Domestic media market still has a long way to go to maturity

In 2001 the turnover of press, radio and television totalled over zl 12 billion, according to estimates from the Prawo i Gospodarka daily. However, as this is only 1.7% of GDP, it shows that the advertising and media industry is only beginning to gain importance for the economy. The current economic slowdown has resulted in a decrease in expenditures on advertising by 6%, which has hindered the sector's development. The domestic media and advertising market which has been functioning for 13 years still has a long way to go before it reaches maturity. Mature markets often have giant media companies who offer a wide variety of advertising media. Even before the economic slowdown the increase in expenditures on advertising was sluggish. The domestic market so far, has only given rise to two relatively powerful media corporations, Agora, which publishes Gazeta Wyborcza, which boasts 47% of the advertising market in the daily paid press, and Zjednoczone Przedsiebiorstwa Rozrywkowe. According to Radoslaw Biadon from BDM PKO BP, "Because the advertising market usually reacts with a delay to the first signs of economic growth one should not expect a radical improvement this year". (Prawo i Gospodarka, pp. 1, 9) P.W.