When I first decided I wanted to learn Slovenian, I realized I’d need to immerse myself in Slovenian media to build my reading and listening comprehension. But I didn’t know the first thing about the Slovenian media landscape!
Questions raced through my mind, what are the major newspapers and TV stations? What kind of magazines can I read? This sent me down an interesting research rabbit hole, uncovering some fascinating facts about Slovenian media that I want to share with anyone interested in learning this lesser-known language.
Slovenian may only have around 2 million native speakers, but Slovenia has a thriving media industry spanning newspapers, television, radio, and internet outlets. In this blog, I’ll give you an overview of the main players across Slovenian media to help give context to the language learning materials you might come across.
Trust me, guys… understanding the media landscape also provides cultural insights into what issues and topics are important in Slovenia.
Table Of Contents
Slovenian Media
Slovenia’s modern media landscape has its roots back in the late 18th century, though publications and broadcasting would evolve slowly over the next 200 years. The very first Slovenian newspaper, Lublanske novice (Ljubljana News), started publication in 1797, providing weekly updates to the people of the capital city. Can you imagine waiting an entire week for your news fix?
Over the next years, a handful of other local newspapers popped up across the region before the first politically-minded publication, Kmetijske in rokodelske novice (Farming and Craftsman News), covered national agricultural issues starting in 1848.
Fast forward another 30 years to the 1920s, when radio broadcasts first reached Slovenian ears. Of course, with such new technology, only a tiny number of households could afford their own radio devices at the time to listen in. By the 1950s, newspaper circulation continued to grow, and television broadcasts were launched through the newly created state TV channel JRT (now called RTV Slovenija).
Want to learn more? Let’s go over the most popular Slovenian media in the sections below.
Newspapers
While Slovenia’s small population of just over 2 million leads some to assume limited media options, the country actually has a robust newspaper tradition spanning political, business, tabloids, and regional interests. In fact, according to Statista, Slovenia ranks among the top European countries in print newspaper readership. Slovenes like to kick back with an old-fashioned časopis cooling off from their morning coffee.
Yet the inevitable digital disruption facing all print media worldwide continues to challenge Slovenian newspapers as well. Despite the current loyal readership, the number of people turning actual pages continues to decline year after year as news websites like 24ur and rtvslo.si grow in popularity, especially among younger generations.
- Primorske Novice – regional daily
- Slovenske Novice – daily tabloid
- Nedeljski dnevnik – weekly
- Mladina – weekly
- Finance – business daily
- The Slovenia Times – English-language weekly
- Dnevnik – Ljubljana-based daily
- Delo – Ljubljana-based daily
- Vecer – Maribor-based daily
Television
When it comes to television, Slovenians are served by a vibrant mix of public and commercial broadcast stations. The airwaves light up with everything from hard-hitting news to racy reality shows to dubbed Hollywood blockbusters.
In 2023, Slovenia’s total TV, radio, and multimedia market raked in over $122 million in revenues. And the television slice of the media pie continues to grow at a steady pace, projected to reach almost $85 million by 2028, according to market researchers.
Leading the way in Slovenian television is the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia, which operates several national and regional stations. Much like the BBC in the UK or PBS in the US, RTV Slovenia provides educational and cultural programming along with radio services. For some fun distraction, the reality show Big Brother Slovenia often stirs up drama on the national station RTV SLO1.
- RTV Slovenia – public, operates national and regional services
- Kanal A – commercial
- TV3 – commercial
- Pop TV – commercial
Radio Stations
While video may have killed the radio star elsewhere, radio continues to thrive as a popular medium across Slovenia. Despite rising digital media options, many Slovenes still enjoy turning the dial for news, music, talk, and localized programming.
Recent market research shows traditional radio holding strong in Slovenia. Over half the population tunes into the radio daily, outranking most European countries. And the loyal listener base keeps growing, the Slovenian radio market is actually projected to expand almost 1% annually over the next five years.
Driving this growth is the diversity of radio available across the airwaves. Leading the way is the public broadcasting powerhouse Radio Slovenija (RTVS), with its wide range of national and regional programming across news, culture, music, and entertainment. This includes Radio Prvi, a general interest station focused on news and talk.
- RTV Slovenia – public, operates national and regional services
- Radio City – commercial
- Radio Hit – commercial
Easy Words For Slovenian Media
I know diving into learning a new language can seem intimidating. Trust me, when I first started studying Slovenian, my head spun trying to memorize all the new vocabulary around media, journalism, broadcasting, and everything in between! But have no fear – I’m going to break down some key media words and phrases in Slovenian to help you build understanding.
| English | Slovenian |
|---|---|
| Newspaper | Časopis |
| Magazine | Revija |
| Television | Televizija |
| Radio | Radio |
| Internet | Internet |
| Social Media | Družbena omrežja |
| Podcast | Podcast |
| News Website | Novičarska spletna stran |
| Streaming Service | Storitev pretočnih vsebin |
| Blog | Blog |
| Film | Film |
| Documentary | Dokumentarni film |
| Advertisement | Oglas |
| Journalism | Novinarstvo |
| Broadcaster | Radiotelevizija |
When first getting familiar with talking about the media in Slovenian, I found it super helpful to have a basic sentence formula I could use as a starting point. Then, I could plug in different types of media and build my skills from there through repetition.
So here’s an easy pattern to remember:
[Noun] + [verb] + [media noun]
For example:
“Berem časopis” – “I read the newspaper”
See how I put the noun “berem” (I read) together with “časopis” (newspaper)?
Let’s try another:
“Poslušam radio” – “I listen to the radio”
By inserting “poslušam” (I listen to) with “radio,” I can talk about listening to radio broadcasts.
Once you get the basic pattern down, you can continue expanding by plugging in different Slovenian media words:
- “Gledam televizijo” – “I watch television”
- “Kupim revijo” – “I buy a magazine”
See how easy it is? Using this formula to combine simple media nouns and verbs takes the pressure off memorizing complex sentences. Gradually build up your vocabulary, and you’ll chat about Slovenian media like a local before you know it!
Learn Slovenian With Ling
Feeling more inspired to learn Slovenian? If yes, then I highly recommend new learners check out the Ling app, which provides bite-sized Slovenian lessons focused on practical conversation. The lessons allow you to pick up phrases and words that native speakers actually use. Meanwhile, the spaced repetition system helps cement new vocabulary about the media and everyday topics through fun, quick drills.
So what are you waiting for? Give Ling a try now!
