In the 1980s and 1990s, deregulation in the media markets intensified competition among media, especially between commercial television stations, and consequently led to higher prices for broadcasting popular sports events. The main focus of the thesis is the Slovenian media space, particularly the transition from a monopolistic regulation dominated by RTV Slovenija until the arrival of commercial media in the 1990s, which brought about significant transformations resulting in major concentrations of media ownership. The thesis explains how the arrival of commercial media, especially POP TV, and later on sports-oriented programs such as Sportklub and Arena Sport, which are closely connected to TV operators, influenced the regulation of public broadcasting. The empirical part analyses the actual state of affairs through semi-structured interviews, particularly examining how the presence of commercial media, which has been increasing in recent years and not only competing with but even surpassing RTV Slovenija in terms of budget, affects the public broadcaster and the relationship between them. It concludes that the current state is not positive for the public service, but the situation could potentially be reversed with the implementation of a list of the most important sports events, which was pending at the time of writing this thesis.
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