TVN takes the lead in Poland’s August TV ratings as Republika slides to sixth

Poland’s television market shifted noticeably in August. According to Nielsen Audience Measurement figures reported by Wirtualne Media, TVN, owned by TVN Warner Bros. Discovery, was the most-watched channel among viewers aged 4 and over with a 6.55% share, up almost 18% on a year earlier. Public broadcaster TVP1 followed on 6.24%, Polsat dropped to third on 5.95% after losing about 9% of its audience, and TVP2 rose to 5.22%.

The picture is similar in the dataset that excludes out-of-home viewing, used by trade title Press.pl. There TVP1 and TVN were separated by a hundredth of a point, at 6.21% and 6.20% respectively, with Polsat on 5.82% and TVP2 on 5.07%. In the 16-59 commercial demographic TVN was well clear, lifting its share from 6.34% to 7.62% year on year, ahead of Polsat on 6.19% and TVP1 on 4.42%.

The most striking movement came in news. TVN24 regained the lead among news channels after several months behind TV Republika, with a 5.00% share of all viewers in the ex-home dataset (4.86% in the total figures) versus 4.66% for Republika. A year ago Republika had 6.67% and ranked third in the market overall; it has now fallen to sixth, and in the commercial demographic it is down to 2.69%, a decline of roughly 28%. Public news channel TVP Info edged up to 1.96% from 1.69%.

Why it matters

August is a quiet month for programming, which makes structural trends easier to read. TVN’s gains in the commercial demographic, combined with TVN7 and TTV both growing, strengthen the group’s hand in the autumn price negotiations that traditionally begin in September. For Polsat the numbers add to a difficult run in 2026, while TVP’s improvement is concentrated in the older-skewing TVP1 and TVP2 audience rather than the 16-59 group that advertisers buy.

Republika’s slide is the story advertisers will parse most closely. The channel built its audience during the 2024-25 political upheaval around public media and became a fixture in media plans targeting older, conservative viewers. Two consecutive months of steep losses, noted by Do Rzeczy, suggest that audience was more event-driven than loyal.

What’s next

September brings the new season schedules, including TVN’s Taskmaster launch and refreshed TVP news formats, and the first full month of data will show whether TVN’s summer lead is durable. Buyers will also be watching whether Republika’s decline stabilises now that the political news cycle has cooled.