Home / Media Landscapes / Background

The media landscape in Poland

Poland began with the gradual dismantling of communism in 1989, but it was only in 1997 that a new democratic constitution came into effect guaranteeing the freedom of opinion and the press.

Kulturpalast / City
Foto: Kristof Borkowski, Lizenz: Creative Commons by-nc/2.0

The most popular television and radio stations are those with a high entertainment content like the state broadcaster TVP and Polskie Radio, as well as numerous private stations like TVN and Polsat. According to the international media data bank Eurodata TV Worldwide, the Poles watch on average four hours of television per day, making them the population that watches most TV in Europe. The new democratic parties have gradually managed to secure key posts for their members in the supervisory bodies of the state broadcasters.

The written press is the most important media for forming public opinion, with the key role being played by the left-liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza. Founded in 1989 as organ of the freedom movement Solidarność, the paper was one of the first free media in Poland. With sales figures well above 300,000 it is the most widely-read quality paper.

German companies like Axel Springer Verlag, the Verlagsgruppe Passau and the Bauer Media Group play an important role on the media market. While Axel Springer has had the highest sales figures among the dailies since 2003 with the tabloid Fakt, the Verlagsgruppe Passau (daily Polska) controls the local papers. Springer and Bauer dominate the magazine market, while Bauer controls the largest Polish private radio station RMF.FM and one of the most popular Internet portals, interia.pl.

Church media are also highly visible, even if they do not represent the majority of believers. The media group of Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, for example, has its own print and broadcasting media with the daily Nasz Dziennik, Radio Maryja and TV Tram.

The entertainment and information portal interia.pl is one of the ten most visited websites in Poland. The top spots are held by the portals onet.pl and Wirtualna Polska, which are 100 percent owned by the local television stations TVN and TPSA. Blogs written by politicians, journalists and private bloggers are increasingly gaining ground.

This country's media at euro|topics