Media and Advertising Market Trends of Poland in 2021

The economic environment 

In 2021, the GDP grew by 5.4%, almost 1% more than expected. The pace of economic recovery was a positive surprise. The Polish economy was strengthened by investments, a rapid revival of the labor market, and a high volume of household spending despite the deterioration in moods in the second half of the year.

Businesses adapted to the new conditions fast, which made it possible for them to take advantage of the wave of demand created after the pandemic. Polish companies introduced new business models, while dealing with a lot of challenges like supply constraints. Most industries were not impacted negatively on the level of production and sales (including exports), with the exception of the automotive sector. 

At the beginning of the year, the potential cessation of state support threatened to cause a wave of unemployment and a restructure of employment, but the demand for labor turned out to be very strong. However, the labor market recovered at the expense of high inflation that has become the biggest challenge for the economy as of today. 

The political environment 

The Polish state wants to limit the presence of foreign capital in the media. In an attempt to force the foreign owners of a news channel belonging to Discovery into selling the station, the ruling party created a media law in the Seym, the lower house of parliament, demanding the selling of shares to Polish owners. However, the act was vetoed by President Andrzej Duda referring to previous international agreements, and the fact that law should not act retroactively. It was one of the few – if not the only – times when the president opposed the decisions of his own party, which was a surprise for everyone. 

State-owned oil company Orlen bought the Polska Press group from its German owner and changed the editors-in-chief.  The publishing house has 20 regional dailies, 50 weeklies and internet portals with approximately 16 million users altogether. The readership of Dziennik Zachodni – one of the best regional dailies that belongs to the group – decreased by 45%, maybe because of its open support of the government.

The media market 

For the ruling parties, the greatest media support comes from public television channels and public radio stations. The coverage of free public television programs (including TVP 1, TVP 2, TVP Info) covers 99.66 percent of Poland. After the introduction of the digital broadcasting, national commercial stations TVN and Polsat have reached a comparable coverage (approx. 98%). Their news programs (""Wiadomości"", ""Fakty"" by TVN, and ""Events"" by Polsat) have recorded the highest viewership for years. According to Nielsen's research, the most popular news broadcast ""Facts"" attracts 21.7% of the viewers (2.032 million), followed by ""Wiadomości"" (19.8 percent with 1.941 million viewers), with Polsat ""Events"" closing the list with 15.4 percent (1.406 million viewers).

In 2021, the value of the total advertising budget in PLN increased by 12%, amounting to 2.7 billion EUR. This means a return to the level of revenues generated before the pandemic. Internet, being a leader among media types, is still growing at a 16%-rate. In the television and radio sector, spendings increased by 12%. In 2021, outdoor advertising expenditure increased by 20%, but remains more than 22% lower than in the same period of 2019. Advertising spending in print increased by 4%.  

The internet and television advertising budgets drain away budgets from all other media, slowly but steadily. Together they already receive 88% (internet 48.7% and TV 39.7%). The share for other media: radio 5.6%, OOH 3.3% and print 2.7%.

Media consumption habits 

The overall consumption of media within the population is declining. The exception is, of course, the internet. In younger age groups, the upward trend has slowed down, as consumption is approaching 100%, and has already reached it in the 15-19 age group. Interestingly, the 30-39 age group has recorded a minimal decrease since 2020. In the older groups, the upward trend is the strongest, the 60-69 age group being the leader within. 

Regarding radio and television (and to a lesser extent, magazines), the downward trend is stronger in younger groups – the older the group, the smaller the drop. Newspapers experienced a downward trend in all age groups, while within OOH, the youngest group shows an upward trend, and the older group a decrease in consumption between 2017 and 2022. Cinema consumption, at least until the beginning of 2020, was recording a growth in all groups (especially in the oldest ones), then there was a sharp decline due to the shutdown of cinemas during the pandemic. 

Last year, again, short videos were very popular, especially on TikTok. Most of the product categories were trying to communicate to Generation Z on TikTok. Even conservative banks began to try their luck on TikTok, with huge commercial success. Instagram also showed a growing potential by the introduction of Reels. Customer service development in private messages is also noticeable (including automation of responses using chatbots). In Poland, 10.37 million people use TikTok, and the platform is developing cooperation with advertisers. TikTok is becoming kind of a “video-Twitter” for the young generation.