Television advertising market in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze the situation in the advertising industry, in order to conclude which are the limiting factors affecting the development of the advertising industry and therefore the media industry in the Republic of Macedonia. The analysis is based on both quantitative data and qualitative assessment of legal acts and strategic documents and publications of relevant institutions in the field. It explores the challenges and problems faced by the entities in the market which pose serious obstacles of modern journalism in the Republic of Macedonia. The paper is going to analyze the basic features of television advertising in the Republic of Macedonia, its specifics that make advertising industry different from other industries, the characteristics of the product or service that is the subject of trade in this market, the characteristics and structure of the Macedonian television advertising market, and audience measuring data that will be represented.

The main finding of the analysis is that until recently the Government of the Republic of Macedonia was the largest advertiser in the market, and the media in the country were highly exposed to biased political pressure. The decrease in advertising revenues on television in the Republic of Macedonia in 2015 and 2016, is largely due to the Government's decision to stop advertising from July 2015, then the merger of 3 major and very important advertisers - ONE, Vip and Blizoo, which led to a reduction of advertising budget of the new entity, as well as the fact that because of a continuous political crisis advertisers have reduced their advertising budgets.