Indicators of Risks to Media Pluralism

Why? 

This indicator shows a HIGH risk to media pluralism in Serbia due to high media audience concentration in the television, radio and online markets and a medium concentration in the print market.

TV: 54.8%

The TV market in Serbia is highly concentrated as the 4 major owners represent the audience share of 54.8%. The market leader is the Public Broadcasting Service with its two TV stations reaching 18.11% of the audience. Pink Media Group owned by Zeljko Mitrovic has an audience share of 16.87% with two of its TV, Pink and Vesti. Kopernikus Network has two major TV stations in Serbia - B92 and Prva TV, through which it reaches 11.88% of the audience. The audience share of Happy TV amounts to 7.94%. The company is associated with Predrag Rankovic, also known as Peconi.

*Concentration of the TV market is calculated based on the data available, but could potentially be higher, as not all TV stations audience shares run by named companies are calculated.

Radio: 45.4%

Radio market in Serbia is moderately concentrated with the four major owners reaching 45.4% of the audience. PBS with two radio stations (8.88%), Maxim Media with 4 radio stations (17.2%), S Media team with 4 radio stations (14.31%) and Play Radio owned by Kopernikus Network are the four major owners.
 
Print: 47.97%

Print market in Serbia is moderately concentrated as four major owners represent an audience share of 47.97%. The market leader is Boban Rajić with his company Media 026 which operates two daily newspapers Večernji Novosti and Politika (50% ownership) that have a combined audience share of 16.35%. Second comes the Swiss corporation Ringier which has an audience of 10.69% with its newspaper Blic. It is closely followed by Mondo with the print edition of Kurir with an audience share of 10.66%. Insajder Tim (Informer) has an audience share of 10.27%.

Online: 71.55%

Online market, in the segment of news portals, is highly concentrated. Mondo with three portals (Kurir.rs, Espresso.rs and Mondo.rs) and Ringier with Blic.rs are the leaders. They are followed by Nova.rs owned by the United Media group and Telegraf.rs owned by the Internet group. Leading portals are characterized by tabloid and clickbait style reporting. 

*Online media concentration was calculated based on weighted sums based on Gemius audience data. Potential concentration could be bigger as not all portals of the named companies are included in the risk assessment.    

Result: No data

Although the Serbian Business Registers Agency provides financial information on revenues, no financial information is available on specific horizontal markets, such as television, online, print and radio, therefore ownership concentration in horizontal markets cannot be computed. In accordance with the MOM methodology if the country presents data on audience, but not on revenues/market share: the market share data is excluded from the analysis, i.e., the findings are based on the audience data alone and the revenue data are considered optional.

Score: 14 out of 20 (70%)

Result: Regulatory safeguards to prevent media ownership concentration are in place, yet the implementation of those safeguards remains problematic. This indicator assesses MEDIUM risk to the regulations that safeguard Media Ownership Concentration.  

Why?

All media in Serbia are regulated by The Law on Public Information and Media. All information about the ownership of the media should be recorded and publicly available at Media Registry, an online database run by Serbian Business Registry Agency. Media, regardless of its type, are obliged to inform the Media register about every change in the ownership structure.

The difference is in authorities responsible to control their activities and in the register where their ownership data is stored. Radio and TV are electronic media, and they are under the specific regime of Lex specialis - The law on electronic media. Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) – is the responsible regulatory authority for Television and Radio broadcasting. Print media are under the purview of the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information.

There is no law that specifically regulates internet portals as a separate form of media, but general legal provisions of the Law on Public Information and Media apply to the internet media.

LPIM regulates horizontal media concentration by restricting ownership and managerial rights, applying the criteria of circulation for print media (50%) and ratings for electronic media (35%). The Republic of Serbia also has a Law on Protection of Competition (LPC), which regulates this field in detail and applies to all natural and legal persons in the Republic of Serbia, including media owners.

The Ministry and the Regulatory Authority are in charge of overseeing concentration and monopoly in the media. However, looking at the structure of the media in Serbia, the threshold is set so high that it is practically impossible to exceed the current limit of 35% of total combined ratings, that is, 50% of total annual circulation, so this form of monitoring is mostly of little use, without any concrete effects and presents the biggest weakness of the current media legislation in Serbia.

Media Ownership Monitor Serbia 2023 - Legal Assessment

Why? 

The top 8 owners in Serbia across all four media sectors have a market share of 92.55%. These are the Public Broadcaster-RTS (39.95%), Željko Mitrović’s Pink Media Group (22.15%), Mondo Inc. (8.41%), United Group (8.24%), Ringier Serbia (7.55%), Happy TV (4.98%), Saša Blagojević’s Alo Media System and Maxim Media Plus (2.56%) and state-owned Politika AD (1.73%). The total market with revenue data for 2022 amounted to USD 347.17 million where the above mentioned top 8 made USD 321.3 million. 

The top 8 owners without the Public Broadcaster have a market share of 90.56%. The market size without the public broadcasters amounts to USD 218.97 million, where the top 8 commercial actors make USD 198.3 million. These were Pink Media Group (35.12%), Mondo Inc (13.34%), United Group (13.06%), Ringier Serbia (11.97%), Happy TV (7.90%), Alo Media System+Maxim Media (4.06%), Insajder Tim (2.69%) and Medijska Mreža (2.42%). 

These owners and companies are active in Television, Print, online and Radio markets.

SOURCES:

Serbian Business Registers Agency

Why?

Score: 5 out of 8 (62.5%)

Cross-media concentration is regulated in a similar way as horizontal concentration, when sanctioning powers, threshold and authorities are concerned. These rules are written down in the Law on Public Information and Media. As the concentration thresholds are set too high the same problem is observed here, that it is practically impossible to reach concentration. Generally vertical concentration by one company is prohibited but the law allows ownership in another type of media or in distribution through an affiliated legal person. So today in Serbia one can observe a situation where the two biggest internet and cable providers (SBB and Telekom Srbija) are also owners of various cable TV stations. The regulation for concentration prevention exists but is not effectively enforced. Therefore, the risk to Cross-Media Ownership Concentration is rated as Medium.

Media Ownership Monitor Serbia 2023 - Legal Assessment

Why?

Our sample includes 10 Television outlets, 9 Radio, 13 Print editions and 11 Online outlets, in total 43 media outlets. In 83% of cases Data was Publicly available, i.e. traceable in public records. 11.6% of outlets were Actively Transparent and in 5.4% of cases ownership was not transparent – Data was deemed Unavailable.
For the majority – 36 - of the media outlets and related companies, ownership data was at least publicly available at the Serbian Business Registers Agency.
5 media outlets were rated as actively transparent, majority of which belong to the PBS, which is legally obliged to inform the public proactively and comprehensively about its ownership. 2 outlets were rated as data unavailable – owners have publicly stated ownership of the outlets but it is not reflected in the public records.

No company actively disguised the ownership structure, e. g. through bogus companies.

Why?

Score: 3 out of 5 = 60%

Under the Law on Public Information and Media, the media are obliged to provide on their website or in their print edition information on their publisher. Media are also obliged to report the ownership structure and editor-in-chiefs to the Media Register of the Serbian Business Registry. The same Register also requires the media to report, within 15 days, each change of the ownership/editor structure. Under the law, failure to do so is an offense.

Media Ownership Monitor Serbia 2023 - Legal Assessment

Why?

TV 55,77%

Owners of 8 out of 10 TV stations in our research have known political ties to the ruling party or the party affiliation is evident in their reporting and editorial guidelines.

• RTS, with its two main channels, often fails to critically report on the burning social issues, actively avoiding topics that might be perceived as controversial, including high-level corruption, rule of law or human rights. Government and the ruling party indirectly interferes, through the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), with appointment of PBS Director and Managing Board.

• Pink Group, with TV Pink and Vesti, is owned by Željko Mitrović who has public political ties to the authoritarian ruling regime of the 1990s, Slobodan Milosevic and Mirjana Markovic. Ever since then, he kept close ties with all the governments that formed since then. Propagandistic reporting in favor of the ruling SNS party is evident in the main news TV shows of these two TV stations, and sometimes, their programming is used to publicly attack opposition, independent media or any critics of the Aleksandar Vučić regime.

• Prva TV and B92, are owned by Srđan Milovanović, who is the brother of Zvezdan Milovanović, a SNS representative for the city of Niš.

• Happy TV is owned by Predrag Ranković Peconi, although this ownership tie is marked as active disguise by MOM methodology. The media report on his ties to the criminal clans and various governments ever since the 1990s.

• Kurir TV, a cable TV station owned by Mondo and Igor Žeželj, is a supporter of a ruling party. This TV station is often used for propaganda purposes and smear campaigns against the critics of the government.

Radio 45,38%

8 out of 9 radio stations sampled in MOM research have owners with known political affiliations.

• These include two radio stations of PBS (Radio Beograd 1 and Radio 202), Radio Pink which is owned by Željko Mitrović and Radio Play, part of the Kopernikus group and Srđan Milovanović. Political affiliations of named companies described above.

• S Media Group (Radio S1 and S2, S3 and S4) is owned by the children of Zoran Anđelković, a high-ranked member of the Socialists Party (also a ruling party, in coalition with the SNS).

• Hit FM is owned by the Krdžić Family, who gained the most public attention during the privatization of Studio B, a TV station covering the Belgrade area. After the privatization, Studio B drastically changed its editorial policy, clearly cheering for Vučić and his SNS party. Ever since, the Krdžić family has been growing its media business, including having the joint company with Saša Blagojević, owner of tabloid Alo! (Radio Studio B (0.27%), Jat (0.95%), Lola (1.78%, Novi Sad 0.97%), TDI (1.65%),  

• AS FM from Novi Sad is owned by Aleksandar Đurić, who is the brother of the mayor of Novi Sad, a member of the ruling SNS party. 

Print 50%

8 out of 13 newspapers in our sample are owned/controlled by individuals with known political affiliations.

• Insajder Tim (Informer) owned by Dragan Vučićević is a big supporter of the ruling party and his outlets provide a platform for direct attacks and smear campaigns on any critical voices.

• Similar to Informer, editorial policy in Srpski Telegraf, owned by Medijska Mreza (owned by a group of people) suggests close political affiliation as the paper regularly attacks voices from the opposition and critics of the government.

• Ownership of Pečat, leads to Milorad Vučelić, who was once a high- ranked member of the Socialists Party, and now close to the ruling SNS. Editorial policy of this weekly indicates close affinity to the ruling elite. Aleksandar Vulin, former editor of Pečat, is close to the president of Serbian Progressive Party, Aleksandar Vučić and has so far held several important ministerial positions, as well as the position of director of the security agency.

• The owner of weekly Ekspres is Goran Veselinović who has close and friendly ties to the Serbian President,  Aleksandar Vučić. Veselinović also owns a PR agency ‘Right’ which had taken over the most of the marketing businesses in Serbia since 2012 when Vučić's SNS party came to power.

• Politika and Večernje novosti are among the last media outlets to be privatized in Serbia. Both are owned (or partially owned) by Boban Rajić, who has known ties to the ruling SNS party.

• Alo! is a tabloid known for its pro-government editorial policies. It is owned by Saša Blagojević, who is close to the ruling party.

• Kurir, owned by Igor Žežrelj's Mondo Inc., explained above.

Online 64.21%

8 out of 11 online media in our sample have owners, or are controlled by the individuals with known political affiliations.

• Kurir.rs, espresso.rs and mondo.rs are all part of a Mondo company, run by Igor Žeželj. These are some of the most visited websites in the country, often used to spread propaganda in the favor of the ruling party.

• Novosti.rs and alo.rs, owned and co-owned by Boban Rajić's Media 026, explained above

• 24sedam.rs, Telegraf.rs and Srbijadanas.com are portals owned by people who have known business ties leading to the ruling party. All editorial policies are pro-government.

The Law on Public Information and Media strictly prohibits any type of interference with the editorial autonomy or pluralism and guarantees editorial independence. Serbian Journalists Code of Ethics reinforces these provisions. In reality, however, the majority of mainstream media are politically affiliated, mostly due to the business interests of the owners. Editorial policies of these media, as demonstrated by the academic or watchdog organizations, are pro-government and in favor of the ruling party. In some cases, they are used as a platform to attack political opponents. Additionally, pro-government media are heavily supported through allocation of state funds, advertising contracts or grants through a project based state aid mechanism.

Why?

• Leading distribution networks for print media in Serbia include kiosks where newspapers are sold, as well as the printing houses. As data of the NielsenIQ for 2023 show, there are 3600 kiosks around the country, and some 32% of the people who shop at kiosks buy newspapers and magazines. The leader in the kiosk business is Moj kiosk, a brand owned by Štampa sistem, followed by Intermezzo System and Corner Kiosk. There has been no public records of discriminatory actions against the media by these companies or their political affiliations.  There are five major printing houses in the country - Politika, Borba, Ringier, Color Press, Grafoprodukt. Unlike kiosks, there has been a public record of discrimination in the field of printing houses. As United Media publicly announced in April 2021 each of the mentioned companies above refused to print Nova newspapers, which is the newest addition to the print market.
• Radio is not the main medium when it comes to political or news reporting. For years, radio is more focused on music, while the daily news are generally broadcasted once in every hour as short bulletins. Radio frequencies are distributed according to the Law on Electronic communications and the radio frequency allocation plan (some 300 radio stations are registered at the moment). RATEL is the independent body in charge of RF spectrum allocation and its management, including its control. There has been no evidence of discrimination of radio stations in terms of access to the RF spectrum
• There is an effective duopoly in TV channels distribution, especially via cable. Official data provided by RATEL in its quarterly reports, show that in Q3 of 2023 majority of people access to TV content via cable (48%), IPTV (31,5) and DHTV (14,7%). State owned Telekom Srbija holds 53% of the cable distribution  market, per share of users, followed by SBB which holds 40% of the market. Users who opt for one or another provider will have access to different TV channels. While SBB users will have access to United Media channels (including N1, Nova S, Sport klub and others), Telekom users will not have access to those, but rather channels supported by this company (e.g. Euronews, Bloomberg Adria, Arena sports).   
• Besides being the biggest cable operators, the same companies are dominant when it comes to internet distribution. The same RATEL report quoted above shows that cable TV distribution is sold in a package with internet (and sometimes mobile phone) services.
• Advertising market has been highly politicized for years. As BIRN reported in 2014, the ruling SNS took over the advertising market, through high-ranking party official Goran Veselinović, suppressing the democrats who sovereignly ruled this market through the Direct Media run by Dragan Đilas, once mayor of Belgrade and member of Democratic party. The situation hasn't changed since, and independent media report discriminatory practices and denial of advertising contracts.
• The market of audience measurement services is rather limited. The leading agencies include Nielsen which provides TV audience measurements, IPSOS that provides data for radio and print and Gemius that provides online measurements service. Gemius is the only free service, while Nielsen and IPSOS charge for their services, which local media usually find too expensive to afford. There was no publicly available evidence on political affiliations of owners of named companies, however, lack of competition at the market raises questions about the quality of data.     

Why?

There is no official, centralised or fully public data on allocation of state advertising budget, making it one of the least transparent aspects of the Serbian media market. Part of the data on state advertising is available at the Public Procurements portal, but this database includes only advertising contracts that were carried out through the public procurement process and are above 1 Mln RSD (or approximately 9344 USD).  

Direct state subsidies are allocated through a so-called project co-financing mechanism. The state money is allocated by the national, regional and local governments for the content production projects. The mechanism is prescribed by the Law on Public Information and Media. As BIRN research shows, some 15 Mln USD is spent annually through this mechanism. Our research also demonstrates that pro-government media are the biggest beneficiaries of this type of support and that tabloid media, despite numerous breaches of the ethical code, are regularly financed.

Indirect state subsidies are rarely applied to the media sector. The most publicly known case of tax exemptions is applied to Pink Media Group, which was at some point one of the biggest tax debtors in the country. The same company received a loan for expansion of its operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is believed that political ties of Pink owner, Željko Mitrović, enabled these transactions. Rules under which media can be granted indirect state support remain unclear, non-transparent and not fairly distributed.        

There are two PSMs in Serbia - RTS which has national coverage and RTV which has coverage for the province of Vojvodina. Both are formally owned by Serbian citizens, however, the state has direct influence of its Managing Board through the selection process. Additional influence is exercised through direct budgetary funding enabled through lex specialis (PBS additionally has incomes through taxes paid by all Serbian citizens with electricity bill). 

Why?

Serbia is recognized as a country that has a satisfactory level of freedom of the internet, with high levels of internet access and limited website blocking. So far, there have been no recorded cases of deliberate prohibited or blocked media content.

The general regulation that indirectly proclaims net neutrality in the Republic of Serbia is the Law on Electronic Communications. This particular law provides a definition of the internet as a global electronic communication system composed of a large number of interconnected electronic communication networks and devices that exchange data using a common set of communication protocols.

Among other things, this law regulates the conditions for conducting activities in the field of electronic communications, as well as the competencies of the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RATEL), which is monitoring the electronic communication market, including the competition rules for operators with significant market power.

The law also addresses issues related to the use and control of the radio frequency spectrum, the distribution of media content, the protection of end-user rights, the security and integrity of electronic communication networks and services, as well as oversight of the implementation of this law.

However,as the 2023 Freedom on the Net report notes, mobile operators in Serbia do engage in zero-rating, the provision of access to certain sites and services at no cost. All mobile service providers, including Yettel, A1 Serbia and Telekom Serbia continued to offer packages that included data for certain apps, such as Facebook, Viber, and WhatsApp.

Regulatory Safeguards Score 8.5 out of 11 (77%)

Media Ownership Monitor Serbia 2023 - Legal Assessment

Why?

Score: 2.75 = High Risk

MOM research showed that there is a great gender gap between men and women at managerial and leading positions in media companies. Less than 30% of women take ownership, founding or CEO/directors roles. This result is consistent with results of the research carried out by the Faculty of Political Sciences in 2021, stating that there is a “glass ceiling” for women working in media. This research also showed that the majority of the workforce in the media industry are women (60%), but only 18% of them take higher, managerial positions.

Research carried by Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (IJAS) in 2020 on online attacks on female journalists noted that attacks on women usually carry not only a political but also a gender dimension.