Mapping the Audiovisual Landscape in the Czech Republic: Digitisation and Strategy for the Digital Single Market

Petr Szczepanik, Pavel Zahrádka, Radim Polčák, Jakub Macek, Ivan David, Dominika Galajdová, Johana Kotišová, Rudolf Leška, Petr Lupač, Tomáš Karger, Štěpán Žádník


The aim of this report is to describe the state of the audiovisual landscape in the Czech Republic, that is, to outline the basic structures, key actors, and practices in the production, distribution, and consumption of audiovisual works. Structures of the audiovisual field include technical infrastructure, legal norms, business (i.e., production and distribution) models, basic socioeconomic parameters of the audiovisual labor market, state cultural policy, and the broader sociocultural context. Actors within the audiovisual field include both value-chain participants involved in the development, production, and dissemination of audiovisual works and the consumers themselves. The report is organized into three main parts. The introductory section defines the audiovisual field and provides a general description of the transformations in the European audiovisual industry resulting from digitisation. The second part focuses on key actors in the Czech audiovisual field, basic business models, and the broader socio-technological context. The third part addresses the legal regulation of the audiovisual field and proposed measures under the strategy to establish a Digital Single Market in the EU, including the perspectives of various stakeholders.

The research report was produced within the project Research on the Impact of Existing Legislation and the European Commission’s Digital Single Market (DSM) Strategy on the Czech Audiovisual Industry: Evaluation of the (Copyright) Legal System and the Preparation of Cultural Policy within the DSM, supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Project No. TL01000306).


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Cirg - about

CIRG – the Cultural Industries Research Group focuses on research into cultural and media industries, particularly on current issues, challenges, and conflicts arising from tensions between intellectual property law, the business models of cultural industries, the digitalization and platformization of cultural sectors, and changing consumer habits. The group’s name is an acronym of its English title, Cultural Industries Research Group. CIRG is an informal association of experts from media studies, intellectual property law, media law, media ethics, cultural economics and cultural management, sociology of culture, and data analysis. The group operates on the basis of project-based funding through applied research projects (TAČR, NAKI, EEA and Norway Grants, OP JAK Intersectoral Cooperation), basic research projects (GAČR, ZIF Bielefeld, OP VVV Excellent Research, DFG), as well as contract research (State Cinematography Fund, Association of Audiovisual Producers).