Serbia and Montenegro - Media

Serbia and Montenegro had over two million main line telephones in service during 1995 and reports indicate there were 87,000 mobile cellular phones by 1997. In 1998, there were 113 AM and 194 FM radios stations, as well as over 700 television stations (many of which are low-powered, local access). In Serbia and Montenegro, only the RTS network is owned by the state; the other six (BK, TV Studio Spectrum Cacak, Kanal 9 Kragujevac, Pink, Palma, and Art Kanal) are privately owned. The ownership and editorial positions of television and radio stations usually reflects regional politics. Government control over independent broadcasts and the print media has discouraged political opposition parties that have called for greater democracy and a more open economy. In 2000, Serbia and Montenegro had about 297 radios and 282 television sets for every 1,000 people. Nine Internet service providers were serving 400,000 customers in 2001.

In 1791, the first Serbian-language newspaper was published in Vienna, Austria. Privately owned newspapers are sometimes critical of the government. The dailies with the largest circulation (as of 2002) are Politika ( Politics , 300,000) and Vecernje Novosti ( Evening News , 169,000). Other newspapers, that are essentially controlled by the government, include (with 2002 circulation) Borba (85,000), Jedinstvo (6,090), Dnevnik (61,000), and Pobjeda (19,400). Over 80 minority language newspapers were printed as of 1995, of which Albanian-language newspapers accounted for 51. Periodical publications numbered 450 at that time, with a circulation of 3.3 million.