According to ViewTube CEE, a new WPP Media study, more SVOD players in the region are opening up to advertising, as the period of easy growth is coming to an end for them in some CEE markets. Alongside advertising, this means more alliances with pay TV operators and telecoms.

Across all markets in the CEE region, WPP Media observes an increasingly close “frenemy” relationship between pay TV operators and telecoms on the one hand and paid streamers on the other. This frenemy relationship means that these players compete for viewers’ attention and spending, while also supporting one another. Between 14% (Croatia) and 38% (Serbia) of SVOD customers purchase streaming platform subscriptions through pay TV operators, while between 12% (Romania) and 34% (Croatia) purchase access to paid streaming through telecoms – according to the results of WPP Media’s ViewTube.

For pay TV operators, cooperation with streamers is one of the elements sustaining their business in the region. Despite numerous forecasts predicting cord-cutting here too, there is no visible exodus of customers from pay TV in CEE, and the bulk of operators’ customers do not plan to reduce spending in this segment – according to ViewTube CEE data. However, these statements are not solely evidence of attachment to traditional television. For most pay TV customers in the region, operators are also their internet providers, and for some of these customers, television is merely an addition to a broader package of services.

The stability of pay TV matters for the outlook of the paid streaming market. SVOD growth has been slowing in some CEE countries. In Poland, the region’s largest market, the number of paid streaming platform customers did not increase over the past year, and the average number of subscriptions per person levelled off at 2.2 in 2025.

“Platforms are looking for additional revenue sources and opening up to advertising, as Netflix and Disney+ are doing. For marketers, this means access to high-quality inventory that was previously locked firmly behind paywalls,” said Izabela Albrychiewicz.

In the ViewTube CEE study, WPP Media conducted a comprehensive analysis of the regional television and streaming market, with a particular focus on YouTube. The study covered Poland, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovakia. ViewTube CEE was conducted from May to July 2026 using online interviews with a sample of more than 10.000 residents of these countries.