As part of NATPE Budapest 2025, the panel “View from the Top: Where Do We Go From Here?” brought together leading CEE executives to reflect on current challenges in the TV industry and outline strategies towards 2030. Moderated by Georg Szalai (The Hollywood Reporter), the panel featured George Levendis (ANT1 TV), Stella Litou (RTL Croatia and Pro Plus Slovenia), Levente Malnay (AMC Networks), and Magdalena Szwedkowicz (MAG Entertainment).
One of the consensuses was the need for flexible and realistic approaches to the differences in each market. ‘There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Streaming, linear, FAST… it all depends on the country’ said Malnay, who also remarked that local production remains irreplaceable. Stella Litou underlined that, for linear channels, the focus should be on mass content such as daily fiction and high-performance reality shows, with a hybrid strategy that integrates SVOD.
Magdalena Szwedkowicz appreciated the thrust of streamers in the development of local content: ‘Broadcasters are slower. Streamers need content now, and that gives us room to take risks and connect with the audience’. For her, the essential thing is to protect the integrity of the story, to be brave and honest with the audience.
George Levendis explained that they tried alternative content, but success came with commercial titles that worked both on platforms and on free-to-air. ‘You have to understand what your audience is looking for and adjust your strategy’.
The executives agreed that the key to the future is the smart combination of business models, relevant local production, and a clear vision of the role of each actor in the ecosystem. The region has structural challenges, but also a creative energy that, if channeled correctly, can lead it to be a protagonist of change.
