Romanian Media Market Shows Signs of Recovery

The net advertising spending in Romania was 305 million euro last year, up by almost 1 per cent compared to 2012, according to the Media Fact Book report, released on Tuesday.

The small increase comes after four consecutive years of decline in the media market. From its peake of 540 million euro in 2008, the market lost over 40 per cent of its value, with strong declines registered in print and TV, though with a small but constant increase for online.

Last year, the TV advertising segment was valued at around 193 million euro, print media and radio at around 19 million each, while outdoor advertising totaled about 28 million euro, the report shows.

The rising star on the media market remains the online market, which saw its share of overall revenues reaching some 46 million euro in 2013.

The largest advertising clients last year were personal care and home care companies, with some 38 million euro in total, followed by mobile telecommunications operators - 36 million euro - and medical products and services providers - 31 million euro.

The main clients were also beer producers, retailers, and banks and insurers, with a combined value of 14 million euro, according to the report.

Print media in Romania has faced a difficult situation in recent years, with most publishers reporting losses and major drops in circulation. Advertising has also fallen among dailies, whose total circulation is about now 1.2 million copies a day.

The effect of the economic crisis on Romania's newspapers has been seen in sweeping reductions in staffing. More than 6,000 journalists have lost their jobs over the past few years after hundreds of small publications closed.

Analysts say the decrease in newspaper circulation is also due to the...