Sustainability of Print Media in the Slovak Republic with Regard to the Economic and Technological Development

Abstract

(1) Background: The main purpose of the research study is to identify and quantify significant development trends in the market of selected print media in Slovakia for the period 2010–2020 but especially to analyze their decline trend and estimate their sustainability in the media market after the entry of digital media. (2) Methods: To be able to arrive at qualified answers to the above research questions, we obtained and statistically processed available data on the scope of production and sales of relevant periodicals for the period 2010–2020 in the form of a time series. Subsequently, we chose suitable econometric models (regression analysis, panel data analysis, autoregressive models) as tools for their analysis with the possibility of prognostic applications. (3) Results: Research on selected dailies in the Slovak Republic in the years 2011–2020 revealed findings about the trend and also the nature of its variability, showing approximately the same decreases in the streams of dailies sold. We consider the growing popularity of digital media at the expense of traditional media to be the main reason for the decline in the cost of daily newspapers sold. The analysis and quantification of this substitution relationship will be the subject of our next paper. (4) Conclusions: If the current trend of decreasing daily average sold costs continues in the Slovak Republic, based on derived econometric models, it is possible to qualitatively estimate the minimum acceptable level of daily press sales and, thus, estimate the life of dailies in their classic form. The result will be their new orientation toward the electronic form of media products.