Slovakia - Media

In 1998, there were 1.9 million main line telephones in use throughout the country, with reports of 736,662 mobile cellular phones in use by 1999. There are three government boards appointed by a majority vote of Parliament to supervise radio and television broadcasting: The Slovak Television Council and the Slovak Radio Council establish broadcasting policy for state-owned television and radio. The Slovak Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting issues broadcast licenses for nongovernment groups and administers advertising laws and other regulations. In 1998, there were 15 AM and 78 FM radio stations. In 1995, there were 38 television stations, plus 864 repeaters. In 2000, there were about 965 radios and 407 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were about 137 personal computers in use for every 1,000 people, with 6 Internet service providers serving 700,000 users.

In 2002, there were 14 major daily newspapers, including (with average circulation figures): Novy Cas ( New Time , 230,000), Pravda ( Truth , 165,000), Praca ( Labor , 80,000), and SMENA (a youth journal, 80,000). The daily sports newspaper Sport had a circulation of 85,000 in 2002. The two major Hungarian newspapers are the daily Uj Szo ( New Word , 42,000 circulation) and the weekly Szabad Ujsag ( Free Journal , 40,000) There are also a number of government bulletins and small circulation publications printed by and for minority language groups.