Inhabitants: 3.89 million (2021)
Religions: Roman Catholic 86%, other 7%
Big cities: Zagreb (700,000 inhabitants), Split (190,000 inhabitants), Rijeka (170,000 inhabitants)
Form of government: Parliamentary democracy with a unicameral system
President: Zoran Milanovic (since 2020)
Prime minister: Andrej Plenkovic (since 2016)
EU-member since: 2013
Unemployment rate: 7.61% (2021); 20.91% (March 2013)
State indebtedness: 73.2% of GDP (2019)
Share of global GDP: 0,09% (2021)

Total digital advertising spending: 204 billion euros (2021)
Television viewing time per inhabitant: 289 minutes per day
Largest media groups: United Group, RTL, Hanza Media, Styria Media Group, Hrvatska radiotelevizija
Broadcasting fees: the tax for TV owners amounts to €10.62 per month (2023)

General

In addition to border disputes with Slovenia and hesitant cooperation in the prosecution of war criminals, attempts at political influence on the public broadcaster Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) and on the private media have significantly delayed Croatia's accession negotiations with the EU. Although Croatian media law was largely brought into line with EU law between 2000 and 2004, despite all legislative measures against concentration tendencies, the Croatian media market displays clear signs of concentration. Independence is a fundamental problem – even among privately owned media companies. Although the Croatian Media Act requires editorial statutes to demarcate content between owners and editorial teams, this provision has not been implemented because no deadline has been set.

Reliable figures on circulation and corporate profits are generally difficult to obtain. The entire market, regardless of media type, shows a clear trend toward tabloidization. Opaque ownership structures, self-censorship, and the direct and indirect influence of individuals reinforce this tendency.

Following the trend in other European countries, Croatia is also experiencing a fundamentally difficult market situation for news-heavy print media. Circulation figures have been declining for years – primarily due to digitalization. However, an upward trend in news-heavy digital media is also evident, although – as in most other European countries – this trend cannot fully offset the downward trend in news-heavy print media.

Some of Croatia's largest print media outlets, such as Jutarnji list and Ve?ernji list, have aligned their strategy with digital transformation and become major online news portals. They now also offer digital subscriptions and have increased their social media presence to reach their readership.

However, the circulation figures of many regional and local newspapers have declined, and some have ceased publication or are available only online. Overall, there has been a reduction in the number of print media outlets on the market.

Since the liberalization of the market, the majority of major media outlets in Croatia have been owned by foreigners. The public broadcasting and television company Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) is state-owned. The state-run daily newspaper Vjesnik, published since 1940, was closed in April 2012. In July of the same year, the internet portal vjesnik.hr closed.

The tabloid 24sata ("24 Hours") is generally considered a success story. With a circulation of around 85,000, it was still the country's largest-circulation newspaper in 2019. However, the tabloid paper, published by the Austrian Styria Media Group since 2005, is also struggling with circulation losses. In 2013, six years earlier, circulation was still around 130,000 copies, and in 2011, as many as 150,000 copies were printed. In addition, the television station 24sataTV went on air in 2009, even though private print media are legally prohibited from offering "audiovisual" products. The economic impact of this expansion is unknown.

Historical Foundations

In contrast to the Eastern Bloc states, Yugoslavia took a different path. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945 to 1992) belonged to the group of socialist, non-aligned states. The transformation of the multi-ethnic state into a market-economy democracy based on the Western model proceeded differently than in the Eastern Bloc states. It was neither peaceful nor orderly.

The country was violently divided into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Kosovo through a series of wars (1991 to 1995; 1999). Violence, nationalism, ethnic and religious conflicts, corruption, and crime remain as long-term consequences of the wars in the successor states of Yugoslavia, even after years of peace. Evidence of this assessment in the political sphere is the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran ?in?i? in March 2003.

A more recent example is how Croatia, even after joining the EU in 2013, continued to attempt to establish an amnesty for the murderers of Croats in exile in other European countries. The most prominent examples from the Croatian media industry are the failed bomb attack on the controversial co-owner of Europapress Holding, Ninoslav Pavic, in 2003 and the successful bomb attack on the journalist and publisher Ivo Pukanić and one of his employees in 2008.

Politically, Croatia has seen several changes of government in recent years. From 2011 to 2016, Croatia was governed by the conservative HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) party under the leadership of Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor. Following the Social Democratic government from 2011 to 2016 under the then Prime Minister and current President of Croatia, Zoran Milanovi? (SDP), the independent Tihomir Oreškovi? took office for several months. Since 2016, Andrej Plenkovi? of the HDZ has governed in a government with the reformist Most Party.

From January to June 2020, Plenkovi? chaired the Council of the European Union as part of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2020. Following the parliamentary elections in July 2020, he was re-elected as Prime Minister.

On July 12, 2022, the Council of the European Union approved Croatia's accession to the euro area on January 1, 2023, and set the exchange rate for the then Croatian national currency, the kuna. Croatia thus became the last country to join the euro area at the beginning of 2023.

media companies and corporations

Hanza Media
Hanza Media (until July 2016 Europapress Holding or EPH) is Croatia's largest newspaper and magazine publisher, headquartered in Zagreb. From 1998 to 2014, the German WAZ Media Group (later Funke Media Group) held a 49% stake in EPH. From spring 2014 until his death in January 2018, Zagreb-based lawyer Marijan Hanžekovi? was a 100% shareholder of Hanza Media, making him the most powerful figure in the Croatian media scene. Hanžekovi? represented former Zagreb mayor Milan Bandi? in a corruption trial. Furthermore, from 1990 to 1991, he was also the first Minister of Finance of the Republic of Croatia. As a direct representative of his interests, his daughter Ana already sat on the company's supervisory board at that time. After his death, she took over the company completely together with his second daughter, Dora Hanžekovi? Žuža.

There are two different versions of the exact majority shareholding of the former Europapress Holding before the change of ownership in 2014. Either Ninoslav Pavi? and the German Funke Media Group (formerly WAZ Media Group) each held 50 percent of the company since 1998, or Pavi? was a narrow majority owner with 51 percent, while the Funke Media Group had to settle for 49 percent.

The described changes in ownership are the result of pre-bankruptcy proceedings and an indirect consequence of the financial crisis. Hypo Alpe Adria's Croatian subsidiary had its claims against EPH converted into a 90 percent ownership share in February 2014. EPH's most important products are the political weekly Globus, the daily Jutarnji list, and the daily sports newspaper Sportske novosti. In 2019, Hanza Media, now known as Hanza Media, withdrew from the pre-insolvency settlement because it had prematurely fulfilled all obligations under the settlement. This was officially confirmed on February 20, 2020, when the Commercial Court in Karlovac issued a decision on the "deletion of the approval protocol of the pre-insolvency settlement of the registered entity Hanza Media doo for publication." As part of the settlement, total liabilities amounting to HRK 497,815,475.98 were settled.

Styria Media Group AG
The Graz-based media company operates in Croatia in both the print and online businesses. Its most important titles are the daily newspapers 24sata and Ve?ernji list, and the weekly newspaper Metropola. Together with Hanza Media, Styria Media maintains a duopoly position in the Croatian print market. Until the change of ownership in 2014, when Hanza Media was transferred to the Hanžekovi?s, these two foreign-owned media companies essentially shared this market segment between themselves.

Nova TV (United Group)
Nova TV began operations in 2000 as Croatia's first commercial television station. Since 2005, it has also broadcast the tabloid-heavy news program "Dnevnik Nove" (now Dnevnik Nove TV). Since 2010, it has been Croatia's most-watched news program after "Dnevnik HRT," the corresponding program on public television.
In 2011, its sister program, Doma TV, went on air. The channel's target audience is the country's women. It broadcasts 18 hours a day. Also launched in 2011 was the channel Nova World. Its target audience is exiled Croats in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

When it was founded in 2000, the Greek Antenna Group owned the channel. On July 31, 2008, the Swedish media company Modern Times Group acquired Nova Television for €628 million. The purchase was completed on October 16, 2008. In addition to Nova Television, the company also operates the channels Kino Nova, Nova Sport, DIEMA, Diema Family, and Diema Sport in Bulgaria. On March 22, 2019, the Advance Media Group purchased Nova TV from the Modern Times Group for €185 million. On December 29, 2020, United Group acquired the company from Advance Media Group.

RTL
RTL has been broadcasting in Croatia since 2004. The TV channel is wholly owned by RTL Hrvatska doo, which originally belonged to the Luxembourg-based RTL Group. In February 2022, the Czech PPF Group, through its subsidiary Central European Media Enterprises, acquired RTL Hrvatska from RTL Group for €50 million.

RTL's programming includes the twice-daily news program "Danas." In addition to sporting events such as handball and boxing, other important programming features include various reality shows, including the Croatian version of the popular Dutch TV show "Big Brother." It was added to the program in 2004 and ran for nine seasons (before the show was canceled in 2018). RTL also operates other television channels. These include RTL 2, RTL's sister channel, and RTL Kockica, which launched in January 2014 and was the first Croatian TV channel explicitly aimed at children and young people.

RTL is also active online. In addition to streaming services for its TV programs, the company also owns the Croatian news portal net.hr.

HRT
Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) is the successor to the former Zagreb Radio Station, which began broadcasting on May 15, 1926, as the first radio station in Southeastern Europe. The broadcasting company, which began with just one program that could be heard in Zagreb and northwestern Croatia, now consists of 16 programs available worldwide. HRT is now part of Croatian Radio and Television.

The public broadcaster Hrvatska Radiotelevizija broadcasts four national television channels and three national radio channels from Zagreb. In addition, there are eight regional radio channels and one for Croats in exile. The broadcaster is financed through license fees, advertising revenue, and a fixed item in the state budget. HRT also owns the news agency HINA.

Internet

In Croatia, too, internet usage among the population has increased rapidly over the past 20 years. At the beginning of 2023, there were 3.34 million internet users in Croatia. This equates to approximately 83 percent of the population using the internet – slightly less than the EU average of around 90 percent. In 2003, only 22.8 percent of Croatians used the internet; by 2013, this figure had risen to 66.7 percent.

In addition, Croatia had 2.94 million social media users, representing 73.1 percent of the total population. Furthermore, Croatia had a total of 5.37 million active mobile phone subscriptions, representing 133.6 percent of the total population.

Fig. I: Development of the share of internet users in Croatia in relation to the total population (2003-2023)

Source: datacatalog.worldbank.org

In contrast to many other European countries, Croatian companies dominate the ranking of the most visited websites in Croatia. At the beginning of 2023, the search engine Google.com, owned by the US company Alphabet Inc., recorded the most visits, but the top 10 most visited sites are dominated by seven Croatian news portals. These include vecernji.hr (ranked 6th) and 24sata.hr (ranked 7th) of the Styria Media Group, as well as Jutarnji.hr (ranked 4th) and Slobodnadalmacija.hr (ranked 9th) of Hanza Media. Only two other US sites are represented in the top 10: YouTube.com (ranked 3rd), also owned by Alphabet Inc., and Facebook.com of Meta Platforms, Inc.

Tab I: The most visited websites in Croatia in February 2023

Rank	Webpage:	Description	Parent company / owner
1	Google.com	Search engine	Alphabet Inc.
2	Index.hr	News portal	Index promocija doo
3	YouTube.com	Video portal	Alphabet Inc.
4	Jutarnji.hr	News portal	Hanza Media
5	Facebook.com	Social network	Meta Platforms, Inc.
6	vecernji.hr	News portal	Styria Media Group AG
7	24sata.hr	News portal	Styria Media Group AG
8	Net.hr	News portal	RTL Hrvatska doo
9	Slobodnadalmacija.hr	News portal	Hanza Media
10	Dnevnik.hr	News portal	United Group (Nova TV)

Source: Similarweb.com

media regulation

Over the past 20 years, Croatia has made significant progress in media regulation and freedom. At the beginning of this period, Croatia's media was largely state-owned, and concerns about freedom of expression and media independence were significant. In 2004, a new media law entered into force in Croatia. This law also established an independent Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, which issues broadcasting licenses and monitors compliance with media standards. Since then, the Authority's role has been further strengthened, and its influence on the Croatian media market has increased.

In recent years, Croatia has also made efforts to protect media freedom and ensure media independence. In 2013, Croatia passed a new media law that strengthened the regulator's independence and improved protection for journalists and whistleblowers. However, challenges to media freedom and pluralism remain in Croatia. For example, there are still cases of government pressure on critical media outlets and journalists. A major scandal occurred in October 2017, when MP Anton Todorov of the then-ruling GERB party threatened Nova TV host Todorov Nikolaev with dismissal on camera after Nikolaev asked an uncomfortable question.

Although significant progress has been made in the area of press freedom, these developments have not yet led to significant growth within the Croatian media landscape. Significant progress has certainly been made in the area of press freedom – ranking 48th out of 180 in 2022, Croatia occupies a solid, but still not outstanding, position. Nevertheless, the situation is significantly worse in other EU countries such as Poland (66th), Hungary (85th), and Bulgaria (91st). Even Italy ranks 58th, well behind Croatia.

Croatia faces structural problems, especially in quality journalism. In this small and competitive market, sober and fact-rich reporting is not a decisive selling point. At least the years of politically and criminally motivated assassinations seem to be over. However, the systematic problems of the Croatian media landscape (lack of transparency regarding ownership structures, self-censorship, still-weak legal regulation in some areas, price-fixing) remain. Given gentle European pressure and economic stability—after the initial years in the EU with their severe setbacks—the smallest areas of independent reporting could potentially become institutionalized. This could potentially have repercussions in terms of personnel and content in larger editorial departments.

Sources/Literature

• UNESCO/IPDC (ed.): Peruško, Zrinjka: Assessment of Media Development in Croatia Based on UNESCO's Media Development Indicators. 2011.
• Agency for Electronic Media (ed.): Jelavi?, Anja: Croatian TV Market Analysis. [Summary in English]. 2013.
• Buchfelder, Angela: “Freedom of the Press in Croatia.” In: Berlin Writings on Media Studies. Berlin, 2012.
• Data Reportal (2023): Digital 2023: Croatia
• The Standard (2016): Croatia: New HDZ-Most government sworn in.
• Croatian National Statistical Office
• Peruško, Zrinjka: “Media pluralism policy in a post-socialist Mediterranean media system: The case of Croatia”. In:
  East European Politics & Societies, Vol. 27, Issue 4, 2013.
• Reporters Without Borders (2022): Press freedom ranking: Croatia.
• Similarweb (2023): The most visited websites in Croatia February 2023.
• World Bank (2023): Development of the share of Internet users in Croatia in relation to the total population.
• Zakon o medijima. Please note the text of the order. NN 59/04, 84/11, 81/13, 114/22. Well snazi od 01/01/2023.