Channel surfing

Throughout Poland, an average of 720,000 viewers daily watch the 41 thematic television channels available in Polish. Among them, MTV posted the biggest advertising revenues in 2005 at zł.93 million, followed by Discovery with zł.73.7 million and Viva at zł.66.4 million.

"When you look at our portfolio, the best-selling thematic channels are film, music and those dedicated to children. However, there are also such strong brands as National Geographic or Discovery that always attract advertisers," explains Maja Wajda, sales manager in AT Media, a media house specializing in thematic channels.

According to market experts, advertisers expressed much more interest in thematic channels last year. "Terrestrial channels like TVP or TVN certainly reach the largest number of viewers and potential advertisement addressees, but prime-time adverts cost a fortune and reach a random audience. Thematic channels are cheaper to advertise with and have a strictly defined group of viewers," explains Anna Mieścicka from Program, a distribution and production company handling thematic channels such as National Geographic and BBC Prime.

Extreme Sports, available in Polish since the beginning of this year, appeals to two million  young people. It offers programs on such trendy sports as parkour (free running) or parachuting and promotes  a certain  way of life by providing media patronage to sports events and rock music producers. "Extreme Sports' audience is a kind of elite, a restricted group. Advertisers like Diverse, Snickers or Heyah are perfectly aware of that fact. By advertising with this particular channel they not only promote the brand but set trends and create their image," said Marcin Szamborski from Program.

Music channels such as MTV or Viva or lifestyle stations such as TVN Style work on a similar principle. Private broadcasters such as Polsat (Polsat Sport) or TVN (TVN Meteo, TVN Style) spotted the niche pretty quickly and jumped the thematic channel bandwagon, but they are not alone. State-owned TVP  joined the race with TVP Kultura - available since May last year. This year, TVP wants to launch four more thematic channels: TVP Film, TVP Rozrywka, TVP Sport and TVP Parliament.