While Czechs enjoy watching TV series and movies, they are reluctant to pay for content regularly. Even those willing to pay prefer a single-payment method over online money transfer, which they do not trust. Nevertheless, the majority of Czechs still prefer to acquire the content for free over the internet due to limited portfolio of paid services currently available.

According to a survey by Millward Brown company for Audiovisual Producers Association (APA), published by NATPE, almost half (46%) of the inhabitants of the Czech Republic watch AV content on the internet.

The most popular formats are movies and TV series, but short YouTube videos and online television Stream.cz also play a major part. Only 15% of movie and TV series are searched by viewers on specific TV channels´ websites, and 13% access the content from paid video libraries.

“We expect that the willingness of Czechs to pay for watching movies and TV series via internet will be increasing along with greater availability and portfolio of such services in the Czech Republic. According to our last year survey, one in four viewers paid for content streaming or downloading and the frequency of watching movies on the internet already surpassed cinema attendance,” adds Katerina Weiss, executive director of Audiovisual Producers Association (APA). Many Czechs still believe they do not need to pay for AV content as it is “for free” on the internet. According to the survey, only 6% of Czechs regularly pay for watching movies and TV series online while 3% pay often. 30% of Czech audience pays occasionally and 62% of viewers would never pay for online content. Therefore over half of Czechs acquire AV content illegally.