Final Word from Thursday, June 7, 2018
By any definition of the term, Seznam.cz is a direct competitor of Czech Television and Czech Radio. A full five years before Televize Seznam was launched in Jan. of this year, then-CEO Pavel Zima announced in HN that the internet company was going to go after the prime-time TV market. TV Seznam isn't very successful so far; its rating is so low that it wasn't included among the 25 stations tracked in March by Nielsen/Admosphere. CEO Petr Dvořák of Czech TV complained to HN in Jan. that TV Seznam had lured away some ČT employees with unbeatable offers, but he nevertheless said he doesn't consider commercial stations to be direct competitors. He is even a fan of activities like those of Seznam's. ČT is so unconcerned about the competition that it regularly invites Seznam reporters to appear on-air. Czech Radio, which does the same, announced 120 layoffs this week, just as Seznam was acknowledging its own entry into the radio market (Expres, Classic). The bottom line is that by actively promoting a direct competitor, ČT and ČRo have reduced their own ability to compete. [Czech Republic public media]
Glossary of difficult words
to go after - to seek or target;
to lure - to tempt (a person or animal) to do something or to go somewhere, esp. by offering some form of reward;
layoff - dismissal; a temporary or permanent discharge of a worker or workers;
bottom line - the fundamental and most important factor.