Global Media Intelligence 2021: Romania

Noteworthy in 2021

Broadcast TV draws a massive audience in Romania, but digital video now rivals TV for reach.

• Just over 92% of internet users ages 16 to 64 said they’d watched live TV in the prior month as of Q1 2021. Viewership was higher among males than females, as well as in older age groups. However, even the youngest segment (ages 16 to 24) approached 82%. Time spent with broadcast TV averaged a robust 2 hours, 31 minutes (2:31) daily in H1 2021, virtually unchanged since 2019.
• While live TV still flourished in Romania, usage of time-shifted TV was rather limited. Just 31.3% of internet users had used TV channels’ catch-up or on-demand services during the previous month in Q1, while 33.2% had recorded TV broadcasts to watch later. If anything, engagement with these services has declined over the past two years.
• By comparison, digital video consumption has surged. The share of internet users streaming free or paid-for video content jumped almost 10 percentage points in H1 2021, to 91.2%. (It should be noted that GWI included YouTube in its video category for the first time this year, and at least part of the increase is likely due to that.) Among 16- to 24-year-olds, 97.2% had watched digital video in the prior month. Females and internet users in lower-income households posted some of the most dramatic gains. However, there was no comparable increase in time spent with digital video; that remained just under 1 hour each day, on average.