantial expenditure
to grow strongly at 5.2% of GDP at the end of the year, from increase cannot be sustained unless tax collection was to
4.6% of GDP in the previous year. increase significantly or if taxes will be raised, the latter
being most likely.
Salary and pension increase for electoral purposes are not a

The budget is sinking, but the spending party goes on Romanian invention, but our authorities stand out compared
to politicians from neighbouring countries by evergreen
The problem with growth forecasts heavily revised downwards populism and maintaining expectations of perpetual
by both international institutions and bank economists, is growth, which lead to inflation. One-third of the employees
that the Government continues to spend money as if these in Romania received higher salary increases than in the EU,
do not exist, relying their budget projections on highly including all state institutions employees, including those
optimistic growth estimates, that no one else believes in. at state-owned companies, from areas such as mining, that
have always made losses, according to a UniCredit analysis.
Specifically, this year’s budget projection is built on an over Moreover, by the end of next year, state employees will earn,
one billion lei GDP, with a 5.5% growth target, an inflation on average, more than those working in banking sector.
Last year, the Romanian state spent 34.4% of its income on above region levels. In fact, this year we may very well be
employee salaries, followed by Cyprus, with 29.7%, situated the only ones to miss the inflation target amongst the states
on the second position. By comparison, Germany only in our zone, after last year’s reinstatement in the target
spends 16.6% of its income on state salaries. The more the was possible last minute at the end of the year, only due
state spends on wages that it collects, the less money remains to the reduction in fuel prices, under the impact of the
for investments, such as infrastructure investments or for international quotations drops.
building schools and hospitals.
Romania is at risk to have the highest inflation in Europe
in 2019, surpassed only by Russia (which comes after a 2%
increase in VAT) and Turkey, which is in crisis.
Preparing for the highest inflation in Europe
The problem is not just the great amount of money spend
on the salaries, but also the fact that these are recurrent, as More expensive loans for state, companies and citizens
an increase applied this year will also be applied in each of
the coming years. And the consequences of wage increase The issue of imbalances caused by the new expenditure
that are not sustained by productivity growth are already increases, if put into practice, may also become important
reflected in inflation, external deficits and budget deficits. for rating agencies, and a downgrade in ratings means the
classification of Romanian bonds in the non-investment
Unfortunately, despite the significant increase in population grade (junk) category. The consequence will be an even
incomes, savings are yet low in Romania. The much more greater increase of the country’s borrowing costs, which are
rapid salary rises, compared to the rest of Europe, granted by already on a long-term growth trend. Only in the last two
the Government, as a result of a questionable WageLedGrowth years the state debt has increased by 44.5 billion lei.
policy, have not been able to solve the underlying causes
of wages that are still low in comparison with developed Interest rates are anyway higher in Romania than in the rest
countries. These only attempted to artificially block the of the region, and the perspectives of them being reduced
effects, in fact, aggravating, even more the problem in time, in the future are limited, given that, with an inflation above
in a vicious circle of negative, connected side-effects. target, the NBR (National Bank of Romania) has little room
for cutting the key interest rate and increasing the liquidity
As structural problems of the economy, reduced productivity offered.
and specialization, will still stand at the root of the problems.
Romania has been able to report productivity gains from With large external deficits and a lack of healthy capital
very low levels, but its current level remains well below the entries, via European funds or direct foreign investments,
average of Eurozone and Central Europe. Romania is trapped in the need to attract volatile capital to
cover its imports. The first to attract such capital, through
In fact, over the past months, labour productivity has slowed the growing external borrowing, is the Romanian state
down in industry. Moreover, it is mission impossible to itself. With high deficits to fund, the Ministry of Finance is
measure productivity in the public sector, where the highest needing more and more expensive loans, and the impact is
salary increases have been registered. reflected by the financing costs for all entities in Romania,
including private ones, also putting pressure on the national
Stimulated by wage growth, consumer demand raised currency.
inflation in Romania above the central bank’s target and
The logical fracture of new taxes that should increase only succeeded in diminishing the investors’ confidence
in authorities even more. And, so have the other taxes and
prosperity this year restrictions imposed by GEO 114 (amended) in important
areas, such as energy or, where major investments (including
Being at the inflationary origin of rising funding costs for
the largest offshore oil exploitation) were blocked or put on
the entire economy, the Government believes it can force
hold until the Government’s intentions are clarified.
cheaper loans “by ordinance”. The controversial GEO
114/2018, which introduced the bank assets tax, modified
this year by GEO 19, shows that the Government is inspired The technical recession knocks on the door
by measures taken in Hungary by the Orban Government
and will continue to do so, but without also imitating other Under these circumstances, an important risk, which analysts
policies by which the Hungarian Government manages to are talking about more and more, is the entry into technical
attract strong foreign investments. recession, which involves two consecutive quarters of GDP
decrease. Not this year, but there is a high probability it will
However, economists do not root for the success of the happen next year.
attempt to influence loan terms and stimulate economic
growth through a tax. The chance to avoid such a scenario is less under the control
of the Romanian authorities, which have not left room for
The Government has set targets for banks to increase manoeuvre for counter-measures, and more depending on
lending and reduce interest margins if they wish to not pay external developments and the growth that the European
or pay less on the newly introduced tax. An unconventional and global economy can achieve. Unfortunately, however,
stimulating policy, which may, however, have adverse effects. the global economy also risks a growth slowdown, which,
At least for short periods, the reporting of new lei loans to a short-term, is caused by the slowdown in global trade. This is
new benchmark - the average rate of interbank transactions, bad news for the evolution of the euro area, which is strongly
almost entirely composed of short-term interest rates - connected to global trade and does not have other factors
instead of ROBOR, could increase, in fact, the borrowing in with an impact significant enough to offset its weakness. In
certain periods, since the yield curve tends to reverse in the the US, the economic cycle is also nearing the end, and the
days when the national currency is under pressure. likelihood of a recession continues to rise, which is possible
to occur, according to analysts, even from 2020.
Finally, the Government’s failed attempts to force NBR to
lower interest rates by linking the bank asset tax to ROBOR An extremely risk-driven international context, for which
value (abandoned later on) and through fear that a new Romania could still prepare itself, in the twelfth hour,
Board of Directors at the NBR (for which elections are held through the ever-postponed structural reforms, by stopping
this year) will follow a more relaxed monetary policy, have the budget waste, by blocking populist spending and
measures. Of course, if there would not be four rows of
elections coming…
MEDIA Overview
In 2018 the Romanian Media market consolidated its
growing trend, reaching €454 Mio by the end of the
year (+10% vs. 2017).
MARKET
For 2019, we currently estimate that the market will
continue to grow by 7% vs. 2018, up to €485 Mio.
Graph 1: 2014 - 2019 Total net Ad-spend by medium (Million €) –
Estimation
485 M
412 M
454 M
Market Analysis
366 M
313 M 332 M Television continued its growing trend (+10% vs. 2017)
reaching 300 Mio Euro. The total 18-49 Urban GRP30”
sold by the TV channels in 2018 was 2,235 Mio, of which
32% were sold by CME, 23% by Antena Group, 10% by
Dogan Media, 12% by Thematic Channels and 5% by
Digi Group. In terms of advertising revenues, CME kept
leading position with 43%, followed by Antena Group
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 est.
with 25%, Dogan Media with 9%, Thematic Channels
Source: Initiative with 7% and Digi Group with 4%. 2018 top 3 TV
MEDIA TOTAL (Mil €) TV Print Radio OOH Internet stations ranking was the same as in 2017: Pro TV kept
2014 313 198 17 18 28 51 leadership despite the lower performance compared to
2015 332 212 16 19 28 57 the previous year, followed by Antena 1 also with lower
2016 366 240 14 20 28 64
2017 412 273 13 23 29 73 ratings and Kanal D, growing significantly due to the
2018 454 300 13 26 31 85 outstanding performance of the Exatlon production.
2019 est. 485 315 12 28 31 99
Talent shows and cooking programs are the most
In 2018 all media channels reflected growth, except popular genres among Romanians since 2012:
Print which remained the only medium, with a negative “Romanii au talent” remained the most viewed talent
evolution. show, followed by “Vocea Romaniei”, both confirming
Pro TV’s success in local productions. “Chefi la cutite’
TV investments increased by 10% vs. 2017, from €273 from Antena 1 continues to be present in top 3 most
Mio to €300 Mio. Digital increased from €73 Mio to €85 viewed programs in 2018, while “Exatlon” follows at a
Mio (+16% vs. 2017), Radio reached €26 Mio from €23 marginal difference in performance.
Mio (+10% vs. 2017), OOH went up to €31 Mio from
€29 Mio, while Print dropped by 5% vs. 2017. Digital media is the channel with the highest
growth in 2018: +16% vs 2017. Google and Facebook
remained leaders gathering ~70% of digital budgets,
Graph 2: Market share in 2014-2019 (net ad-spend by medium)
programmatic (excluding Adwords tools) maintained
an increasing trend, while local display dropped.
est 2019 65% 20% 6% 8% 1%
Facebook kept the most aggressive development,
TV reaching almost 10 mil. users in Romania (9 mil.
2018 66% 19% 7% 7% 1% on mobile) with 6.7 mil. daily users (6 mil. on
Internet
mobile). For the second consecutive year, Romanian
2017 66% 18% 7% 6% 3% e-commerce showed the largest growth in Europe, with
OOH
a 30% increase in turnover. In 2018, Romanian online
2016 65% 18% 8% 6% 3%
Radio
shoppers have spent, on average, 10 million € per day
(compared to 7,67 million € in 2017).
2015 64% 17% 8% 6% 5% Print
2014 63% 16% 9% 6% 6%
Source: Initiative
OOH continued the growing trend started in 2017, so
2018 maintained the 5% increase up to 31 Mio Euro.
Top Investors
The event of the year: in 2018, the OOH Company of 2018 main categories are similar to 2017. The top is
the City Hall approved the Implementation Norms dominated by “Pharma”, “Mobile telecommunications”
necessary for OOH law enforcement in Bucharest. This and “Cosmetics, hygienic, hair care & cleaners”, all three
OOH Law draws a new background for the industry, reflecting the highest estimated net media investments.
setting new rules, limits and imposing strict standards.
“Retailers”, “Electronics & domestic appliances”, “Cars
Apart from all the legislative measures, the OOH & 4x4 vehicles” and “Milk products” are on a growing
market continued its growth presenting the first year trend in 2018, while “Banking & insurance services”,
of inflation, since the 2008 crisis. In Bucharest, some “Beer”, “Sweets” and “Carbonated drinks” slightly
of the costs increased up to 10%, but there was a more dropped.
dynamic pricing evolution in cities such as Cluj,
Timisoara and Constanta, where costs went up by as
much as 40%. Graph 3: Top categories 2018 – all media (TV, print, radio, online,
OOH) – estimated net budget
Radio remained on a growing trend, reaching 26 Mio Beer
Euro in 2018. The radio audience kept stable from
Retailers
Electronics &
one year to another. Kiss FM was the most listened domestic appliances
radio station in urban area, while Bucharest residents Pharma 13 MIL
(€)
preferred Radio ZU. 15 MIL
57
(€)
MIL
(€) 9 MIL
Sweets
In 2018 radio daily reach was stable both at urban
(€)
(74.7% vs 74.4% in 2017) and Bucharest level (75.9% vs

75.3% in 2017). At urban level the weekend performance 33 MIL
(€) 8 MIL
(€) Cars & 4x4 vehicles
dropped by 3 pp, while in Bucharest the decrease was
of 6.5 pp, especially due to the enhanced smartphones 6 MIL
(€) Milk Products
41
audio streaming capability. MIL
Carbonated
40
(€) MIL 5 MIL
(€)
AG Radio Holding maintained the market leadership (€) soft drinks

with the same share of 27% as in 2017. 17 MIL
(€)
Restaurants,
5 MIL
coffee shops,
(€)
Print continued to erode slowly (-5% vs. 2017). The fast foods
dailies readers dropped by almost 8% from one wave to Mobile
another, while weekly publications followed the same
telecommunications Cosmetics, hygienic, Banking &
services hair care & cleaners insurance services
trend (-8%). The readership for monthlies decreased
on average by 5%. The readers’ preferences remained Source: Initiative
stable during the years: women enjoy glossy magazines
with quality specialized editorial content (beauty, In 2018 Zdrovit kept its position as the #1 investor,
fashion, lifestyle and career), followed by weekly despite the lower budget. Still, overall, the Pharma
publications that focus their content mostly on topics category increased vs. 2017, because of higher
like family, healthcare, cooking and parenting. The investment from players like Sanofi or Biofarm and
2018 sport events (Football World Cup) kept the male some health clinics which allocated important budgets
audience constantly interested in dailies and sports for advertising in 2018.
daily newspapers.
In the “Mobile telecommunication services” category
all main players slightly dropped vs. 2017, only Digi
invested more in 2018.
In the “Cosmetics, hygienic, hair care & cleaners” TV: the TV market increase trend will carry on this
category, Reckitt Benckiser, Henkel & Coty are among year. TTV is expected to continue its erodation, along
the players with the highest growth, while Procter & with a lower inventory sold than previous year. Taking
Gamble, Unilever, Beiersdorf and Zdrovit dropped. into account the elections, a small increase in TV
spending in the months of interest is expected. Pro TV
In the “Retailers” category, Carrefour is no longer a continues to be market leader, followed by Antena 1.
challenger for Lidl’s #1 position, instead Kaufland is.
Rewe (Penny Market), Mega Image and Metro invested Online: the local industry will make a big leap in online
more in 2018, while Profi dropped. monitoring, by reporting via SATI (for the premium
websites in Romania) persons instead of users, with the
E-Mag & Flanco, Altex & Media Galaxy dominated by support of CXENSE (used as centralized local DMP).
far the “Electronics & domestic appliances” category, Google will increase solutions for both brand and leads.
with bigger budgets in 2018. Also, for 2019 we are expecting the launch of Shopping
Ads in Romania, which will play an important role
The decreasing trend of the “Banking & insurance” in the e-commerce media approach. Facebook will
category continued to be sustained by lower or continue to have an increased focus on communites
inexistent investment from NBFIs, directly affected groups, with a faster app on Messenger, all while
by new regulations from March 2018. Other banks keeping development in more secure for privacy.
supported big transformations in 2018, e.g. BT took
over Bancpost while Piraeus Bank was sold to First OOH: in 2019, the OOH market is expected to be
Bank, both transactions with high investments, efforts impacted by the implementation norms for the new
and impact of top players ranking in category. OOH Law. Coming as a total surprise, 2019 started
full-throttle, as a real competition among brands, along
Group Dacia Renault, the biggest spender in “Cars & with numerous OOH campaigns and consequently a
4x4 vehicles” invested more in 2018, but Tiriac Group, high occupancy rate during the first quarter. Despite
Porsche and Citroen, other top players, diminished the sold-out situations and an increased usage of special
their budgets. projects, we are expecting a flat evolution of costs.
The “Restaurants, coffee shops, fast foods” category Radio: the main Radio networks will continue to be
kept its position in the top, with bigger budgets from flexible and open to special projects and creative
main players McDonald’s and Pizza Hut + KFC. contests. Integrated campaigns, including Radio and
engaging listeners in social media will continue to be
the main pillar of their long term strategy. PR and
Perspectives for 2019 marketing activities, event and concert partnerships
will further represent the main triggers for attracting
Initiative’s forecast for 2019 is that the media market advertising investments and market share.
will continue its up-trend, and is expected to grow by
7% vs. 2018, reaching €485 Mio by the end of 2019. Print: integrated print – online advertising packages,
exclusive offers and event partnerships will continue to
Television is expected to grow by 5% (from €300 Mio to be used by publishers in their attempt to stop the print
€315 Mio), Online by 16% (from €85 Mio to €99 Mio), media ad revenue decline. Special projects, dedicated
Radio by 10% (from €26 Mio to €28 Mio) and OOH is supplements and spin-offs will be additional tools used
estimated to keep the same level of investment. Print is to improve business results.
the only medium which is expected to decrease by 5%.
TELEVISION Overview
In 2018 Television continued its uptrend, reaching the
level of 300 Mio EUR (+10% vs. 2017).
The number of monitored channels slightly grew

during the last years to 69 in Apr 2019, when some TV
stations such as DigiSport3, DigiSport4, MTV, TVR 3,
NickToons, Magic TV, VH1, Rock TV, Travel Channel
were included in the reporting system, and other
channels such as Da Vinci Learning or TVH exited the
monitoring system.
Analogue cable and Direct to Home transmissions kept

the same level in 2018 vs. 2017, terrestrial reception
type dropped slightly, while Digital cable slightly grew.
Graph 1: Reception type evolution
100%
4% 4% 3% 2% 1% 1%
90% 23% 23% 23% Overall, market ended 2018 in an average loading level
24% 23% 23%
80% of 92% for All Day, 97% for Prime Time, and 90% for
Terrestrial Off Prime Time.
70%
16% 17% 22% 25% 25% 26%
60% Direct To Home (DTH)
Graph 3: 2017 – 2018 Average Inventory sold % Minutes
50%
(07:00-26:00) and Prime Time vs. legal limit (12minutes/hour)
40% Digital cable with receiver
140%
30% 64% 64% 63% 62% 62% 62% Analogue cable 120%
20%
100%
10%
80%
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 AVG all day
60%
Source: Kantar Media Romania AVG PT
Last year the universe for the 18-49 urban buying target 40%
dropped by 5% vs. 2017. The market CPM inflation was 20%

14% and set up the CPM at 3.19 EUR for 18-49 urban
May-17
May-18
Mar-17
Mar-18
Nov-17
Nov-18
Aug-17
Aug-18
Dec-17
Dec-18
Feb-17
Sep-17
Feb-18
Sep-18
Apr-17
Apr-18
Oct-17
Oct-18
Jun-17
Jun-18
Jan-17
Jan-18
Jul-17
Jul-18
(18-49 urban, guest). For Urban and National targets,
the CPM resulted in 1.1 EUR and 0.57 EUR. Q1 2017 Q2 2017 Q3 2017 Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018
Source: Kantar Media & Initiative Estimation

Regarding the sold GRP inventory, the TV market was
stable vs. 2017 both in terms of sold GRPs and sold The total 18-49 Urban GRP30” sold by the TV channels
minutes. in 2018 was 2,235 Mio, of which 32% were sold by CME,
23% by Antena Group, 10% by Dogan Media, 12% by
Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 Thematic Channels and 5% by Digi Group. In terms
All 18-49, urban target soldG RP30" (000) 2,016 2,200 2,225 2,235
of advertising revenues, CME kept leading position
with 43%, followed by Antena Group with 25%, Dogan
Inventory sold % minutes 86% 92% 93% 92% Media with 9%, Thematic Channels with 7% and Digi
Source: Kantar Media Romania, Initiative estimate
Group with 4%.
Graph 2: T2017 – 2018 sold GRP30” (‘000) by month

(all 18-49, urban target)
250
Sold GRP30" all 18 - 49, urban Graph 4: 2017-2018 Sold all 18-49, urban GRP30” vs.
Advertising revenues share, main TV Groups
221
219
217
216
210
208
204
204
197
190
200
182
180
179
176
2017 2018
175
175
173
172
168
165
161
157
156
154
Inner: Share of Sold 18-49 U GRP 30”

150 10% 13%
Outter: Share of ads revenue
3%
4%
100 6% CME
18% 19%
7% 32%
33% Antena Group 43%
4% 46% 5%
50 9%
10% Dogan Media
9% 12%
0 10% Thematics 10%
25% 23%
May-17
May-18
Mar-17
Mar-18
Nov-17
Nov-18
Aug-17
Aug-18
Dec-17
Dec-18
Feb-17
Sep-17
Feb-18
Sep-18
Apr-17
Apr-18
Oct-17
Oct-18
Jun-17
Jun-18
Jan-17
Jan-18
Jul-17
Jul-18
Digi Group
25%
Q1 2017 Q2 2017 Q3 2017 Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Others 25%
Source: Kantar Media Romania & Initiative estimate
Channels Performance and Profile
In 2018 the top 3 TV stations ranking was the same the channel on a strong uptrend. The program had
as in 2017: Pro TV kept leadership (Rtg. 4.2%, Shr. broadcast 2 seasons in 2018 and continues in 2019.
22.6%/ All 18-49 urban) despite the lower performance The main characters’ success from Exatlon’s 1st season
compared to the previous year, followed by Antena 1 was used in the launch of new TV show productions,
(Rtg. 2.7%, Shr. 14.5%) also with lower ratings and such as “Vulturii de noapte” and “Cash Taxi”. It also
Kanal D (Rtg. 1.7%, Shr. 8.8%), growing significantly upgraded the audience of “Wow Biz”.
due to the outstanding performance of the Exatlon
production.
Graph 5: 2017 - 2018 - Mar 2019 Monthly Dynamics
Antena 3 was ranked 4th with Rtg. 0.5%, Shr. 2.9%, – Time Bands Analysis (Rtg%, All 18-49 urban – top
having similar performance to Romania TV (Rtg. channels, 07:00-26:00)
0.5%, Shr. 2.6%). Next in top 10 TV channels, with 7
comparable performance are: Prima TV (Rtg. 0.4%,
6
Shr. 2.3%) and TVR1 (Rtg. 0.4%, Shr. 2.3%), Digi
Pro TV
Sport 1 (Rtg. 0.4%, Shr. 2.0%) and Digi 24 (Rtg. 0.4%, 5
Antena 1
Shr. 1.9%). Antena Stars completed top 10 (Rtg. 0.3%,
4 Kanal D
Shr. 1.4%).
3
In 2018 main channels continued their local productions
2
based programming strategy, given the high preference
for this genre among large audience groups, leading to 1
a high return on investment potential.
0
May-17
May-18
Mar-19
Mar-17
Mar-18
Nov-17
Nov-18
Aug-17
Aug-18
Dec-17
Dec-18
Feb-19
Feb-17
Sep-17
Feb-18
Sep-18
Apr-17
Apr-18
Oct-17
Oct-18
Jun-17
Jun-18
Jan-19
Jan-17
Jan-18
Jul-17
Jul-18
Pro TV continued to be the detached market leader
with established shows, such as “Romanii au talent”,
“Visuri la cheie”, “Ferma Vedetelor”, “Vocea Romaniei”
1.4
& “Vocea Romaniei Junior“, “Jocuri de celebritate”,
“Gospodar fara pereche”, and new productions, which 1.2
included “Ninja Warrior Romania” and “Pe bune?!”. Antena 3
1
Pro TV continued its strategy of investment in local Romania TV
quality fiction productions such as the well-known 0.8 Digi 24
“Las Fierbinti”, “Atletico Textila”, “Ai nostri” and the DigiSport 1
0.6
more recent series “Triplusec” and “Lectii de viata”. Prima TV
0.4
TVR 1
Antena 1 confirmed its challenging position by Antena Stars
0.2
improving the content quality of its talent shows,
continuing to deliver high performance on “Te cunosc 0
May-17
May-18
Mar-17
Mar-18
Mar-19
Nov-17
Nov-18
de undeva”, “iUmor”, “Insula Iubirii”, “Next Star”, “X
Aug-17
Aug-18
Dec-17
Dec-18
Feb-17
Sep-17
Feb-18
Sep-18
Feb-19
Apr-17
Apr-18
Oct-17
Oct-18
Jun-17
Jun-18
Jan-17
Jan-18
Jan-19
Jul-17
Jul-18
Factor”, “Poftiti pe la noi” and “Chefi la cutite”, the
most successful cooking show on the market which
has repeatedly won the Prime Time battle for audience Source: Kantar Media
share. Good ratings were also achieved by the newly

launched local series “Fructul oprit”, “Asia Express” Talent shows and cooking programs are the most
and “The last tribe”. Other new programs were “Guess popular genres among Romanians since 2012:
my age”, “The Wall” and “The four”. “Romanii au talent” remained the most viewed talent
show, followed by “Vocea Romaniei”, both confirming
In terms of programming acquisition, the big surprise Pro TV’s success in local productions. “Chefi la cutite”
of 2018 was delivered by Exatlon on Kanal D, which from Antena 1 continues to be present in top 3 most
achieved exceptionally good performance, placing viewed programs in 2018, while “Exatlon” follows at a
marginal difference in performance.
Graph 6: 2013 – 2018 Talent Shows Performance (Rtg%, Graph 7: 2018 vs. 2017 PRO TV profile 2017 Graph 8: 2018 vs. 2017 Antena 1 profile
All 18-49 urban) (Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index)
2018
2013 - 2018 Talent shows performance (Rtg% all 18 - 49, urban)

Men Men
25.0 Bucharest 250 Women Bucharest 250 Women
21.5
21.3
Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB
20.0 150 150
18.1
Urban 100k - 200k Social grade C Urban 100k - 200k Social grade C
17.4
100 100
16.1
Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
13.7
15.0
13.2
12.8
0 0
10.8
10.7
10.8
10.7
Urban 30k Age 4 - 11 Urban 30k Age 4 - 11
9.2
9.2
10.0
9.1
8.7
8.8
7.9
8.0
7.7
7.7
7.6
7.6
7.4
6.9
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
7.0
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
6.9
6.8
6.8
6.4
6.2
6.1
5.6
5.3
5.3
5.4
5.4
5.1
5.0
4.8
4.8
5.0 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24
3.5
Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
Age 35 - 44 Age 35 - 44
0.0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Source: Kantar Media Source: Kantar Media
Romanii au talent (Pro TV) X-Factor (Ant 1) Vocea Romaniei (Pro TV) Te cunosc de undeva (Ant 1) Next Star (Ant 1) Graph 9: 2018 vs. 2017 Kanal D Graph 10: 2018 vs. 2017 Prima TV profile
I Umor (Ant 1) Poftiti pe la noi (Ant 1) Chefi la cutite (Ant 1) Asia expres (Ant 1) Exatlon (Kanal D) profile (Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index)
Source: Kantar Media

Men Men
Bucharest 250 Women Bucharest 250 Women
Romanian TV market is dominated by generalist TV Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB
channels, which have a large addressability and enforce 150 150
their leading position year by year, leaving a smaller 100 100
share for niche channels. Despite this fact, new niche Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
channels are periodically launched, and they manage 0 0
to gain loyal audiences. In 2018 niche channels such
as Discovery, AMC, Film Café, Comedy Central, AXN, Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
History, Diva, National Geographic Wild, Digi Sport Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24
achieved higher audience (Rtg % all 18-49 U) compared Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
Age 35 - 44 Age 35 - 44
to 2017.
Source: Kantar Media Source: Kantar Media
Graph 11: 2018 vs. 2017 TVR1 profile Graph 12: 2018 vs. 2017 National TV profile
As TV channels tend to change their programming (Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index)
approach in time, the audience profiles tend to shift,
although the changes are not dramatic: 2018 audience
Men Men
profile analysis shows that PRO TV and Prima TV have Bucharest 250 Women Bucharest 250 Women
an audience profile more balanced between genders, Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB
while Antena 1, Kanal D and National TV show a Urban 100k - 200k

150
Social grade C Urban 100k - 200k
150
Social grade C
100 100
significant skew towards female audiences. In terms 50
Urban 30k-100k Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
of demographics, Pro TV capitalized best on urban 35- 0 0
64 years old, while Antena 1 managed to significantly Urban 30k Age 4 - 11 Urban 30k Age 4 - 11
improve its profile on 18-34 years old due to the success
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
of recent local productions. Kanal D general profile was
strongly influenced by Exatlon performance showing an Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24
Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
increased affinity among young viewers (4-17 years old Age 35 - 44 Age 35 - 44
and 25-34 years old), but reflected a drop in preference Source: Kantar Media Source: Kantar Media
from more mature 55-64 years old TV viewers.
TVR1 and National TV continue to reflect high

preference among 65+ years old viewers.
News channels continue to have a balanced gender
viewership, but most of them registered a drop in
preference coming from AB social grades (high social
status) and an increase of affinity for CDE social grades Graph 15: 2018 vs. 2017 Realitatea TV Graph 16: 2018 vs. 2017 Romania TV profile
profile (Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index)
(low and medium social status), the only exception
being Digi 24 with a stable preference among AB social
grades. In terms of demographics, B1 TV, Realitatea TV Men Men
Bucharest 300 Women 300
and Romania TV dropped in preference among urban Urban 200k+ 250 Social grade AB
Bucharest
250
Women
Urban 200k+ Social grade AB
45-54 years old viewers, while Antena 3 demographics 200 200
Urban 100k - 200k Social grade C
were more stable compared to 2017. Digi 24 maintained 150 Urban 100k - 200k 150 Social grade C
100 100
its loyalty among young urban AB social grades Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
viewers and unexpectedly managed to slightly increase 0 0
preference among 55-64 years old and 64+ years old Urban 30k Age 4 - 11 Urban 30k Age 4 - 11
viewers who used to be more loyal to Realitatea TV, Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
Romania TV and Antena 3 in the past years. Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24
Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
Graph 13: 2018 vs. 2017 B1 TV profile (Urban Affinity Index) Age 35 - 44 Age 35 - 44
2017
Men
Bucharest 300 Women 2018
Urban 200k+ 250 Social grade AB
200 Graph 17: 2018 vs. 2017 Digi 24 profile (Urban Affinity Index)
Urban 100k - 200k 150 Social grade C
100
Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
Men
0 Bucharest 300 Women
Urban 30k Age 4 - 11 Urban 200k+ 250 Social grade AB
200
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Urban 100k - 200k 150 Social grade C
100
Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 0
Age 35 - 44
Urban 30k Age 4 - 11
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24
Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
Graph 14: 2018 vs. 2017 Antena 3 profile (Urban Affinity Index) Age 35 - 44
Men
Bucharest 300 Women The women thematic channels had quite a dynamic
Urban 200k+ 250 Social grade AB change in terms of audience profile: Diva consolidated
200
Urban 100k - 200k 150 Social grade C preference among the core women segment of 35-
100 44 years old, while PRO 2 established its profile
Urban 30k-100k Social grade DE
50
0
more into the 55+ years old, with increasing affinity
Urban 30k Age 4 - 11 among 65+ age group, given the programming. TLC
managed to improve preference among ABC social
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
grades and to reflect high viewing affinity among 25-44
Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 women audiences. Antena Stars and Happy Channel
Age 45 - 54
Age 35 - 44
Age 25 - 34
evolution was quite similar, both consolidating viewing
Source: Kantar Media preference among women 55+ years old.
Graph 18: 2018 vs. 2017 Diva profile 2017 Graph 19: 2018 vs. 2017 PRO 2 profile Some of the movies channels like AXN, Pro Cinema and
(Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index) Paramount seemed stable, without significant changes,
2018
while Film Café gained younger audience (35-44 years
old) but lost visibility in medium and large urban.
Men Men
Bucharest 250 Women Bucharest 250 Women
150 150
100 100
50
Graph 24: 2018 vs. 2017 AXN profile 2017 Graph 25: 2018 vs. 2017 Pro Cinema profile
Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k Social grade DE
(Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index)
0 0 2018
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Men Men

Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 250 Bucharest 250 Women
Bucharest Women
Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB
Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 150 150
Age 35 - 44 Age 35 - 44 100
100
Source: Kantar Media Source: Kantar Media Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
0 0
Graph 20: 2018 vs. 2017 Happy Graph 21: 2018 vs. 2017 TLC profile Urban 30k Age 4 - 11 Urban 30k Age 4 - 11
Channel profile (Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index)
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24

Men Men Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
Bucharest 250 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
Women Bucharest 250 Women Age 35 - 44
Age 35 - 44
150 150 Source: Kantar Media Source: Kantar Media
100 100
Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE Graph 26: 2018 vs. 2017 Paramount Graph 27: 2018 vs. 2017 Film Cafe profile
0 0 profile (Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index)
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17

Men Men
Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Bucharest 200 Women Bucharest 250 Women
Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Urban 200k+ Social grade AB Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB
Age 35 - 44 150
Age 35 - 44
Urban 100k - 200k Social grade C 150
Source: Kantar Media Source: Kantar Media 100 Urban 100k - 200k Social grade C
100
Graph 22: 2018 vs. 2017 Antena Stars Graph 23: 2018 vs. 2017 TV Paprika profile 50
Urban 30k-100k Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
profile (Urban Affinity Index) (Urban Affinity Index) 0 0
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17

Men Men
Bucharest 250 Women Bucharest 250 Women Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24
Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB Urban 200k+ 200 Social grade AB Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
150 150 Age 35 - 44 Age 35 - 44
100 100 Source: Kantar Media Source: Kantar Media
Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE Urban 30k-100k 50 Social grade DE
0 0
Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17
Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24

Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34 Age 45 - 54 Age 25 - 34
Age 35 - 44 Age 35 - 44
Perspectives for 2019 Antena 1 counteracts with proven successful formats
providing improved quality content for its talent shows
The TV market increase trend will carry on this year, “iUmor”, “Asia Express” and the most successful
but in a slower pace, around 5% in terms of revenue. cooking show broadcasted in the whole market,
TTV is expected to continue its erosion, along with a “Chefi la cutite”. Antena 1 is also investing a lot in
lower inventory sold compared to the previous year. local production programs, such as “Fructul Oprit”
Taking into account the Elections, a small increase in and, recently launched this Spring, “Liber ca pasarea
TV spending in the months of interest is expected. cerului”.
The beginning of the year revealed a contraction in

terms of TTV ratings, inventory sold levels and a slighty
increase of all market loading, due to niche stations. Top Programs jan - may 2018 Rtg% [Net] 10-49.u.g. Top Programs jan - may 2019
ROMÂNII AU TALENT / PRO TV 14.3 ROMÂNII AU TALENT / PRO TV 15.8
TTV WEEKLY EVOLUTION 2018 - MAY 2019 LAS FIERBINȚI (XIII) / PRO TV 11.6 LAS FIERBINȚI (XV) / PRO TV 11.9
30 ȘTIRILE PRO TV / NEWS PRO TV / PRO TV 9.2 CHEFI LA CUȚITE (VI) / ANTENA 1 11.7
ASIA EXPRESS - DRUMUL

9 VLAD / PRO TV 9.1
DRAGONULUI / ANTENA 1
25
POFTIȚI PE LA NOI: POFTIȚI
ÎN VACANȚĂ / ANTENA 1 8.6 ȘTIRILE PRO TV / NEWS PRO TV / PRO TV 8.9
20 FERMA VEDETELOR / PRO TV 8.3

FERMA, UN NOU ÎNCEPUT / PRO TV 8.6
EXATLON ROMÂNIA / KANAL D 8.3 ASIA EXPRESS - DRUMUL

15 ELEFANTULUI (II) / ANTENA 1 8.4
CHEFI LA CUȚITE (V) / ANTENA 1 7.9

IUMOR (VI) / ANTENA 1 7.4
10 IUMOR (V) / ANTENA 1 7.3
CHEFI LA CUȚITE: FAMILII LA CUȚITE / ANTENA 1 6.7
GOSPODAR FĂRĂ PERECHE / PRO TV 7.3
5 FRUCTUL OPRIT / ANTENA 1 6.5
FRUCTUL OPRIT / ANTENA 1 6.6
TEMPTATION ISLAND - INSULA IUBIRII (V) / ANTENA 1 6.3
0 MĂ ÎNSOARĂ MAMA / PRO TV 6.5
W1
W2
W3
W4
W5
W6
W7
W8
W9
W10
W11
W12
W13
W14
W15
W16
W17
W18
W19
W20
W21
W22
W23
W24
W25
W26
W27
W28
W29
W30
W31
W32
W33
W34
W35
W36
W37
W38
W39
W40
W41
W42
W43
W44
W45
W46
W47
W48
W49
W50
W51
W52
CÂNTĂ CU MINE / PRO TV 6.2
CE SPUN ROMÂNII / PRO TV 5.9
TTV 2018 Whole Day TTV 2019 Whole Day
PE BUNE / PRO TV 5.8
PE BUNE / PRO TV 5.7
CE SPUN ROMÂNII / PRO TV 5.5
ÎN PUII MEU (IV) / ANTENA 1 5.5
In terms of programming, TV market is still dominated GUESS MY AGE - GHICEȘTE VÂRSTA (I) / ANTENA 1 5.2
LIBER CA PASĂREA CERULUI / ANTENA 1 5.3
by the same TV pillars, PRO TV and Antena 1. SCENA MISTERELOR (I)/ ANTENA 1 4.9
BĂIEȚI DE ORAȘ (II) / ANTENA 1 5
In 2019, Pro TV continues its programming strategy OBSERVATOR 19 / ANTENA 1 4.9

OBSERVATOR 19 / ANTENA 1 4.6
with shows such as “Romanii au talent”, “Visuri la STEAUA SUFLETULUI / KANAL D 4.8
EXATLON ROMÂNIA (III) / KANAL D 4.1
cheie”, “Ferma Vedetelor”, “Vocea Romaniei”, “Pe

ROMÂNIA, TE IUBESC / PRO TV 4
bune?!”, but also “Las Fierbinti” and newly launched ROMÂNIA, TE IUBESC / PRO TV 4.8
ones, such as “Vlad” and “Canta acum cu mine” during 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 ACCES DIRECT / ANTENA 1 3.2
Spring. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
For the autumn grid the comeback of Masterchef has

already been announced.
SHOWCASE
A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THE INTEGRATION OF ADS
AND CONTENT STREAMING
People’s new relationship with content
New behaviors building up around content streaming
CONTENT
could have a major impact on the way we connect to
our audiences and the way we do our business. The fact
that people are taking control over video content is no
small thing. And doing this at a direct cost, although
traditional broadcast is ad-supported, is actually a big
STREAMING
shift.
How many industries can witness consumers switching

from a “subsidized” product, with zero upfront cost, to
a paid one? And how many of us would have anticipated
that viewers would pay for one online broadcaster more
than they do for an average cable TV subscription with
dozens of channels? Remember how Telco ARPU in
Romania has been hanging around 6 Euro for a long
time, while competing on integrated services? Well,
adding 10 Euro for a standalone subscription to Netflix
seems to make sense for a lot of people.
Yes, we mean a lot of people. According to the IPG

MediaBrands proprietary survey Wave 9, over 2.6M
people had used Netflix in Romania, in 2018. We
estimate that 14% of the urban daily internet users are
also daily Netflix users (over 600k). We also believe
that extending to weekly usage more than doubles this
figure. And while we can’t be certain about paying
subscribers, this is obviously not a niche. In fact, we
see it as an emerging standard. This is not just about
Netflix and not just about video either. The same study
hints towards 1.7M Spotify users, almost half of whom
are using the service weekly or more often.
Streaming, paid or free, is becoming the default way of

interacting with content. But not with ads. For viewers,
this is a welcome break from the wide exposure to
advertising on commercial TV stations. For brands
and agencies it’s a serious issue, expected to grow
bigger. Could we ever live happily together, consumers,
advertisers and content providers?
Outstanding creativity has always been a solution –
unfortunately, one in short supply. What we are looking
for is an easier-to-replicate answer, one which could be
systematically applied to most businesses.
Embarking on a research trip through the world of

streaming
Simply put, we want to fully understand how the market

for streaming works. Why people use such services and
to what extent they are willing to pay. Which screens
they are using for which content, and which connected
devices work best for juggling with content. How we
can reach them while streaming and how, when they
are doing anything else.
Based on available international research, we expect the

findings to be eye-opening and, in some cases, counter-
intuitive. US studies from Magna, our intelligence
division, have shown that less advertising may be a
perceived benefit of streaming services over linear TV,
but not the most important reason for adopting them.
However, they also confirmed that people are acutely
aware of the much larger exposure to ads on linear TV.
A particularly interesting study from Magna revealed

that the same ads may be more easily received on TV
DIGITAL
than mobile, due to larger screens, which are able to
capture attention without overstimulating. This could
imply a benefit for both advertisers and viewers, when
content is streamed on TV rather than watched on a
phone. The same research showed much more positive
emotions associated to ads during TV streaming, and
a tendency towards boredom on linear TV which –
MEDIA
surprisingly – is higher for older people.
As we were planning our research, a long-anticipated

event finally happened: Youtube Premium is now
available in Romania. One more hint that our streaming
market is maturing and one more confirmation that
exploring this market is the way to go. Fresh insights
will not only enable us to stay connected with our
audiences, but support a media ecosystem where
advertising acts as an enabler, rather than a necessary
evil. And of course, as we always do, we are planning to
share our finding with the whole market. So stand by
for the results!
INTERNATIONAL STATS 100%
Internet Usage by Age Groups
94% 95%
90% 92%
90% 86%
81%
In 2018 online users continued to grow and exceeded 80% 75% 76%
4.1 billion (vs 3.7 billion Internet users in late 2017). 70%
Even if these figures are already very high, there is 60% 54%
still room for growth, at least when we look at Iceland 50% 44%
which has an impressive 100% of its citizens using the 40% 36% 38%
internet. 30%
20%
From ad spend budget perspective, online continues 10%
to overcome TV (first did it in 2017), with 205 vs 192 0%
16-34 35-54 55-74
USD billion global spending estimated, helped by both
2015 2016 2017 2018
high reach and e-commerce development, considering Source: INSSE, all 16-74 national
that for 2019 we expect to have 1.92 billion people who
will purchase online. Mobile already plays a big role in
e-commerce with +50% share of total e-commerce in
2016, 63.5% in 2018 and almost 80% in 2021.
Online Activities
Internet penetration in Romania
90% 79%
Frequent online activities
80% 70% 73% 90%
68% 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
70% 61%
58%
60% 52% 80%
43% 46%
50%
36% 38% 70%
40% 31%
26%
30%
60%
20%
10% 50%
0%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 40%
Source: Eurostat, all 16-74 national
30%
Search for info Email Social networks Read news Watch video Online games Audio stream Join chat/forum
Source: FOCUS CAPI trend analysis, 2012-2018, 14-74 ani, all urban Weighted samples
Analyzing 16-74 years penetration, we can see an 8% overall
growth (from 73% in 2017 to 79% in 2018), coming from
significant growth among the elder segment (55-74 yo) and
slight increases within the other age groups.
Social networking and search remain the backbone of online
activities. In addition to this, a strong majority of internet
users (76%) have an increased appetite for video, which
has become readily available as high-speed data networks
expanded. Audio streaming also increased, and we expect to
see a positive trend during the next years, as more streaming
services become available. Email maintains a slowly
decreasing trend.
Facebook and YouTube dominate this landscape, as notable
Urban vs rural internet non-users (%) Urban vs rural device usage (%)
majorities of users visit these platforms multiple times per
rural urban day (with a reach of 10 mil users for each of them).
50 44.6 100 rural urban
43
40 38.1 86 86 Mobile update
31.8 19.3
30 16.6
50 54.8 14.8
21.2 20.2 42.8
20 17.2 40.1 13.2
12,7 21.8 12
23.3 9.6
10 12.2
7.1
0 0 3.5 4 4.1 4.3 4.6 4.9
2015 2016 2017 2018 Mobile Desktop (PC) Laptop Tablet
2.9 3.1 3.4 3.8
2.5
Source: INSSE, all 16-74 national Source: INSSE, all 16-74 national, used internet during the past 3 months
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Broadband fixed Mobile
Source: Ancom
According to ANCOM, mobile internet traffic in Romania

There is still a big gap between urban and rural digital
increased by 48% in the first half of 2018, compared to the
populations. In 2018, there were 2.5 times more internet
same period of 2017, reaching a monthly average of 2.3 GB
non-users in rural areas than in cities. Rural users spend
per person (total population). This evolution was driven by
slightly less time online, and use fewer devices, with a clear
the expansion of 4G connections, which stood for almost
preference for mobile. While this behavior is probably related
half of all mobile data connections in Romania in the first
to the lack of fixed infrastructure and lower disposable
semester of 2018.
income, it may also be influenced by socio-cultural features
of rural environments, which provide fewer incentives to go
online. ONLINE ADVERTISING PLAYERS
Local Display
Top 15 Romanian monitored websites
Daily usage 0 5,000,000 10,000,000 15,000,000 20,000,000 25,000,000 30,000,000 35,000,000

www.olx.ro
www.stirileprotv.ro
Daily used Social Media and Content platforms (%) www.digi24.ro
www.adevarul.ro
100
81 www.sport.ro
80 71
www.cancan.ro
66
60 www.digisport.ro
35 www.libertatea.ro
40
28 www.evz.ro
15 10 9 9
20 www.stiripesurse.ro
7 6
0 www.gsp.ro
Facebook
YouTube
WhatsApp
Instagram
Google
Netflix
Pinterest
Snapchat
Twitter
Linkedin
Spotify
www.capital.ro
www.antena3.ro
www.fanatik.ro
www.a1.ro
Source: Wave X Survey, all daily internet users 14-54, urban (4.6 Mio people) Visits Visitors
Source: SATI
Media sales Houses portfolio changes ARBOmedia introduced g4media.ro in their portfolio and it
also test a new sales concept of only one ad per page (trying to
Ringier is responsible for the move of 2018 through the position the product as super premium). They also reported
acquisition of GSP.ro – which establishes them as the an increase of video ads with 30% vs 2017.
number one Romanian publisher in terms of traffic. They
have also invested in optimizing programmatic via header The beginning of 2018 marked the entrance of Sony Pictures
bidding setup, the most advanced and efficient solution Television Network on the Romanian digital advertising
at the moment to monetize inventory through different market, as a major shareholder of IMS/Httpool Group,
suppliers. Ringier also chose to close noizz.ro. bringing to Romania one of the biggest digital advertising
groups in the world, with a focus on emerging markets.
Think Digital expanded their network with Biziday (portal
and app), agrointel.ro, super-hrana.ro and supervinuri. Httpool offers different solutions for advertising, mainly
ro, and announced a partnership with Inmobi (in-app on international platforms, such as Spotify, which had an
advertising solutions). impressive growth in recent years, becoming the biggest
music streaming app in Romania. Httpool assets also
DigitalAds added mamici.club, vezicatface.ro and efin.ro to include Brainly.ro (a global platform dedicated to high- and
their portfolio. middle-school students, which counts 3 mil users in RO) and
Linkedin (the biggest professional network in the world and
In April 2018, IBU ProTV launched ProTV Plus, an AVOD Romania, which launched a major update by introducing
service which completes the range of VOD services from Pro native video on the platform).
(together with Voyo – an SVOD solution). Ibu relaunched
perfecte.ro with a new design, sport.ro app, stirileprotv.ro
mobile version and protv.ro. A special test was the launch of FACEBOOK
the first exclusive digital show, „Viata bate blogul” on ProTV
Plus, which is considered a success mainly for the 16-24 y Facebook started 2018 by changing the newsfeed
segment. algorithm in order to prioritize a user friendly
experience placing a stronger emphasis on user content
Digital Antena had a steady portfolio, focusing on a mix of over publisher content.
TV-Online special projects. They also reported an important
increase of video formats generated by market demand, but Due to these changes, the
also by their video channels inventory increase. algorithm started prioritizing
active signals such as comments,
Internet Corp launched a branded content division called shares and reactions instead of
Creative Corp at the beggining of 2018, offering services passive signals. This challenged
from concept and development to promotion and integration the brands to prove their relevancy
of content. They updated their portfolio with breslo.ro and through engaging content by
ziare.com. At the end of 2018, Internet Corp launched adopting a ‘less is more’ approach,
BizTool.ro (free access) as the first marketplace which brings improving the overall quality of
together both Romanian antrepreneurs and freelancers, branded content.
with obvious mutual benefits.
Facebook ended the Partner Categories back in June
ParentingAds continued to develop their portfolio in the 2018, severely limiting audience targeting based on
same direction and launched Parenting Academy – a series third-party data. They also updated the terms for
of offline events with live streaming (both offline and online custom audiences – uploading emails, for example, now
access with paid subscription). requires to be completed manually by the advertiser.
All of these updates, along with new requirements on
audience sharing and Facebook Pixel moving to first-
party cookies in October, were an answer for a more
GOOGLE UPDATES
secure data usage and GDPR compliancy (and not least Google switched from AdWords to Google Ads to align all
for users’ protection). advertising solutions (search, display, video, in-app etc).
One of the main reasons behind this move was to eliminate
In terms of formats, Facebook introduced carousel confusion of some marketers who considered AdWords only
stories on Instagram and Facebook Stories as a as the tool for Search.
placement, later in 2018. They also updated the
canvas format turning it into Instant Experience Ads Similar to Google Ads was the launch of Google Marketing,
(optimized for mobile devices through almost instant which brought together Analytics 360 and DoubleClick,
loading and a media-rich experience). The highlight (thus providing a set of tools that help plan, buy, measure,
of Collection Ads is the Categories for Dynamic Ads, and optimize campaigns). The platform features:
allowing advertisers to show different types of items • integrations with exchanges and measurement solutions
they sell into a single ad unit. managed from a single interface;
• Search Ads 360 to plan, buy, and measure search ads;
Home Instagram launched Payments for Shopping in • Display Ads 360 to manage bids and audiences from a
About mid-2018, enabling brands to sell their products central location.
Videos
directly to low-funnel audiences. Later during
Photos
the year, this type of campaign had Instagram
Support
stories placement introduced.
Posts
Twitter
Instagram
In October, Facebook introduced a feature
One Month Free
allowing users to view all of the active ads on a
YouTube Facebook page.
Events
Groups Facebook also released the Facebook Attribution
Community tool to help advertisers better track engagement
Info and Ads with Facebook ads. The tool uses a data-driven
“people-based” model that can track user’s
interactions with Facebook ads across multiple It looks like Google has made machine learning its top
devices and Facebook-owned channels (Instagram, priority in the latest years, and 2018 is the year in which
Facebook’s Audience Network, and Messenger) as well this feature of Google Advertising hits the headlines of the
as off-Facebook sources. Facebook Pages Stats in Romania industry many times with updates and usage advice.
TOTAL FANS
Top Facebook pages in RO: 1 INNA ROMANIA 11 411 745

Google released Responsive Search Ads
How can you serve highly relevant ads to each search query with little effort?
(Source: socialbakers.com (2019) 2 GIULIANO STROE ROMANIA 3 534 433

(RSA) as the market became more curious
3 ANDRA ROMANIA 3 522 969
Responsive and more demanding, showing a stronger
Search Ads desire to get things done fast. This type of
4 AKCENT ROMANIA 3 500 806
5 ANTONIA ROMANIA 3 321 962

ads combines the creativity of the advertiser
with machine learning in order to help
6 SMILEY ROMANIA 3 229 617
deliver more relevant and valuable ads.
7 ALEXANDRA STAN ROMANIA 3 217 165
Overall this type of ad brought an increase in CTR of 15%.
8 VALENTIN BOSIOC ROMANIA 3 130 091
9 PRO TV ROMANIA 2 814 785 The RSA correspondent, when it comes to display advertising,
10 StirileProTV ROMANIA 2 797 587
are Google Responsive Display Ads (RDA). This type of ads
was constantly improved and updated during 2018, gaining
better customization options for ad design, while trying to
maintain high brand safety and brand book instructions.
Overview of Online Ads split in Romania
RDAs obtained better overall CTR, even 100% higher rate, Romania stands as an exception among CEE countries in
depending on the vertical and the creatives used. terms of ad delivery by device type, with a higher share of
impressions on mobile devices than desktops. Serbia is the
The big news in YouTube advertising was only other country with a similar split.
the release of vertical video ads for TrueView
and Universal App Campaigns (UAC) in Impressions share by country
order to effectively engage mobile users,
100% 4% 4% 4% 2% 2% 3% 3% 4% 3% 2%
providing a seamless experience for viewers. 5% 6% 5% 5%
17%
Also, TrueView for Action proved to be very 80%
42%
32% 37% 39%
25%
31% 31% 41% 39%
47% 45%
efficient for consideration, lead generation 55% 56%
60%
and e-commerce business, obtaining an
average of 3x times higher CTR than the 40% 80% 72%
66% 62% 65%
standard TrueView Ads. 50% 54% 58% 56% 53% 57% 56%
20% 41% 41%
Top Youtube channels in RO 0%

YouTube Channels Stats in Romania
Moldova
Romania
Hungary
Slovenia
Slovakia
Bulgaria
Georgia
Ukraine
Estonia
Croatia
Poland
Turkey
Serbia
Latvia
(Source: socialbakers.com (2019) Subscribers Total uploaded video views
1 Cat Music 5 747 070 5 592 630 847
When it comes to reach and 2 RotonMusicTV 3 523 174 2 572 230 958
PC Phone Tablet
awareness objectives, YouTube 3 INNA 5 306 544 3 032 077 861
Source: Gemius
partnered with Nielsen Catalina 4 Nek Music TV 2 691 563 2 392 260 832
Solutions and many others in avg CTR by country
1.14%
order to offer Brand Lift studies. 5 MediaPro Music 2 985 344 2 257 725 726
1.20%
6 Andra 1 434 027 1 432 679 019
1.00% 0.89%
When it comes to reporting, 7 MaxINFINITE 2 098 262 1 221 391 149 Average ctr 0.83% 0.79%
0.75% 0.73%
Google really spoiled the 8 DubsteoGutter 4 466 916 1 077 848 639 0.56% 0.80% 0.63% 0.59%
0.57% 0.54%
marketers with an integrated 9 Antena 1 1 041 801 932 975 383
0.47%
0.42% 0.60% 0.45% 0.42% 0 .42%
Add-On in Google Sheets, 0.37%
0.30%
10 Throneful 1 137 952 866 137 395 0.40%
used to create lightning fast
automated reports of the Google 0.20%
Ads Campaigns, saving a lot of time and replacing the old 0.00%
Moldova
Romania
Microsoft Excel export era. 2016 2017 2018
Hungary
Slovenia
Slovakia
Bulgaria
Georgia
Ukraine
Estonia
Poland
Turkey
Serbia
Latvia
Czech
Republic
Major updates came to the Source: Gemius
bidding segment of the platform,
Google constantly rolling out
updates on Smart Bidding, such CTR certainly has a decreasing overall trend YOY, and
as Target Impression Share on Romania features one of the lowest CTRs in the region, at
Google Search Ads. 0.42%, only followed by Georgia and Slovenia. This metric
is always influenced by many factors, with relevancy and
viewability (average of 42% for Romania) as main pillars.
Video delivered in Romania higher CTR than Display
(0.73% vs 0.37%), but was present in much fewer campaigns
(4.46% vs 98.90% for display).
Average CTR (RO) Clicks Share (RO) Campaign Share (RO)
0.73%
98.90%
5%
29%
0.37%
66%
4.46%
Display Video PC Phone Tablet Display Video
Source: Gemius
Budget split online ads

Budget split (million Euro)
Display local GAW FB Yahoo Programatic
64.4 73.3 84.8 98.5

41.3 46.2 51.3 57.4
100% 0.4 0.6 1.0 1.6 2.9 4.4 5.3

1.7 1.8 2.0 2.0 1.8
2.3 1.4 1.2 0.7
2.8 3.5 4.7
90% 6.9
10.3
15.5
80% 23.2
70% 15.3
19.1
23.0
27.5
60% 33.0
38.0
50% 43.7
50.3
40%
30%
22.1
22.1
20% 22.2
22.2
21.1
20.6
10% 20.0
19.0
0%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Source: Initiative
2018 maintained a share increase of online advertising

budgets, with an estimated +16% vs 2017. Google and
Facebook consolidated their leadership positions to a
cumulated 69% of the market, while local display decreased
to 20.2 mil eur (-3%). Programmatic (excluding Google
tools) maintained an increase of 50%.
E-commerce market
According to GPeC, online retail in Romania maintained
a significant growth trend, considering that in 2018
online purchases worth more than 3,5 billion € have been
Total volume on Romania retail
registered. This represents a 4,000,000,000
3,500,000,000
30% increase YOY, with a 2,8 3,500,000,000
2,800,000,000
billion € recorded in 2017. 3,000,000,000
2,500,000,000
In 2018, Romanian online 2,000,000,000
shoppers have spent, on 1,500,000,000
average, 10 million € per day 1,000,000,000
(compared to 7,67 million € 500,000,000
in 2017). 0
2017 2018
For the second consecutive year, Romanian e-commerce showed

the largest growth in Europe, with a 30% increase in turnover.
In 2018, Romanian online shoppers have spent, on average, 10
million € per day (compared to 7,67 million € in 2017).
A real total spend would be even bigger, considering the 3,5+
billion € value only includes the e-tail segment (physical
products) and excludes services, air tickets, hotel bookings
event tickets or downloadable content.
PERSPECTIVES 2019
GDPR hasn’t slowed down either users’ time spent on digital, or
advertisers to direct budgets to online, and for 2019 we estimate
an increase of 16% vs 2018, which will bring online ads to 99
mil euro.
The local industry will make a big leap in online monitoring,
by reporting via SATI (for the premium websites in Romania)
persons instead of users, with the support of CXENSE (used as
centralized local DMP).
Google will increase solutions for both brand and lead objectives
- we saw the first version of brand lift studies from Google in
2018 and we are witnesses to Brand Lift 2.0 in 2019, which can
be implemented directly into the Google Ads Interface. Also,
for 2019 Shopping Ads are expected to launch in Romania,
which will play an important role in the e-commerce media
approach.
Facebook increased focus on community groups, with a faster
Messenger app, and will continue to make privacy more safe.
Sky is the limit regarding any innovation/shift if in Q1 of 2020
is expected to launch a cryptocurrency called ‘GlobalCoin’.
We expect the fast growth of e-commerce to continue. GPeC and

ARMO (The Romanian Online Shops Association) estimates
that the Romanian e-commerce market may exceed the 5 billion
€ threshold during the next years.
RADIO
OVERVIEW Marketing campaigns and events implemented by
radio stations, to be noted are:
The Radio market 2018 was very dynamic, as the
market managed to sustain the previous year growing
Kiss FM – “Fii DJ_ul nostru la Untold si Neversea”
trend of 6% in total spend, up to 25.7 Mio Euro.
- Kiss FM, together with Partydul Kiss FM offered to
some amateur DJ’s the chance to perform in the Untold
The Radio stations continued their effort to consolidate
and Neversea festivals openings.
and monetize the audience through attractive
marketing campaigns, concerts and events. As engaging
Magic FM – “Love is in the air” contest implemented
the listeners, especially the young ones, was extremely
during the Valentine’s Day – Dragobete season,
difficult, Radio stations sales strategies have continued
listeners being asked to recognize famous couples
on the path of radio content integration with social
from the universal literature, cinema or real life. The
media.
radio station also continued to be on air in December
with “Santa’s radio”, a collection of the most popular
The Radio market proved to be very dynamic in 2018,
Christmas songs from around the world.
being marked by several changes of which the most
significant we consider to be the following:
Radio ZU – “Forza ZU” – the 2018 edition was held in
Iasi in May, gathering over 30 Romanian artists. The
• Dogan Media overtook Radio Impuls radio network
station also organized “Marea Unire ZU” celebrated
at the end of November, being present in Bucharest,
with several generations of Romanian – old times
Bacau, Bistrita, Cluj, Constanta, Rasnov, Sibiu,
artists performed together with today’s famous singers.
Timisoara and Tulcea.
Europa FM – “100 de momente care au facut Romania
• Lagardere Group sold Europa FM and Virgin Radio
moderna” was a whole year celebration campaign
stations to Czech Media Invest in June.
starting on the 24th January (small union) and ended
on 1st of December with the celebration of the Great
• RCS expands its stations portfolio by launching Union centenary.
Chill FM on Music FM Bucharest frequency.
Digi FM – “Ca Sa Stii” was a strong image campaign
• In 2018 Radio Guerrilla coverage was extended in launched in the autumn of 2018 aimed to bring the
11 new cities, reaching in total 19 cities. radio listeners closer to the most inspired combination
of news and music broadcasted exclusively on Digi FM.
• Pro FM national network breaks in 31 local licenses. Well-known Romanian stars answered to the question
“De ce este important in viata sa stii?”.
• Radio Boom was launched, a regional network
covering Buzau, Vaslui, Vrancea, Neamt. Pro FM – Ziua Pro FM 25 ani – on 13th April Pro Fm
DJ’s handed the buttons for one day to the famous
• Radio Romania Cultural launched a project guests they had in the studio: Smiley and Feli, Andra
“Caravana Unirii”, dedicated to the centenary of the and Maruta, Dorian Popa and Alina Eremia, Micutzu
great union. and Bordea.
Daily Reach (%) Evolution
MARKET ANALYSIS
80
AG Radio Holding maintained the market leadership
75.3 75.9
with the same share of 27% as in 2017. Europe 75 74.4 74.7
Development International comes second with 24% 71.3
(1% decrease vs 2017). Grupul Media Camina comes 70
3rd with a stable gross revenue size of 23%. RCS&RDS 67.8
preserved the fourth position with a 1% increase 2017
64.7 64.8
65 2018
compared to the previous year. The public radio,
Societatea Romana de Radiodifuziune was stable on
60
the 5th place with 7% market share with a 1% drop
compared to the previous year. Radio Guerrilla ranked
6th was also stable with 5% share. 55
Monday-Friday Saturday-Sunday Monday-Friday Saturday-Sunday
Urban Bucharest
Source: ARA-MasoR
Share of Rate card Revenues by Media Group
5% A.G. RADIO HOLDING = Kiss FM,

In 2018 the “at home” Radio listening is the most
7% Magic FM, Rock FM common habit among urban Romanians, although it
27% EUROPE DEVELOPMENT
reflects a decreasing trend, while “in the car” Radio
INTERNATIONAL = Europa FM,Virgin Radio consumption grew by 2pp compared to 2017, being
13% supported by a more and more hectic urban car traffic.
GRUPUL MEDIA CAMINA = Radio ZU
RCS AND RDS = Pro FM, Digi FM Place of listening - Daily Reach (%) Evolution - Urban 11+
SOCIETATEA ROMANA DE
Monday to Friday
RADIODIFUZIUNE = Radio Romania Actualitati 45.7
23% 44.9 44.5 41.7
24% 42.9
38.8 39.2 41.2
GUERRILLARADIO = radio Guerilla 37 36.6
Source: Media Monitor BRAT (Rate card revenues)
19
16.5 17.2 16.9 17.6
11.8 11.8
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS 8.8 8.3
10.6
Radio audience proves to be quite stable year over year, 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
as people tend to show a strong loyalty to their Radio At home In a car At work Other place
consumption routine. Source: ARA-MasoR
In 2018 radio daily reach was stable both at urban In general, most of the urban population spends less
(74.7% vs 74.4% in 2017) and Bucharest level (75.9% vs than one hour listening to the Radio, the youngest
75.3% in 2017). At urban level the weekend performance age group (14-17 years old) being in the spotlight.
dropped by 3 pp, while in Bucharest the decrease was Medium to heavy consumption is growing starting
of 6.5 pp, especially due to the enhanced smartphones 25 years old and remains stable after 35+ years old,
audio streaming capability. making this medium suitable for immediate impact
communications messages.
Mapping the Radio stations by male audiences’
preference and defining age and education as analysis
criteria, one can notice that young educated men have
Listening preferences by age groups a higher preference for stations such as Vibe FM, Rock
Heavy (>3h/day) Medium (1-3 h/day) Light (< 1h/day or not at all) FM, Guerrilla, Digi FM and Virgin Radio, while Kiss
100 FM, Zu, Magic FM, Europa FM and National FM play
90
80
more in the mainstream cluster. The public station
70 Radio Romania Actualitati is preferred mostly by older
60 men with elementary to medium education level.
50
40
>University
30
20 Radio Vibe Fm Rock Fm
Radio Guerrilla
10 Romantic Radio Romania Bucuresti Fm
0 Digi Fm Virgin Radio Romania
14-17 y.o. 18-24 y.o. 25-34 y.o. 35-44 y.o. 45-54 y.o. 55-74 y.o.
EDUCATION
Source: SNA FOCUS CAPI FEB17-OCT18, 14-74 ani, All urban, Weighted sample Magic Fm Zu National Fm
Gold Fm
Mapping the urban Radio audience in terms of age Kiss Fm
Europa Fm
Elementary <
and gender, we can see on the extremes the Radio Pro Fm
Romania Actualitati
stations with significant skew towards mature women
audiences, such as Romantic FM and stations with a
high preference among young men, such as Digi FM.
14 Y.O.< AGE >74 Y.O.
Rock FM, Radio Guerilla and Pro FM reflect a more Source: SNA FOCUS CAPI FEB17-OCT18, 14-74 ani, Men urban, Weighted sample
masculine audience profile, while Magic FM and Radio
ZU are preferred more by women. Kiss FM and Europa Mapping the Radio stations by female audiences
FM seem to have a more balanced audience profile preference and defining age and education as analysis
by gender. In terms of age, the listeners of Romania criteria, one can notice that young women with medium
Actualitati are more mature (44+ years old) and with a to high education listen more Magic FM, Zu, Kiss FM,
slight male skew. Virgin radio and Digi FM, while more mature educated
women preference is more towards Vibe FM and Radio
Romantic. Low to medium educated women 35+ are
more inclined to listen to Radio Romania Actualitati,
>74 Y.O.
National FM and Gold FM.
>University
Romania Actualitati Radio Romania Bucuresti Fm
Gold Fm Rock Fm Radio Vibe Fm Romantic
Radio Guerrilla
National Fm Virgin Radio Romania
Pro Fm Magic Fm
AGE
Romantic
EDUCATION
Radio Guerrilla Europa Fm Radio Vibe Fm
Rock Fm Zu Digi Fm
Digi Fm Magic Fm Kiss Fm Pro Fm Gold Fm
Zu
Kiss Fm Virgin Radio Romania Europa Fm
National Fm
Elementary <
14 Y.O.<
Romania Actualitati
Men< GENDER >Women Radio Romania Bucuresti Fm
Source: SNA FOCUS CAPI FEB17-OCT18, 14-74 ani, All urban, Weighted sample
14 Y.O.< AGE >74 Y.O.
Source: SNA FOCUS CAPI FEB17-OCT18, 14-74 ani, Women urban, Weighted sample
The audience performance analysis confirms Radio
ZU as leading Radio station in Bucharest with a
LOCAL RADIO
slight decrease in daily reach (14.4% vs. 15.1% in The local Radio stations continue to represent an
2017), followed by the public station Radio Romania important communication vehicle for brands in need
Actualitati (1pp drop vs. 2017) and Kiss FM with a of local communication flexibility. In 2018 the local
stable performance. The second tier of stations consists Radios were centered on attracting advertising budgets
of Europa FM ranked 4th with a marginal decrease through special projects, contests and live actions at the
(7.8% vs 8.3% in 2017) and Magic FM on 5thplace with same time with extending their portfolios by opening
a 0.2pp decrease compared to 2017. Last places are for new radio frequencies, extending their networks,
Pro FM with 0.1 pp decrease vs 2017 and Rock FM improving radio signal quality and launching new
growing by 0.7 pp vs. 2017. broadcasts.
ARBOmedia remains the leading sales-house for Radio

Top 10 Stations Urban vs. Bucharest through its partnership with more than 80 local stations
across 36 of the Romanian counties.
15
14.4
12.6 PERSPECTIVES FOR 2019
11.1
10.5 10.4 The main Radio networks will continue to be flexible
Daily Reach %
9.8
and open to special projects and creative contests.
7.8 7.7
6.4
5.8
5.1
5.8 Integrated campaigns including Radio and engaging
4.7 4.3 4.6
3.4 listeners in social media will continue to be the main
2.7 pillar of their long term strategy. PR and marketing
2.1 1.6
activities, events and concerts partnerships will further
Kiss FM ZU Actualitati Europa FM ProFM Magic FM Digi FM Virgin Radio Rock FM Ant. Satelor
represent the main triggers for attracting advertising
Urban 11+ y.o. Bucharest 11+ y.o.
investments and market share.
Source: ARA-MasoR
2019 is expected to show a higher increase than the
previous years (+10% vs 2018).
At urban level, Kiss FM consolidated leadership at
15% daily reach, followed by Radio ZU with 12.6% and
Radio Romania Actualitati with 10.4% daily reach,
despite a slight audience loss. Europa FM (9.8%) was
stable on 4th place in 2018, being followed by Pro FM
(5.8% as well 2017). Digi FM managed to improve
performance by 0.5 pp at an average daily reach of
4.7%.
PRINT
OVERVIEW MARKET ANALYSIS
In 2018, the estimated Print advertising revenue was of
12.7 million Euro. The difficulties that occurred during The readership decline was steeper from one measurement
the recession continued to influence the print press wave to another in 2018 compared to previous years. The
market, which continued its decline in 2018. Print editorial dailies readers dropped by almost 8% from one wave to
content continued to shift to digital platforms due to another, while weekly publications followed the same trend
media consumption trends, contributing to the slight but (-8%). The readership for monthlies decreased on average
continuous downtrend of print press readers. by 5%.
The readers’ preferences remained stable during the years:

women enjoy glossy magazines with quality specialized
The most important events in the Print market in 2018 were: editorial content (beauty, fashion, lifestyle and career),
followed by weekly publications that focus their content
August: Gazeta Sporturilor acquisition by Ringier Romania, mostly on topics like family, healthcare, cooking and
previously in Intact Group portfolio. parenting. The 2018 sport events (Football World Cup) kept
the male audience constantly interested in dailies and sport
daily newspapers.
August: “Viva” lifestyle magazine controversial first cover
release and interview with pregnant Elena Udrea generated
many negative reactions in the print market and in social Gender Preferances in Print Titles
media.
127 129
October: First monthly issue of Capital after circulatin for
years as a weekly economic title. 100 100
November: Burda cancelled Men’s Health magazine license. 71 73

Men
Women
December: Last Glamour issue from Ringier, starting in
2019 the magazine re-launched as a quarterly title with new
editorial structure and from a new publisher.
0
Monthlies Weeklies Dailies
Source: SNA CAPI FEB17-OCT18, All 14-74 ani, Urban Weighted sample
To preserve advertising revenues, print publishers have
permanently adapted their sales strategies with package
offers for all the titles their portfolio or integrated print-
digital exposure on their properties. The focus becomes Looking at the daily newspapers readers profile from a
higher on digital exposure and video content on their sites, demographic perspective, we learn that Libertatea has a
tailor-made supplements and exclusive deals. balanced men-women profile, while mostly women prefer
Click. Quality newspapers Evenimentul Zilei and Jurnalul
profiles are very similar, with a predominant male 34-50 y.o.
readers base. Compared to previous year, women 40-50 y.o.
are more inclined to read Adevarul. Read mostly by men,
surprisingly Ziarul Financiar reflects the adult profile (25-
35 y.o.)
->74
Women glossy magazines still represent the largest print

category on the market given the significant interest urban
Click
women have in beauty, fashion and lifestyle content. Elle,
Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Unica are titles with young
highly educated readers (25-35 y.o) interested in fashion
and design trends, while Psychologies is the glossy with the
AGE Y.O.
Libertatea
Jurnalul most educated young readers (25-35 y.o.) who are highly
Adevarul
interested in personal development topics. Avantaje plays in
Ziarul Financiar
the medium to high education cluster of readers but covers
Evenimentul Zilei
a more mature audience (44+ y.o) offering real life stories
and factual topics. Femeia and Viva preferred mostly by
more mature medium to high education readers 44+ y.o.,
14 Y.O.<-
while Ioana covers very well a wide low to medium educated

Men<- GENDER ->Women
public (35-40 y.o) with practical advice from a wide range of
Source: SNA CAPI FEB17-OCT18, All 14-74 ani, Urban Weighted sample
domains.
In general, Dailies are a category mostly preferred by men.
-> University
Looking at the readers profile from an education perspective,
we learn that Gazeta Sporturilor and Evenimentul zilei Psychologies
have a low to medium audience profile of mostly 30–45 y.o.

Libertatea and Click readers share the same education level, Cosmopolitan
Elle
EDUCATION
but are more appealing to 54+ y.o. audiences, while Ziarul Glamour Avantaje
Financiar covers a highly educated young public. Unica
Preferred mostly by medium to highly educated readers, Viva

Adevarul and Jurnalul reflect a significant coverage of male
audience, with Adevarul appealing more to below 44 y.o
Elementary <-
Femeia
readers, while Jurnalul more to 44+ y.o. Ioana
14 Y.O. <- AGE -> 74 Y.O.

->University
Ziarul Financiar Source: SNA CAPI FEB17-OCT18, Women 14-74 ani, Urban Weighted sample
Adevarul In terms of rate card advertising revenues Ringier

consolidates its first position with 6% increase compared to
EDUCATION
Jurnalul
2017, driven by a large portfolio of titles including glossy
magazines which are market leaders in their segments and
Evenimentul Zilei newly acquired sports daily Gazeta Sporturilor. Adevarul
Gazeta Sporturilor
Libertatea Holding comes second with a 5% growth compared to 2017
Click due to the package sales policy and tailor-made supplements.
Elementary <-
Burda and Mediafax are both on the third place reflecting

the same market share (11%). If Mediafax was stable, Burda
decreased by 1% vs 2017 due to its spin-offs and special
14 Y.O.<- AGE ->74 Y.O. supplements. The fourth position in top goes to Antena 3
Source: SNA CAPI FEB17-OCT18, Men 14-74 ani, Urban Weighted sample
(5% market share).
Share of Rate card Revenues by Media Group (excl.barters)
11%
RINGIER ROMANIA
2%
2% 26% ADEVARUL HOLDING
3% BURDA ROMANIA
3% MEDIAFAX GROUP
5% ANTENA 3
BP PUBLISHING MEDIA (FORBES)
EDITURA EVENIMENTUL SI CAPITAL
11% THETA PROFICIENCY
MEDIA MEN COMMUNICATION
25% OTHERS
11%
Source: MediaMONITOR BRAT
REGIONAL PRESS
The regional press followed in 2018 the national press
downtrend, with more closed titles.
Despite the general negative trend, some local publications

maintained high circulation levels such as Jurnal Aradean,
Bihari Naplo, Jurnal Bihorean, Crisana, Bihoreanul and
Sibiu 100%.
Similarly to 2017, for the most important local publications,

Arbomedia sales house managed the advertising space.
PERSPECTIVES FOR 2019

Integrated print – online advertising packages, exclusive
offers and events partnerships will be in 2019 the main
instruments used by the publishers to stop the print media
ad revenue decline.
Special projects, dedicated supplements and spin-offs will

be additional tools used to improve business results.
As publishers will continue to develop online and video

content and will strengthen their social media presence,
print press will get a much smaller share in their advertising
revenues, as business and consumers media habits will move
forward.
In 2019 a further drop of 5% is expected from the print

market.
OOH
Overview Everything previously mentioned is going to be
complementary to the current OOH Monitoring
Continuing a trend started in 2017, the last year System.
maintained the 5% increase of the OOH market, with
an estimated net investment of 31Mio. Euro.
Outdoor ads
In 2018, the OOH Company of the City Hall approved
the Implementation Norms necessary for OOH law There was no major auction, which allowed the OOH
enforcement in Bucharest. To this point, there is nothing players to consolidate their existing positions in the
that could prevent the full and thorough legislative market, and focus on services and sale policies.
enactment. Just as a reminder, the OOH Law draws
a new background for the industry, setting new rules, As a result of their 2017 success in winning the Metrorex
limiting and imposing strict standards. Among those held auction, Euromedia and Business Commitment
are also the off-limits areas where outdoor advertising continue to operate the train subway fleet. The Q1
is possible only on specific supports or it is completely stock is already sold out.
forbidden, such as in historic sites. Meshes cannot
be decorated over buildings with glass walls unless it Although Euromedia succeeded in negotiating
implies a clear construction or a renovation site. competitive sale packages, in Bucharest, the Transit
media contracts can still be signed directly with STB,
Last but not least, the OOH Law requires that panels the public transport company.
could be installed in public places only after a public
auction was conducted, which puts almost every The 2018 estimated market shares for the main vendors
existing OOH advertising structure currently situated are: Euromedia & Affichage Romania (45%), Getica
in Bucharest public areas outside the new legislation. (10%) with a significant fragmentation (45%) within
smaller providers.
Apart from all the legislative measures, the OOH
market continued its growth presenting the first year Share of Market - Vendors
of inflation, since the 2008 crisis. In Bucharest, some
of the costs increased up to 10%, but there was a more
dynamic pricing evolution in cities such as Cluj, Euromedia & Affichage
Timisoara and Constanta where costs went up to 40%. 29% Getica
As for the last year, this trend was driven by significant 45%
New Age
and constant investments coming from categories like
Universal
Retailers, Banks (which are making a comeback) and 4%
FMCG which continued to allocate significant budgets 6% Way
to OOH advertising, permanently expanding and 6% 10%

Others
improving the visibility of their networks.
After launching the Frequency Study on Outdoor The OOH players continued to build-up their Bucharest
advertising in Q1 2017 BRAT, they continued the process and national networks, the most dynamic ones being
of researching travelling habits of the population from Euromedia, New Age and Way Media.
11 cities. Up to present, 10,000 interviews have been
completed. Cuende Infometrics is going to perform In terms of format types, the networks development
the data modeling, and Quantum will be the software was concentrated mostly on backlight, the dominant
platform to operate the entire study. format in the local outdoor industry, with an estimated
45% of the locations, followed by billboards with 19%
and city lights / buss-shelters with 14%. The rest of 22% In 2018, Media Advertising and Vision Media Plus
mostly consist of roll-overs, meshes, prisms, unipoles, continued to operate in the Digital outdoor segment
flags and special projects. with their existing support networks.
Share of Market - Formats Digital Indoor refers to plasma displays distributed
city light / bus across networks in crowded places. Blitz TV maintained
billboard shelter
19% 14%
its contract with Metrorex for the subway LCD network.
roll-over
mesh
Other format
22%
prism
unipole
flag
Perspectives for 2019
special project
22% Coming as a total surprise, 2019 started full-throttle,
as a real competition between brands, along with
backlight
45% numerous OOH campaigns and consequently a high
occupancy rate during the first quarter. In the months
to come we are expecting sold-out situations and an
Indoor ads increased usage of special projects, as an alternative to
the lack of standard locations availability.
Brand Management remains the main player in the
indoor and in-store categories. There were no significant A first move in applying the OOH Law in Bucharest
changes within the indoor campaigns investors came from the 6st District which started a massive
ranking, the highest budgets continued to come from restoring of the Iuliu Maniu Blvd and knocked
Banking, followed closely by FMCG, Automotive, down the entire existing OOH structures. Once the
Entertainment, Airlines and Fashion industries. reconstruction process of the boulevard is completed,
the City Hall will organize a public bidding for a
Indoor ads in office buildings represent the only restricted number of outdoor panels. We’ll see if their
segment that managed to increase revenues, mainly example will turn into a pattern. As for this moment,
through innovative special projects. The segment’s there are no other similar projects announced.
main shares are claimed by Elevate and Invent Media.
The largest budgets were allocated by Banking, FMCG, Cluj has always led the way in restructuring the local
Automotive, Airlines and Pharma. OOH scenery. 2019 is no exception, as local authorities
have already organized a public auction for 25 backlits
Info Sanatate is the only niche player which has the placed on the public domain. The auction was attended
Digital Signage TV Analytics, the first Frequency study by local and national suppliers. 15 locations were won
for indoor advertising implemented in our country by Getica and 10 by a local company – Amprenta
– the study was conducted by GBD Research and is Advertising. We are expecting significant cost increases,
endorsed by organizations such as ARMA & ARIA. especially regarding these sites.
Indoor is expected to maintain a steady evolution,

Digital Outdoor preserving the current status.
Phoenix Media remains the market leader, being the
only Romanian DOOH supplier able to deliver audience As the new regulations from the OOH Law are slowly
related data, handling an integrated service platform and incrementally implemented, the 2019 outdoor
that allows its clients to manage their campaigns in market is constantly increasing but despite the sold-out
real time conducting Real Time Biddings. situations and an increased usage of special projects,
we are expecting a flat evolution of budgets for 2019.
MEDIA
TV MEASUREMENT
Audience measurement for TV is available on the
market on a daily basis since August 2001, with
restricted access to detailed audience data only through
RESEARCH
ARMA membership – the organization that represents
the beneficiaries’ interest in relationship with the
research data provider.
Kantar represents the audience data provider for the

TV Audience Measurement (TAM) survey as of January
2012 and continues the contract in 2020-2023.
The TAM system is a quantitative research, which

Overview measures TV usage among Romanian population –
minute by minute viewing is reported, 24/7, using tele-
In Romania the media associations established
control people-meters. The universe covers all private
standards for all audience measurement and monitoring
households with a functional TV set in Romania and
services, therefore the research market is syndicated
all individuals aged 4+ from those households. People
and only a few research companies are acknowledged
who have spent during last year more than 3 consecutive
as data providers.
months outside the country are classified as ‘migrants’
and are not included in the survey universe.
ARMA (Romanian Association for Audience
Measurement) will continue the collaboration with
The panel is representative at National level and it
Kantar in 2020-2023, after a tender that took place
captures viewing habits of all Romanians, regardless of
in 2018. The number of monitored and reported
their geographical or demographic data. Until January
households will be increased starting with January 1st
1st 2020, when the panel size will be increased, the
2020 to 1430 (gross panel) and 1300 (net panel).
gross installed panel is 1,320 households, while the
reporting panel is of minimum 1,200 households/day.
ARMA also continued to supervise the research for
technical specifications project expected to provide
Guests viewing in a panel member’s home is measured
robust measurement of second screen video content and
as a surrogate for the viewing by panel members who
further, the integration of this data into the existing TV
take place in other households and the exact age and
measurement system (Extended TV Measurement).
gender of guest viewers are registered.
Consolidated viewing is also available as a metric

and is defined as live viewing plus any time-shift
viewing taking place within seven days of the original
transmission.
ARMA constantly faces the challenge of a fast-growing

TV market, from 30 monitored TV
Channels in 2007 to 60 channels in 2014. At the

beginning of April 2019, the number of monitored
channels is 69.
Although monitoring data is available for a relatively Traffic measurement
wide range of channels only the ARMA members Traffic data is delivered by SATI since October 2007.
have access to detailed TV spots by spot performance
data along with adjusting factors for spots with length Results are delivered through 3 main “access gates”: the
different from 30”. Cxense Insight online application (each publisher can
see its own results), the SATI web application (all SATI
Instar Analytics – an updated version of InfoSys+ members share the results for all measured websites)
launched in 2018 for Romanian market is the analysis and the BRAT website:
software for TV audience and monitoring data. This
software is widely used by both broadcasters and Cxsense Insight app offers real time detailed reports:
agencies in over 35 countries. all types of traffic metrics on URL or site level, source
of traffic information, content analysis for all website
pages, video/audio streaming results and daily-updated
NON-TV DATA MEASUREMENT socio-demographic user profiles.
BRAT is a nonprofit, independent, tripartite SATI web application (www.sati.ro) offers 3 main types
organization for the media and advertising industry, of reports:
whose members are media owners (publishers), media
agencies and advertisers. • traffic results on URL and site level split on device
& geolocation (updated every 2 hours)
BRAT is the JIC (Joint Industry Committee) • traffic results for top 20 articles on each SATI
conducting in Romania online, out of home and print website (updated every 2 hours)
media measurement. • detailed traffic results for every website based on
geolocation (updated daily)
BRAT is member of relevant international media and • aggregated results regarding the “quality of traffic”
advertising organizations such as: for all websites in a category (updated weekly)
IFABC (www.ifabc.org), EMRO (www.emro.org), I-JIC
(www.i-jic.org). On the BRAT website (www.brat.ro), the 3 main traffic
metrics for each website (views, sessions and unique
clients) split on geolocation and device type.
ONLINE
BRAT provides the only results recognized by the Audience and profiles measurement
industry regarding the traffic and audience results Audience and profile data is delivered by SATI since
for the online properties, through the SATI study. June 2008:
The hybrid method used for traffic measurement, • The number of visitors per month per each website
websites audience and visitors profile is compliant with is delivered by SATI for population aged 16-74 years
IFABC guidelines regarding traffic measurement also old, living in Romania.
following the most recent and advanced methods for • Websites’ user profiles are provided since 2017
online measurement. (following some basic criteria) on daily basis
and delivered on the Cxense Insight application
SATI currently measures more than 200 websites, (members only access) and on www.sati.ro
including video/audio streaming and mobile apps application.
measurement. Starting with 2017, SATI publishes real
time results, both for traffic and users profile (gender, Since March 2016, for the first time in Romania, both
age, income, social grade etc.). the audience data and the basic demographics for
measured websites are publicly available on BRAT
website, while more details can be found on SATI web Currently, the survey tracks its members’ campaigns
application (members only access). on more than 2,800 Romanian websites, belonging to
BRAT members and also to non-members. The results
SATI DMP (Data Management Platform) are published on a daily basis containing information
Starting with October 2017, part of the publishers and about all the online campaigns launched in the previous
media agencies decided to build their own DMP, on day and once per week (Tuesday) with a complete
top of SATI results by sharing collected data within overview of the previous week (volumes, rate card price
the SATI project for all their users. Being a syndicated volumes, client/category names etc.).
project, this is the biggest DMP available on the
market, with results of the first party collected directly
from the participating websites. PRINT
The users profiles are estimated using advanced BRAT provides complete results for the print industry:
methodology and techniques based on SATI online readership and readers profile, circulation audit and
survey results (approx. 10.000 questionnaires per advertising expenditures. BRAT is the only provider of
month) and the users’ behavior, including content data used and recognized by the local industry.
consumption on all the participating websites (over 100
websites). The current monthly data volumes exceed Circulation Audit
1.3 billion page views within SATI DMP, more websites BRAT audits more than 110 publications, both national
being currently in the integration process. and local.
The SATI DMP project application makes available BRAT provides circulation data for all print and
usual functionalities, such as: electronic publications through the circulation audit
certificates which are done yearly by an external auditor
• Creation and evaluation of audience segments selected by BRAT via a tender (every 2 years). The
(demographics profiles, buying intent, visitor current auditor is PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and
interests based segments etc.); it conducts circulation audits according to international
• Audience segments analysis: volume and users’ rules of financial audit and to the requirements
behavior, both on site or URL level and easy established by BRAT for the print distribution.
comparison of two or more segments;
• Using audience segments for campaign targeting. The publication’s digital versions are audited and
reported in the same audit certificate with the print
The data management permits both a general usage of version.
shared information on a user level (sociodemographic
profile and content consumption behavior) and the Starting with 2009, the circulation audit includes a
private usage of the information a publisher may have physical print verification of the print run. The audit
and include it on DMP for its own users. The private result is public on the BRAT website, including audit
and general information then can be used by the entity result, publishers’ quarterly declaration and fieldwork
who owns the private data right for a better usage of control.
campaigns targeting or to capture more insights from
their own users. Readership and readers profiles (SNA)
Readership measurement is offered through the
Ad Monitoring for Online Advertising (MIPO) SNA FOCUS survey, which also offers a wide range
Advertising expenditure data for online campaigns of demographic information and data about the
is delivered by BRAT since August 2011, through the consumption of goods and services.
MIP Online project.
The main metric offered by SNA FOCUS is the AIR
(Average Issue Readership), which measures the The software for data analysis is QUANTUM, which
number of people reading an average issue of a given offers possibilities for target definition, panels’
title, using the well-known and accepted ‘recent visualization and configuration on the map, definition
reading method’. of panel packages and media planning.
The survey includes over 60 publications. The annual First audience results for OOH are expected to be
sample size of 16,400 interviews is representative for published in the second semester of 2019.
the national universe of persons aged 14-74 years old
(about 15.5 million people). Ad Monitoring for OOH Advertising (MIP OOH)
Advertising expenditure results for out of home
The software for data analysis is SESAME, which offers campaigns is delivered by BRAT since May 2012,
possibilities of target definition, crosstab generation, through the MIP OOH project. Currently, the reporting
cluster analysis, duplication analysis, media ranking process includes more than 15,000 panels in Romania
and media planning. from 13 Outdoor companies.
Ad Monitoring for Print Media (MIP PS) The results are published once per week (Monday) with
Advertising expenditure results for print campaigns a complete overview of the previous week, including
is delivered by BRAT since January 2011, through the volumes, rate card prices, client/category names etc.
MIP Presa Scrisa project. Currently, the monitoring
includes more than 190 local publications.
RADIO
The results are published daily with available information
about all the campaigns launched within the current day Ad Monitoring for Radio (MIP Radio)
and once per week (Thursday) a complete overview of Advertising expenditure monitoring for radio
the previous week, including volumes data, rate card campaigns is delivered by BRAT since July 2011,
prices, client/category names etc. through the MIP Radio project. Currently, the reporting
process includes 12 main national radio networks.
OUT-OF-HOME The results are released daily, containing information

for all the campaigns launched in the previous day, and
BRAT started in 2017 the SAO research project, as once per week (Tuesday) with a complete overview of
an answer to the industry’s need for an audience the previous week, including volumes, rate card prices,
measurement system for OOH advertising in Romania. client/category names etc.
Audience and “passing by persons” profiles (SAO) MEDIA MONITOR: The results of the 4 monitoring
Audience measurement is offered through the SAO projects (print, online, radio and OOH) are integrated
survey, which provides besides audience measurement, in the same on-line application and all of them share
a wide range of demographic data and information the same definitions, rules and classification of goods,
regarding the population travel habits. The study services, clients and brands.
includes 3 main parts: travel survey, panel inventory
and VAC calculus, evaluating the number of people STRATEGY AND MULTIMEDIA ANALYSIS
passing by the visible area of a panel and creating the FOCUS is the BRAT survey that measures general
media planning database. The annual sample size of multimedia usage, consumption of goods and services,
15,000 interviews is representative for the biggest 11 lifestyle and behavioral characteristics from the same
Romanian cities and the 14-74 years old population – people.
about 3.5 million people.
It provides a complete view of consumer behavior and The audience data is reported for 21 radio stations with
characteristics, covering about 350 product categories national coverage and separately for 21 radio stations
and 3,500 brands usage, media consumption, attitudes, from Bucharest.
leisure activities and demographics.
In 2018 the number of interviews conducted in the
The annual sample size of 14.000 interviews is rural area using CATI methodology and the number
representative for the urban universe aged 14-74 years of interviews conducted using mobile phone numbers
old – about 8.7 million people. increased as follows:
The software for data analysis is SESAME, which offers • 65% of the total rural interviews are made using
possibilities of target definition, crosstab generation, CATI technology, up to 15 percent from the previous
cluster analysis, duplication analysis, media ranking year;
and media planning. • 75% of the total number of interviews are made
using mobile telephony (Bucharest, urban and
In 2019 the measurement of products and services will rural), up to 5% from the previous year.
be extended in rural area, therefore the survey universe
will be enlarged from 8.7 million to 15.6 million people The data analysis software (MasoR) was significantly
– first results are expected in the second semester of changed in 2016, being notably improved of MasoR
2019. offers now advanced compute modules, new graphic
experience and an enhanced media planning section
which can be used for gross radio campaigns planning.
RADIO AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT SURVEY (SAR)
During 2019 the ARA members will organize a new
Starting with 2016, after the public tender from 2015, tender to appoint the official suppliers for the Radio
Radio Audience Association (ARA) decided to appoint Audience Survey (SAR) in 2020-2023. One of the
IMAS Marketing & Polls and Mercury Research as priorities of the following contract will be the unification
winning companies – they will jointly conduct the of radio audience measurement and the advertising
research activity for radio audience measurement until monitoring data in the same analysis software.
the end of 2019.
Radio Audience Measurement Survey (SAR) is a

syndicated research program in co-operation with the
CINEMA
industry JIC, Radio Audience Association (ARA). The At the present moment there is no syndicated study
service is available since June 2004. to measure traffic data or the demographic structure
of cinema goers, although main cinema chains do
The radio audience measurement for SAR is based on conduct ad-hoc client research projects in order to
the “Day after recall” method, generally used by most measure those indicators. Reports from those studies
of the international radio measuring systems. are available, in varying amounts, to media agencies.
Starting with 2008, SAR delivers audience data in three Demographic profiles and data concerning the
waves per year. The universe covers urban and rural consumption of brands and services by cinema goers
population living in private household, aged 11+ years are indirectly available from the SNA-Focus. Starting
old, in accordance with official statistics. Data collection with 2012 the results are available for the main Cinema
is implemented through CATI (computer assisted web chains, for big cities, and for type of cinema in any
interview) and in home face-to-face interviews, using other cases.
CAPI method (Computer Assisted Personal Interview)
in rural areas.
Metropolis Bravo
89-97 Grigore Alexandrescu Str.
010627, Bucharest 1, Romania
www.mediafactbook.ro
www.linkedin.com/company/initiative-romania

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mediafactbook

IPG Mediabrands is a new world agency group

In Romania IPG Mediabrands consolidates

The pronounced economic weakness in the Eurozone

Clearly, then dynamics is different by market, with

242 197 197 176

In terms of Net Media Spend per Capita, the Czech

Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Serbia are now in

was below 15%, despite Digital being on the rise year

Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.

The increasing penetration of smartphones and

Salary and pension increase for electoral purposes are not a

2014 63% 16% 9% 6% 6%

preferred Radio ZU. 15 MIL

(74.7% vs 74.4% in 2017) and Bucharest level (75.9% vs

AG Radio Holding maintained the market leadership (€) soft drinks

The number of monitored channels slightly grew

Analogue cable and Direct to Home transmissions kept

dropped by 5% vs. 2017. The market CPM inflation was 20%

Source: Kantar Media & Initiative Estimation

Graph 2: T2017 – 2018 sold GRP30” (‘000) by month

Inner: Share of Sold 18-49 U GRP 30”

Source: Kantar Media Romania & Initiative estimate

share. Good ratings were also achieved by the newly

2013 - 2018 Talent shows performance (Rtg% all 18 - 49, urban)

Age 65+ Age 12 - 17

Source: Kantar Media

while Antena 1, Kanal D and National TV show a Urban 100k - 200k

TVR1 and National TV continue to reflect high

Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Men Men

Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24

Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17

Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17

Age 65+ Age 12 - 17 Age 65+ Age 12 - 17

Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24 Age 55 - 64 Age 18 - 24

Source: Kantar Media Source: Kantar Media

The beginning of the year revealed a contraction in

ASIA EXPRESS - DRUMUL

20 FERMA VEDETELOR / PRO TV 8.3

EXATLON ROMÂNIA / KANAL D 8.3 ASIA EXPRESS - DRUMUL

CHEFI LA CUȚITE (V) / ANTENA 1 7.9

In 2019, Pro TV continues its programming strategy OBSERVATOR 19 / ANTENA 1 4.9

cheie”, “Ferma Vedetelor”, “Vocea Romaniei”, “Pe

For the autumn grid the comeback of Masterchef has

New behaviors building up around content streaming

How many industries can witness consumers switching

Yes, we mean a lot of people. According to the IPG

Streaming, paid or free, is becoming the default way of

Embarking on a research trip through the world of

Simply put, we want to fully understand how the market

Based on available international research, we expect the

A particularly interesting study from Magna revealed

As we were planning our research, a long-anticipated

According to ANCOM, mobile internet traffic in Romania

Top 15 Romanian monitored websites

Daily usage 0 5,000,000 10,000,000 15,000,000 20,000,000 25,000,000 30,000,000 35,000,000

Top Facebook pages in RO: 1 INNA ROMANIA 11 411 745

(Source: socialbakers.com (2019) 2 GIULIANO STROE ROMANIA 3 534 433

5 ANTONIA ROMANIA 3 321 962