By Montenegrin media generated total revenues of more than €56.6 million in 2024, while total expenses amounted to just over €56 million, meaning the sector as a whole closed the year with a total profit of just under €603,000, according to a study by the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM).
The study, which for the fourth consecutive year analyses the operations of public and commercial media, notes that more than 200 media outlets operated on the Montenegrin market in 2024, which counts roughly 630,000 media consumers.
“Although total revenues rose compared with the previous year—when they stood at just over €52 million—net profit was almost halved: in 2023 it totalled about €1.2 million. The main reason is rising operating costs which, like revenues, exceeded €56 million in 2024,” the study states.
It adds that over the same period the number of media workers increased slightly — from roughly 2,000 to 2,041 — although the actual figure likely exceeds that number, since data are not available for all outlets.
More than half of employees, 1,187 in total, work in public media — Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) and 15 local public broadcasters. Just over 850 people are employed in private media, showing that the public sector remains the dominant employer in the country’s media industry.
As in previous years, RTCG, which is predominantly state-funded, recorded the largest profit. The public broadcaster’s total revenues exceeded €22.7 million, of which €20.5 million came from the state budget. RTCG closed the year with a net profit of €1.11 million.
Local public broadcasters also reported positive results: in 2024 they earned €8.43 million, mostly from local budgets, and finished the year with a profit of €143,000 — a significant improvement compared with last year’s deficit. This improvement was driven mainly by the adoption of the new Law on Audiovisual Media Services, whose full effects are expected during 2025, and which significantly increased the mandatory level of municipal funding for these outlets, as their founders.
Print media, which also maintain online editions, recorded stable overall performance — total revenues were €8.9 million, expenses €8.46 million, and net profit €447,700. Three of the four print outlets (with the exception of Pobjeda) operated profitably; 293 media workers were employed in this sector.
The weakest — and the only negative — result again came from private television stations, which collectively posted a loss of €1.47 million, about €543,000 worse than the previous year. Total revenues of private TV stations amounted to €9.84 million, while expenses reached €11.32 million; they employed 335 people. Of the fourteen private TV stations in total, only five finished the year with a positive result: TV Vijesti, TV Prva, TV Teuta, TV Boin and Wow Montenegro.
Private radio stations fared better, generating €2.32 million in revenues and recording a net profit of €99,000. Online portals — increasingly important players in the media market — also performed well: internet media generated nearly €3 million and finished the year with a net profit of over €200,000.
More than half of registered media in Montenegro are online publications, i.e. portals. According to the Ministry of Culture and Media, which told the Media Union in November 2025, only 58 online publications are entered in their Media Register. However, the total number of portals is considerably higher: by combining the portals whose financial results were analysed in this publication with other outlets that maintain their own websites, the study estimates there are about 120. Montenegro therefore continues to face a significant challenge from unregistered online media. Ninety-nine people worked in these outlets, a slight increase compared with 2023.
Agencies engaged in news reporting as well as media production and content distribution reported revenues of €735,800, expenses of €688,000, and a combined profit of €47,700. Periodical print — magazines and weeklies — showed a similar trend: they earned €578,000, incurred costs of €550,000, and recorded a modest surplus of €27,600.
Koha Javore, the Albanian-language weekly financed from the budget of the Parliament of Montenegro, also operated in balance in 2024 — revenues and expenses were €150,000 each, producing a net result of zero, with four employees.
Overall, Montenegrin media closed 2024 in the black, but with a substantially smaller profit than the previous year. Rising costs, particularly in the television sector, together with limited market revenue sources and a heavy reliance on public funding, continue to constrain the stability of the media system. More than half of employees work in public service outlets — national and local — while the private and online sectors recorded a modest increase in employment.
