Inhabitants: 1.2 million (2020)
Households: 340.000 (2021)
Religions: Greek Orthodox (78%), Muslim (18%)
Big cities: Nicosia
Form of government: republic
Head of State and Government: Nicos Anastasiades (since 2013)
EU-member since: 2004
Unemployment rate: 7,5% (2021), 17,4% (2013)
State indebtedness: $24.27 billion (2021)
Gross domestic product: $27.64 billion (2021)

Digital advertising spending: approx. 100 million USD (2020)
Large media and communication companies: CyBC, Dias Publishing House LTD, Phileleftheros Publishing Group, Antenna Group, Teletypos SA, Primetel; BRT, TAK, Star Media
Broadcasting fees: no

History and Profile

More than ten years after the opening of border posts between the Greek-speaking and Turkish parts of Cyprus and numerous EU measures to further integrate the Turkish Cypriot community into the EU, the Cypriot media landscape remains highly fragmented. The media, in turn, has played a crucial role in maintaining the linguistic and cultural barriers between the two parts of the country. The first newspapers published after the opening of the first printing press in 1878 were Greek nationalist in their outlook, which in turn reinforced the nationalist character of the Turkish-language newspapers. The result was homogenized communication channels that served separate linguistic and religious communities.

Only for a brief period – 1960 to 1963 – can one speak of a common media system. In the course of gaining independence from the British Empire, the Republic of Cyprus briefly managed to create an institutional environment that applied to the media in both parts of the country. However, hopes of maintaining this were dashed in 1963, when ethnic conflicts erupted on the island. Since the coup d'état of the Greek military government and the subsequent Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974, two fundamentally different media landscapes with differing media policy frameworks have developed. Greek-language Cypriot media have larger budgets and are integrated into the European media system. Turkish-language media, on the other hand, are oriented towards the Turkish media market and generally have fewer resources than their Greek counterparts. There is little to no form of cooperation or exchange between journalists from the different parts of the country. This isn't necessarily due to the unwillingness or ideological stubbornness of individual editors, but often simply due to technical hurdles. Cyprus and Northern Cyprus have two completely separate telecommunications infrastructures.

Media polarization is often considered a key factor in the ongoing unresolved conflict between the ethnic groups. An "us versus them" attitude has become entrenched in much of the reporting on both sides. Opinions often dominate the narrative more than facts. In the 1990s and more recently, Turkish-language media in Northern Cyprus – which has no traditional tradition of freedom of expression – have been subjected to threats and politically motivated violence (including the unsolved murder of "Yeni Düzen" journalist Kutlu Adali and the attack on the Ankara-critical newspaper "Afrika" in March 2011).

A distinctive feature of the Cypriot media landscape is that there are de facto no restrictions on political parties' investment in the media sector. As a result, with the exception of "Phileleftheros," all major daily newspapers are closely aligned with political parties and act as their mouthpieces. This applies to both the Greek and Turkish parts of the country, with Turkish newspapers dominating the press market in the latter.

Despite this hostile climate, Greek and Turkish journalists and other representatives of civil society have initiated a rapprochement process in recent years to explore the extent to which integrative media projects can lead to better understanding between the northern and southern parts of the country.

media companies and corporations

CyBC
The public Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation began radio broadcasting in 1953 under British rule. The first television station, CyBC1 (or RIK1), was launched in the late 1950s. Until 1982, all programs were broadcast in black and white. In 1992, a second general channel, RIK2, was launched. While RIK1 primarily broadcasts news, films, and series, RIK2 focuses on children's and sports content. RIK2 also regularly broadcasts Euronews news programs. Until its closure in 2013, the signal of the Greek public broadcaster ERT was also transmitted. A special feature of RIK2 is that the station also caters to Turkish-speaking viewers with individual programs. In addition to the two general channels, CyBC also operates an international channel (RIK Sat) and an HD channel (CyBC HD), as well as four radio stations. The so-called "third channel" is the station with the largest reach in Cyprus.

Dias Publishing House LTD
The Dias Group is the largest and most diversified media group in Cyprus. In the television sector, Dias operates Sigma TV, the most widely viewed private broadcaster (including its most popular online news portal, Sigma Live; see Table 1), as well as the two sports channels Sports 1 and Sports 2. In the print sector, Dias publishes, among others, the country's second-largest newspaper, "Simerini," and the largest free newspaper, "City Free Press." In addition, it operates numerous radio stations (including Top FM, Star FM, Super FM, Love Radio, and Energy), licensed magazines such as Madame Figaro, Bazaar, and OK1, as well as business information (InBusiness), and a consulting agency (IMH Ltd.).

Phileleftheros Publishing Group
Phileleftheros is Cyprus's largest publishing house. Its flagship publication is the island's largest and best-selling newspaper, "Phileleftheros" (English: "newspaper"), founded in 1955. Other newspapers in its portfolio include the sports paper "Goal" and the English-language weekly "The Cyprus Weekly." In addition, there are ten magazines (Omikron, Syntesis, Downtown) with associated websites. Phileleftheros also operates three radio stations: SFERA, Kiss FM, and Mix FM.

Antenna Group
One of Greece's leading media groups, the Antenna Group, has been present in Cyprus since 1993 through a branch of its television station ANT1. In addition to a few formats tailored to the Cypriot market, ANT1 Cyprus essentially broadcasts the programming of the Greek station.

Teletypos SA
Teletypos is Greece's largest media company by revenue and also operates as a broadcaster in Cyprus. The Cypriot branch of the largest Greek TV channel, Mega, was formerly called O Logos and was founded in 1991 by the Catholic Church in Cyprus before being acquired by Teletypos in 1999 and renamed Mega Channel Cyprus.

Northern Cyprus

BRT
Bayrak Radio Television Corporation is the public broadcaster in the Turkish part of Cyprus. It split from CyBC in 1963, during ethnic violence between Greeks and Turks, which at the time still represented both ethnic groups. Initially, BRT operated underground and only became institutionalized after the takeover of the northern part by Turkish troops. Its Greek-language counterpart, CyBC, still refuses to recognize BRT and regularly refers to it as an "illegal pirate broadcaster."

TAK
Türk Ajansi Kibris is the official news agency of Northern Cyprus and supplies primarily to BRT but also media outlets in Turkey. Like BRT, CyBC labels the agency "illegal" when it relies on its information.

Star Media Group
The Turkish Star Media Group has operated the North Cypriot private broadcaster ADA TV since 2008. Star was acquired in 2004 by the TMSF fund, which is close to the Turkish government, and is considered close to Erdogan.

Fig. 1: Advertising revenues by genre, 2008-2012 (in million euros)

Fig. 2: Prime Time Market Shares of the Largest TV Broadcasters in 2012

Table I: The most popular websites in 2014

Rank	Webpage:	Description	Parent company
1.	Facebook.com	Social network	Facebook Inc.
2.	Google.com	Search engine	Google Inc.
3.	Google.com.cy	Search engine	Google Inc.
4.	YouTube	Video portal	Google Inc.
5.	Sigmalive.com	News	Dias Group
6.	Tothemaonline.com	News
7.	Yahoo.com	Web portal	Yahoo Inc.
8.	Wikipedia.org	Encyclopedia	Wikimedia Foundation
9.	Amazon.com	e-commerce	Amazon Inc.
10.	Philenews.com	News	Phileleftheros Publishing Group
11.	Blogspot.com	blogging	Google Inc.
12.	Live.com	E-mail	Microsoft
13.	Bet365.com	sports betting	Bet 365 Group Ltd.
14.	Twitter.com	Microblogging	Twitter Inc.
15.	LinkedIn	Social network	LinkedIn Inc.
16.	Kerkida.net	Sports news	Digital Tree ePublishers Ltd
17.	Aliexpress.com	e-commerce	Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
18.	Ebay.co.uk	online auctions	eBay Inc.
19.	BankofCyprus.com	banking	Bank of Cyprus
20.	eBay.com	online auctions	eBay Inc.

Source: Alexa.com

Regulations

The top Cyprus Radiotelevision Authority was established in 1998 as part of the general Radio and Television Act. The authority's primary task is to safeguard freedom of expression and the protection of minors in radio and television programs. Furthermore, it is intended to ensure transparency in the ownership structures of the audiovisual media and prevent the formation of monopolies and oligopolies.

An independent press council, the Cyprus Media Complaints Commission, is responsible for the self-regulation of the news sector. Readers can contact the council to complain about reporting. Founded in 1997 by the Cyprus Journalists' Association and the Newspaper Publishers' Association, the Cypriot public broadcaster has now also submitted to the commission's statutes. The journalistic code of practice, also published in 1997, is overseen by a so-called "Council of the Cyprus Journalists' Association." Press Ethics Committee, which consists of 13 members appointed by the Journalists' Association and the Electronic Media Association.

In the northern part of the country, no analogous regulatory mechanisms or guarantees of press freedom exist. Instead, journalists can be arrested and, if necessary, convicted under Chapter 154, Article 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Unwelcome journalists have also been convicted by military courts in the past. In 2006, the Ankara-critical journalist Serhat Incirli was the first to be reported to the Turkish government for criticizing the Turkish state.

Sources/Literature

• Collaborative Media Initiative: A Potential Untapped: Media Working Together across the Divide in Cyprus. UNDP/Cyprus Community Media Center (2012).
• Myria Vassiladou, “The Cypriot Media Landscape.” In Georgios Terzis (ed.), European Media Governance: National and Regional Dimensions. Bristol: Intellect Books, 201-213.