The Mass Media

After December 1989 there has been a genuine information boom which has not been matched in any other sector of the Romanian society. The transition from hypercentralisation, from the absolute control by the Communist Party, from the strict censorship of information to full freedom took place in only a couple of weeks. The handful of central daily newspapers which were brought out during the last decade of communist regime had between four and six pager each (there were almost no local papers). The national television which had initially transmitted on two channels for 20-24 houre a day reduced its programme to one channel for only 2 hours a day (between 20.00 and 22.00 hours). The publishing activity dramatically declined and so in 1989 only 1,900 titles came out, that is fewer than in the 1950s and 1960s.

The boom which took place after 1990 has materialised in an exponential growth in the number of publications, daily newspapers and periodicals, both in the capital and in the other towns, of publishing houses, radio and television stations, news agencies, all of them set up in the private sector. It is only the national news agency ROMPRES (f. 1949), the National Radio (f. 1928) and Television (f. 1957) Companies and a few other institutions that are stil in the public sector. The circulation of the main daily newpapers in 1990 frequently exceeded 1 milion copies a day, but today their number ranges between 100,000 and 200,000.

From 24 state-run publishing houses now there are over 3,000 private publishers. The radio and televisions stations, the media institutions and the publishing houses are now enggaged in a fierce competition. Besides the national news agenty ROMPRES, there are the private agencies: Mediafax, AR Press and AM Press.

The National Television Company which over the past few years has expandet its transmission time by one-third, now having over 13,000 hours of transmission per year, has three channels: TVR1, TVR2 and TVR International, with local studios in the towns of Iasi, Cluj and Timisoara. The most popular private television channels are PRO TV and Antena 1, followed by Prima TV, Tele 7 ABC, Sigma etc., which transmit 56 programmes nation-wide.

The National Radio Broadcasting Company (having three national programmes and broadcasts in 17 languages for listeners abroad) has expanded its transmissions from 60,000 to over 80,000 hours per year. Nevertheless it faces a tough competition from the 140 private radio stations, the ones with the higes ratinges being Radio Contact, ProFM, Romantic, Delta, Uniplus, Total, Fun etc. The number of radio and wirebroadcast subscriptions is 4.2 million and of television subscriptions is 4.1 million.

As for cable television, through its number of subscriptions (2.8 million) Romania holds a leading position in Europe.

The main national daily newspapers, according to their readership, are Adevarul, România Libera, Evenimentul Zilei, Curentul, Ziua, National, Curierul National, Libertatea, Cronica Româna etc. There are also daily newspapers in English and French, like Nine o'Clock and Bucarest Matin, and several weeklies, such as Romanian Economic Observator, România Libera (in English), Romanian Business Journal, The Business Review or the monthly magazine Curierul Românesc (for the Romanian Diaspora).

Over the past 2-3 years the print press in other towns of Romania has also expanded in terms of readership and influence. The illustrated weekly or monthly press has seen a fast expansion at the expense of the cultural and scientific one (although there are weeklies like România literara whick is 30 years old, 22 or Dilema, which were founded after the Revolution and which have kept their faithfull readers). There are about 1,320 newpapers and publications coming out at present, out of which 110 are daily newspapers and 180 are publications in the ethnic minorities' mother tongues, particularly in Hungarian and German.

The editorial production consists of around 7,500 titles per year, with a total circulation of nearly 40 million copies.)

Last update: 1999, September 8
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