Inhabitants: 1.9 million (2021)
Religions: Protestant 34%, Catholic 24%, Orthodox 18%
Big cities: Riga (701,000 inhabitants)
Form of government: parliamentary democracy
Head of State: President Egils Levits (since 2019)
Head of the government: Prime Minister Arturs Krišjanis Karinš (since 2019)
EU-member since: 2004
Unemployment rate: 7,6% (2021); 10,5% (2014)
National debt in relation to GDP: 2021: 45,6%; 2013: 38,2%
Share of global GDP: 0,05% (2021); 0,04% (2013)

Television time per capita: 180 minutes/ day (2020)

Largest media groups: Baltic Media Alliance Ltd., AS Latvijas Mediji, Dienas mediji, Ltd., SIA All Media Group, Latvijas Telev?zija, Helio media
Broadcasting fees: none (state media companies are an item in the state budget)

Introduction

The Latvian media landscape is small and confusing. This is particularly true for the ownership structure of media companies. These have only been required to be disclosed since the end of 2011. Not all market participants meet their obligation - especially Internet portals.

The population structure of Latvia has some peculiarities. More than a third of the population belongs to ethnic minorities - especially Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Poles. In addition, around 11 percent of the population are "non-citizens", i.e. stateless people with limited civil and personal rights (as of 2020). They are almost exclusively Russian-speaking former Soviet citizens.

In the Latvian Soviet Soviet Republic, Latvians threatened to become a minority. In 1989, their share of the total population was only 52 percent. In 1935, it was 77 percent (around 1.47 million). In 2021, the share of Latvians was again around two-thirds of the total Latvian population (around 1.3 million). The end of ethnic and cultural Russification is reflected in the numerical ratio of ethnic groups to each other and in a significant population decline from 2.65 million (1989) to 1.9 million in 2021. Relations with Russia have always been difficult. After the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, Latvian foreign policy took a decisive stance on Ukraine's side. Even before that, Latvia was one of the emigration destinations for independent Russian journalists.

In 2009, the Baltic economy collapsed. The Swedish Bonnier Group and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation withdrew from the market. Generally speaking, it can be said that up until the beginning of the euro crisis in 2009, Scandinavian companies in particular were active on the Latvian media market. Since then, the media market has been partially nationalized. With the euro crisis, the entire Baltic media market ran into financial difficulties, purchasing power in the country declined and with it advertising revenues.

Latvia's media landscape has had difficulty recovering from this development in the years that followed - partly due to increasing digitalisation in the 2010s. The Latvian media market has changed considerably over the past decade, particularly due to the increasing spread of online and social media. Traditional media such as newspapers and television have lost importance, while online media and social networks have become increasingly important. This is particularly evident in the turnover of the newspaper publishing industry in Latvia. While this amounted to around 56 million US dollars in 2008, it is estimated at just 34 million US dollars in 2018. Latvian communications scientist Anda Rožukalne is of the opinion that the Latvian daily press now plays only a marginal role and that internet portals fully meet the need for daily textual information.

The number of print media in Latvia has declined sharply in the 2010s. Many newspapers and magazines have struggled to keep up with competition from online media, and some have closed their print editions and focused on online content. Most major newspapers have also expanded their online presence to increase their reach.

In contrast, the use of online and social media has increased significantly. In 2022, around 91.4 percent of households in Latvia had an internet connection and almost all use social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. These platforms have become important sources of news and information, which has led traditional media companies to adapt their strategies - especially by increasing their online presence - in order to remain competitive.

The public broadcasters LTV and Latvijas Radio dominate the television sector. Latvian public broadcasting has a long history - it was founded in 1954, and tests were carried out as early as 1937. This made Latvia the first Baltic state to introduce television. Since 2013, Latvijas Telev?zija has been broadcasting a full program on LTV1 and LTV7. LTV1 broadcasts exclusively in Latvian, while the youth channel LTV7 also targets the Russian minority with parts of its program - in particular a news program - in Russian.

However, there are also a number of private channels broadcasting local and international programs. The first private television studios went on air as early as 1991. Color television was introduced in 1974. In the beginning, the color system used was SECAM, and only color programs available in color were a retransmission of Moscow Central Television. But in 1998, SECAM was replaced by PAL. Testing of digital television began in May 2002, and all terrestrial analogue channels stopped broadcasting on June 1, 2010 after its launch. Advertising on public broadcasters such as Latvian Television (LTV) stopped on January 1, 2021.

The public service Latvijas Radio has been in existence since 1925 and broadcasts six programs: Latvijas Radio 1, Latvijas Radio 2, Latvijas Radio 3 – Klasika, Latvijas Radio 4 – Doma laukums, Latvijas Radio 5 – Pieci.lv and Latvijas Radio 6 – Radio NABA. In addition to the three main programs, there is a Russian-language program, a youth program and a university radio. LR has been part of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since January 1, 1993.

When it comes to press freedom, not everything is going well. Recently, the organization Reporters Without Borders criticized the Latvian justice system. The cases against investigative journalist Leonids Jakobsons and data specialist and whistleblower Ilmars Poikans were to be heard behind closed doors in 2014. A questionable oversensitivity of the Riga police seems to be emerging in their reporting on Ukraine. At the end of January 2015, they took action against a public television cameraman during a demonstration in front of the Russian embassy. He was prevented from working under the pretext of a breach of order and detained for three hours.

Likewise, according to various media researchers, many of the Latvian media, especially those in the print market, are considered the "mouthpiece of the oligarchs". The best-known newspapers that are said to be close to oligarchs include the daily Diena and the Neatkariga Rita Avize. The latter often publishes editorials by its owner - the oligarch Aivars Lembergs. The politically pro-Russian orientation of many newspapers that are aimed at the Russian-born part of the Latvian population is also criticized. At least since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, pro-Russian newspapers such as Segodnya or the TV station RTR have fallen into disrepute - even before that, they had been controversial since the start of the war in 2014 at the latest.

On April 3, 2014, the National Council for Electronic Media (NEPLP) stopped RTR from broadcasting for three months. It justified the ban with § 26.3 and §26.4. The former is directed against program content that incites discrimination and hatred. The latter is directed against program content that incites war or military conflict. With Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Russian TV channels Rossiya RTR, Rossiya 24 and TV Centr were immediately banned by the NEPLP. The ban initially applies for five, four and three years respectively. The ban is based on the EU directive on audiovisual media services, which allows such restrictions for a limited period of time in exceptional situations.

Newspaper

Die Tageszeitung Diena was originally founded as the official newspaper of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia. After privatization in 1993, it was 84 percent owned by Tidnings AB Marieberg International until 2009, which in turn was owned by the Swedish Bonnier Group. In the midst of the economic crisis, the Bonnier Group sold its shares in the newspaper to a group of investors led by the British Jonathan and David Rowland in June 2009. A year later, the businessman and politician Ain?rs Šlesers revealed himself as the new main owner. The Latvian Anti-Corruption Authority subsequently determined that the politicians Ain?rs Šlesers, Andris Skele and Aivars Lembergs jointly controlled the newspaper. The newspaper later announced that Šlesers' friend Viesturs Koziols now owned almost 99 percent of the joint-stock company. As a result, the newspaper has lost a large part of its reputation and is considered by communications and political scientist Ain?rs Dimants to be the "mouthpiece of the oligarchs". The newspaper is published by Dienas mediji, Ltd.

In January 1988, the newspaper Latvijas Avize ("Rural Newspaper"). After the restoration of Latvian independence in 1991, the publishing house AS Lauku Av?ze (since 2017 AS Latvijas Mediji) was founded, which publishes the weekday newspaper. The newspaper is considered national-conservative. In terms of content, it belongs to the so-called quality media. Latvijas Avize reflects and analyses social and political events and other developments in Latvia and the world every day. The newspaper won the annual Press Subscription Award from Latvijas Pasts in the nomination "Most Delivered Publication in 2018".

The Neatkariga Rita Avize is published by Mediju Nams ("Media House"), which is 90 percent owned by Ventspils Nafta and 10 percent by Preses Nams. Since May 2020, the newspaper has only been published online and also in English. Media researchers attribute close ties to the newspaper to the oligarch Aivars Lembergs. Aivars Lembergs took over the newspaper in 1999 and sometimes published his editorials there. In 2016, the publisher of Neatkar?g? R?ta Av?ze was bought by Nauris K?posti?š, a businessman and brother-in-law of Aivars Lembergs' son Anrijs Lembergs.

The Russian-language newspapers play a special role in the Latvian media landscape due to the high proportion of Russians in the Latvian population. For years, however, their influence on the Latvian media market has been viewed with extreme skepticism, as they tend to reflect the Russian state's positions on domestic and foreign policy issues. They maintained close personal and content-related ties with the Saska?as Centrs (Center of Harmony) party alliance, which existed until 2014. The most influential Russian-language publication is the tabloid Segodnya (News Today), until 2017 Vesti (News). It is owned by the Baltic Media Alliance company. The newspaper Segodnya claims to be the only Russian-language daily newspaper in the European Union. Segodnya, like Vesti.lv and related publications, described their reporting as pro-Russian and “openly cynical”.

Television

Television plays an important role in Latvia as a source of information and entertainment, although daily television consumption of 180 minutes a day in 2020 is in the lower third compared to other countries in Europe. Despite this and the small population compared to Europe, Latvia has a large number of television channels, including public and private channels. The largest and most popular public broadcaster is Latvijas Telev?zija (LTV), which was founded in 1954 and today operates a full program with LTV1 and LTV7.

In addition to LTV, there are also several private television channels, many of which belong to the Latvian media group SIA All Media Group, which markets its TV programs under the name TV3 Group. SIA All Media Group is a subsidiary of the Lithuanian Bit? Group, a subsidiary of the US investment company Providence Equity Partners. The company was founded in 2017 by the Swedish Modern Times Group and sold the same year.

Tab. I: Television stations in Latvia

TV station	Language	owner
LTV1	Latvian	Latvijas Televizija (public television)
LTV7	Latvian, Russian	Latvijas Televizija (public television)
TV3 Latvija	Latvian	TV3 Group
TV3 Life	Latvian	TV3 Group
TV3 Mini	Latvian	TV3 Group
TV6 Latvija	Latvian	TV3 Group
ReTV	Latvian	Vidzemes television
TV24	Latvian	TV Latvija
TV4	Latvian	4th vara
360TV	Latvian	Helio media
STV Pirm?!	Latvian	Helio media
8TV	Russian, Latvian	Helio media
3 Plus	Russian	TV3 Group
Channel 7	Russian, Latvian (some programs)	DMN Latvija
Latvian Liberation Army	Latvian	MVK
M?zika's video	Latvian	MVK
TV3 Sport	Latvian	TV3 Group
TV3 Sport 2	Latvian	TV3 Group

Source: Own illustration.

Internet

Internet usage and access are high in Latvia compared to other European countries. 91.4 percent of households in Latvia are now equipped with an internet connection. The figures are particularly impressive for high-speed internet: high-speed internet coverage is 90.7 percent. This puts Latvia in the top 5 in the EU (as of 2022). The internet has now reached all parts of the population, with usage being even more widespread among the young population and residents of urban areas.

Online news is very popular in Latvia. The Baltic news portal Delfi is particularly popular with Latvians and is also very successful in Estonia and Lithuania. In addition to Latvian, Lithuanian and Lithuanian, the portal is also available in Polish, Russian and English. It is distributed by the Estonian media group Ekspress Grupp and ranks third in the ranking of the most visited websites in Estonia at the beginning of 2023. Google (2nd place) and YouTube (1st place) from the US company Alphabet Inc. rank ahead of the portal. In general, US companies are strongly represented among the most visited websites - in addition to the above-mentioned social networks Facebook (4th place) and Instagram (9th place) from Meta Platforms, Inc., Twitter (Twitter Inc., 10th place) and the encyclopedia Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation, 6th place). But the Latvian providers also come out well. The Latvian internet portal operator TVNET GRUPA is represented twice with Tvnet (rank 5) and Apollo (rank 8). The Latvian media group 4.vara, which also operates the Latvian television station TV4, is also represented with its sports news portal Sportacentrs.com (rank 7).

Tab. II: The ten most visited websites in Latvia, February 2023

Rank	Webpage:	Description	Parent company
1.	YouTube.com	Video portal	Alphabet Inc.
2.	Google.com	Search engine	Alphabet Inc.
3.	Delfi.lv	News	Ekspress Grupp
4.	Facebook.com	Social network	Meta Platforms, Inc.
5.	Tvnet.lv	News	TVNET GRUPA
6.	Wikipedia.org	Encyclopedia	Wikimedia Foundation
7.	Sportacentrs.com	sport	4th century
8.	Apollo.lv	News	TVNET GRUPA
9.	Instagram.com	Social network	Meta Platforms, Inc.
10.	Twitter.com	Social network	Twitter Inc.

Source: Semrush.com

media regulation

From 1992 to 2010, the Television and Radio Broadcasting Act (Latvijas Republikas Likums Par radio and television) the framework conditions of the media market in Latvia. Among other things, it was stipulated that only 25 percent of a program could be broadcast in a foreign language.

In 2010, the Electronic Mass Media Act (Elektronisko plašsazi?as l?dzek?u likums) came into force. The supervisory body, the National Council for Electronic Media (NEPLP), is elected directly by parliament. Its five members carry out their duties full-time for a period of five years. A percentage regulation on foreign language program shares is no longer provided for. The cabinet can take countermeasures in the event of a "threat to the use of the national language" in a part of the state. These are not defined more precisely by law.

Latvia's bilingual media landscape certainly reflects the heterogeneity of Latvian society. It is tempting to see Latvia as a mere repetition of global contradictions on a small scale and to overestimate these contradictions. Latvia has already survived a number of crises in its relations with Russia. One of these is certainly the country's accession to NATO in 2004. The Latvian population and the National Council for Electronic Media will have to continue to monitor and evaluate the work of the Latvian media on a case-by-case basis. The degree of their independence from domestic oligarchs and the political interests of parties and individual politicians is the decisive factor.

The conflict between the Media Council and the Russian state media has intensified as the war in Ukraine has continued. The three-month cable ban on RTR in 2014 was just the beginning. At the beginning of the 2020s alone, Latvia sent a clear signal by restricting the operation of 41 Russia-related channels in Latvia. After the start of the Russian war of aggression against the whole of Ukraine in February 2022, NEPLP chairman Ivars Abolins announced that the Russian TV channels ossiya RTR, Rossiya 24 and TV Centr were completely banned for the time being. It remains to be seen how Russia's influence on the Latvian media market will continue to develop, which is still large, at least in the print and online media sectors - the Baltic Media Alliance, which not only distributes the TV channel RTR, which is now banned in Latvia, but also the pro-Russian tabloid Segodnya, has a considerable share in this. In this regard, it is also interesting to consider possible further regulatory measures on the part of Latvia, which could come into force depending on how the war develops.

Sources/Literature

• Bertelsmann Foundation (ed.): Sustainable Governance Indicators: 2014 Latvia Report. 2014.
• BROADBANDTVNEWS: Latvia bans Russian channels (published on February 24, 2022).
• The market research company TNS Latvia
• Dimants, Ain?rs: “Media in the Baltic States since EU accession. The case study of Latvia.” In: Northern Europe Forum, Vol. 22, Issue 1, 2012.
• Euromonitor International (ed.): European Marketing Data and Statistics. 2014.
• Latvian National Statistical Office
• Nagla, Ilze and Kehre, Anita: “Latvia.” In: Peace Institute. Institute for Contemporary Social and Political Studies (ed.): Media Ownership and Its Impact on Media Independence and Pluralism. Ljubljana, 2004.
• Semrush: The most visited websites in Latvia, February 2023
• Statista Research Department: Revenue of the publishing industry in Latvia from 2008 to 2012 and forecast to 2018
• Association of Latvian Advertising Companies LRA