Models of television market power in Germany and Croatia

Abstract

This paper analyses the development of the television (TV) markets in Germany and Croatia from previous times of monopoly to the current situation of oligopoly. This paper presents trend data pertaining to the market shares of each TV channel, allowing for the calculation of market concentration indicators (concentration ratio C3 and the Herfindahl-Hirschmann index) on two levels: the level of channel and the level of the group. This demonstrates the difference in the fall of market concentration - despite the increasing number of channels and a significant decrease in the level of concentration on the level of the channel, the concentration of the group level decreases at a much slower rate. Using annually recorded data, this paper estimates eight trend models for market concentration in the German and Croatian TV markets. In both countries, three leading groups control 80 to 90% of the entirety of the TV market. Similarities in the German and Croatian TV markets are characteristic of the oligopolistic market structure, in which there are three main players and a larger number of smaller participants.