Founder and CEO of the Realitatea Media Group, Dumitru Tira, stated at the 2025 Media Forum that “the time has come to take back our media space,” emphasizing the need for rapid reforms in the media sector. He stressed that the next two years without elections create a crucial opportunity to rebuild a media environment that is “truly national.”
Dumitru Tira emphasized that the sector needs urgent action both in the regulatory framework and in aligning all media and related actors with new objectives. He argued that the process must accelerate so the sector can regain the ground it has lost in recent years.
He identified two major priorities: content and the sustainable development of the media sector. Regarding content, Dumitru Tira stated that the sector must rebuild it “not only in quality but also in quantity,” so it can be recognized as national production. He noted that this includes not only TV formats but also films, series, and other types of video and online productions.
According to the Realitatea director, the second priority is the sustainable development of the sector. He said this goal requires solving problems related to the advertising market, unfair competition, and the lack of action from the Competition Council. “In 2025, we again have cartelization and monopolization of the market,” Dumitru Tira warned.
He also highlighted the large number of TV channels retransmitted from the Russian Federation. “We have 172 TV channels retransmitted from the Russian Federation in our cable networks,” Dumitru Tira said, adding that another 56 channels include purchased Russian content — bringing the total to “380 television channels” present in Moldova’s networks.
In this context, he argued that the Republic of Moldova needs “a strategic vision for the development and sustainability of media institutions.” He reiterated the need for a clear concept regarding regional media, stressing that regardless of investment, it “will never survive” without a well-defined sustainability model.
The Realitatea director noted that even the central media is in an unfavorable situation, being “dependent on grants today,” while the advertising market continues to shrink. He stated that Moldova’s advertising market has decreased by “75% in 15 years,” a decline much sharper than in comparable countries. He cited Romania, which “exceeded one billion euros” in advertising last year, and Ukraine, which — even under wartime conditions — “did not lose more than 10%” of its advertising market. In his view, Moldova’s decline results from “artificial” and “conjunctural” decisions, politically influenced and worsened by the actions of certain industry managers.
He agreed with statements by the Audiovisual Council president, Liliana Vitu, that the media market needs a consolidated association and a solution to the audience-measurement system. “The market cannot afford to pay 2 million,” Dumitru Tira said, adding that even donors cannot justify covering these costs.
The two priorities he identified generate “20, 30, 40 derivatives, actions, and activities” needed to restructure the media sector.