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2010 has been a consolidation year on the Romanian TV market, following a difficult 2009, marked by big advertising budget cuts, due to the international economic crisis. All TV channels had to be very cautious with both the productions and acquisitions budgets, as they struggled for market share and audience. This is the reason for which there were few important channel launches or big program events on the market. The TV advertising expenditure continued to shrink reaching an estimated 202 million Euro, a 6% decrease compared to 2009 (source: Initiative Media estimate).
The market leader remained unchanged as the generalist station Pro TV (channel owned by Central European Media Enterprises – CME) had a 15.3 annual share (all ratings and share based on 4+ Urban including guests target, source GfK Romania). Its main program anchors were the Prime Time news bulletin, entertainment shows and blockbuster films and Europe League matches, but also Access Prime Time tabloid shows. The second place was, as in the prior year, reserved to Antena 1 (part of Intact Media Group) with a 10.6 share. The generalist channel’s main programs were entertainment shows, films, news and matches from the Romanian National Football Championship (Liga 1). Next in top were two news channels, Realitatea TV (6.5 share, part of Realitatea Catavencu group) and Antena 3 (5.2 share, Intact Media Group). Besides information programs these two channels broadcasted talk shows, both live and pre-recorded, on domestic political themes. TVR1, the main public channel was on the 5th place with a 5.1 share. Its main program anchors in 2010 were football transmissions, news, entertainment and films and series. Next in the market share top were Kanal D (Dogan Media, generalist channel), Acasa TV (CME, women’s channel), Prima TV (SBS Broadcasting, generalist) and National TV (generalist). A good evolution had Disney Channel, which occupied the last place in top 10 with a share of 4+ Urban (guests) target. The channel, previously named Jetix, was rebranded in September 2009 and is mainly targeted to kids and teenagers, but also had programs for the whole family.
There were two important television channels launched in 2010. The telecommunication company Romtelecom launched the sports channel Dolce Sport, which started with football (UEFA Champions League and others), handball and rugby matches as its main programs. Romtelecom entered the sports niche which is well developed in Romania, where both local (Sport.ro, GspTV, Digisport) and international channels (Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, Sport 1) compete. The second channel launched in 2010 is 10 TV, owned by the cable provider RCS&RDS, but because it only started since December the program grid is not definitive.
Sports events and especially football matches remained on top of the Romanian public preferences. Competitions like Euro 2012 qualifying rounds, Europa League, UEFA Champions league or the domestic matches from Liga 1 had high audiences. Handball transmissions also had good scores. International entertainment formats, like Dancing with the stars, as well as local productions performed well. Access prime time has been dominated by tabloid shows and series, while Prime Time programs ranking high in the audience top were US blockbusters, news and entertainment. A surprise was the high audience of a number of Korean series broadcasted in Early Fringe by the public channel TVR1 (The Wind of the Palace, The Great Queen Seondeok), as this kind of programs had no tradition on the Romanian TV market.
There were no significant media regulations changes during 2010.  Romania continued to adapt its legislation with the European context and efforts were made in the direction of digital broadcasting. Terrestrial reception continued its decrease, while in the same time DTH providers increased their market share. IPTV and PVRs are still underdeveloped and they are not measured by GfK Romania, the official audience provider on the market.
As the contract between ARMA (The Romanian Association of Audience Measurement) and GfK Romania will expire in 2012, a pitch was launched for the audience measurement institute. Along with the current provider, there are other institutes taking part in this pitch: Kantar Media Audiences, Media Research and Nielsen. The winner of the pitch will be announced in 2011 and will provide audience data in 2012 – 2015.
In 2010 the main advertising vehicle remained the traditional 30” commercial spot, usually sold at a Cost per audience point (CPP) according to the client’s budget, but smaller advertisers bought at Cost per spot. Other advertising methods were split screen, product placement and program sponsorship. The competition on the fragmented Romanian TV market will be harsh, both generalist and thematic channels competing for audience share and advertising budgets, while the general economic conditions in Romania are still not estimated to improve after the 2010 crisis.