The position of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) in relation to Poland’s fall in the rankings of Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House
02.07.2020
KRRiT considers the low assessment of media freedom in the Freedom House report (“Freedom and the Media 2019”), as well as the marked fall in Poland’s position in the global ranking of freedom of ex.pression compiled by Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans Frontières), to be unfounded.
In Poland, viewers have a total of 617 TV channels to choose from. Pay TV subscribers enjoy a wide programming offer, with 410 Polish and foreign channels broadcasting in the Polish language. The public broadcaster has 28 national and regional channels, aired by TVP S.A.
The ratio between public and commercial channels in Poland stands at less than 6%, which does not differ from the European average.
In 2019, the total audience share of public television channels in Poland amounted to 28.0% (TVN Discovery 24.4%, Polsat 23.9%, TV Puls 4.8%, other broadcasters 19%). This share is slightly below the average in European countries (of around 30%). However, it is far less than in countries such as Denmark 76%, Germany 47.8%, Finland 43.7% and the United Kingdom 36%, and comparable to the results in countries such as Croatia 38.1%, Czech Republic 30.2%, Ireland 27.9% or Spain 23.7%.
On a European level, Poland has one of the richest selections of terrestrial television channels. Terrestrial multiplexes provide free access to 34 different channels all around the country. In addition to terrestrial television (35.2%), TV channels are also provided through satellite platforms (36.4%) and cable networks (28.4%).
This means that TV subscribers in Poland have a wide selection of channels to choose from, which they are able to watch without restrictions.