Greece

Digital media

By the end of 2016, all Athenian-based and national-circulation newspapers as well as TV channels had both a digital and a print version. Some of them offer their digital version in both electronic and pdf formats, while others also offer it in the form of app for mobile devices. Most of them offer their content for free, some (for example, Ta NEA) use pay-wall. The content of major Athenian newspapers s is enriched with pieces specifically written for the web and embedded with videos and pictures (Ta Nea, Kathimerini, To Vima, etc.). As in other countries, articles for the web are structured in such a way to optimise their visibility and news consumption on search engines and social networks, since news consumption is moving to Internet-led media. However up to 2016, revenues arising from these digital offerings are generally not enough to cover losses accrued by the press side of the business. In 2016, less than 10 percent of the newspaper industry’s total revenues could be attributed to digital products and services.

On the other hand, looking at the average digital ‘circulation‘, one sees that the digital outlets of the traditional news media, such as newspapers, are not the most visited, at least are not on the top, as one would expect. In contrast to most Western countries, Greek users tend to prefer or even to trust pure digital news outlets more than those of the traditional mainstream media. In effect, there are 4 main digital-born groups which operate more than 4 different digital news brands (news sites). These are: 

• DPG (owned by Mr. Dimitris Giannakopoulos, basic shareholder of one of the most important pharmaceutical companies in Greece-Vianex and owner of a famous Basketball team Panathinaikos) (Newsbomb.gr; Cnn.gr; Gossip-tv.gr, Queen.gr, Ratpack.gr; Leoforos.gr; Astrology.gr).
• 24 Media Group, mostly owned by Dimitris Maris (News247.gr; Huffingtonpost.gr; Sport24; Contra.gr).
• Liquidmedia, owned by Mr. Rudolf Odoni (Gazzetta.gr; Insider.gr, Jenny.gr, Koolnews.gr; Meteorologos.gr; Toratora.gr), Koolnews.gr (now Reader.gr); Meteorologos.gr; Akispetretzikis.com, Spirosoulis.com, Luben.tv, Neopolis.gr, Zappit.gr.
• Attica Media Group, owned by Mr. Theocharis Philippopoulos (Capital.gr; Missbloom.gr; Playboy.gr;  Madamefigaro.gr).

Last year, it was created a crowdfunding news site created last year, Insidestory.gr, which has no advertisement and the annual fee is 60 euros. Most of the stories are on investigative reporting.

Government has certified until now 580 digital media companies with more than 1000 news sites. According to the law if a news site wants to carry advertisement from a public organization, it should be certified by the Ministry of Digital Policy and Communication. It is estimated that there are more than 10.000 websites and blogs in Greece.

One must also note that all national TV channels simulcast their programmes live  on the web but they also offer apps for tablets and smart phones. Some of them,  (Skai TV) started offering catch-up services long time ago, while others soon followed this example. Antenna TV has its own web TV productions which are distributed on the web exclusively (Netwix), while Skai TV has announced a 24-hour news web service but didn’t developed last year. Nowadays, all channels provide social media interactions in their programmes, principally on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.