Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The independence and pluralism of the media landscape in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia closely follow the country’s democratization, which began with the first multi-party elections in 1990 and the country gaining its independence in 1991.

The media landscape in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia offers a variety of about 200 public and private traditional media outlets at the national and regional levels. Four dailies are published in Macedonian, two in Albanian and one in Turkish (three times a week). There are also two weeklies in Macedonian language and a variety of print media covering areas such as sports, entertainment or music. There are no concrete measurements of the circulation of print media in the country.

The public service broadcaster MRTV operates three television channels and four radio services, which offer programmes in Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Bosnian, Serbian, Roma and Vlach languages. There are 150 private television and radio broadcasters, including 68 television stations out of which four are broadcast at the national level. There are 58 regional and local television stations, with about 20 of them airing in a language different than Macedonian. In addition to the public service broadcaster, there are three private national radios (all in Macedonian language); the other 79 are local and regional radios, 17 of which broadcast in minority languages. The internet and the online media environment have become vibrant in the past five years, especially since 2011. According to the State Statistical Office’s data on internet penetration in the country, 65% of households have access to the Internet from home

Updated in August 2014