Stella Litou has been the CEO of RTL Croatia and Pro Plus in Slovenia since 2023. During this period she has successfully led the transformation of the two broadcasters into modern media companies with a strong presence on linear TV, on-demand and digital platforms, while also overseeing the expansion of streaming service VOYO into the other former Yugoslavia markets.

In this exclusive interview with CEETV’s Yako Molhov, Litou shared some insights on the recent historical results achieved by the comprehensive election coverage and debates of POP TV and the importance of sustaining credibility in a media space flooded with disinformation. She also touched upon the development and synergies between the operations in Croatia and Slovenia and how Pro Plus and RTL Croatia build their media brands and successfully monetize content on TV, digital and on demand.


Stella, this year POP TV delivered record-breaking audiences with Slovenia Decides 2026 Parliamentary elections coverage. What did this project teach you about television’s role in high-impact national moments like elections?

Our 2026 Slovenian Parliamentary election coverage clearly demonstrated that television remains the most powerful platform in moments of national importance. We didn’t just cover the elections, but we created a space where the country could come together, engage, and form opinions based on credible, verified information. By taking debates out of the studio in Ljubljana to different parts and towns of Slovenia, we brought the conversation closer to people—their everyday environment, concerns, and reality.

The results confirm that we got it right. We achieved record-breaking audiences and exceptionally high viewing shares, which can be divided into three key pillars. The first four debates were the most watched election debates in the past 15 years, the one-on-one debate between the two leading candidates for the prime minister delivered the highest audience share (64%) since 2000, and election night achieved a 45% audience share, 50% higher than the main competitor.

All this proves that when content is relevant, trustworthy and accessible, audiences respond at scale. In moments like elections, people are not looking for speed alone, they are looking for clarity, context, and trust.


The decision to take election debates out of the studio to different towns in Slovenia proved highly successful. Do you see this kind of format innovation as essential for maintaining relevance and trust?

Absolutely, but for us, innovation is not just about novelty, it’s about relevance. Taking debates to different parts of Slovenia was conscious editorial strategic decision. It brought us closer to communities and made the conversation more inclusive, more grounded, and more authentic. Relevance today is built on being close to people, geographically, emotionally, and socially. The closer you are to your audience, the stronger the connection and the higher the level of trust. Ultimately, innovation only matters if it strengthens that relationship, and in this case, it clearly did.


With audiences increasingly consuming news on digital and social platforms, how do you balance the need for reach and clicks with the responsibility to maintain trust and credibility?

There is no trade-off between reach and credibility. You can generate short-term traffic through speed or sensationalism, but you build strong, sustainable media brands through trust. Our principle is very clear: we don’t compete to be first, we compete to be right. There are many situations where we deliberately choose not to publish until information is fully verified. That discipline builds long-term loyalty and direct relationships with our audience, something that no algorithm can replace. For example, in Slovenia, 87% of 24ur.com traffic comes directly, which shows a strong, intentional relationship with our audience and reinforces the value of trust over clicks.

In Croatia, we have built the largest social media footprint in the country, generating close to 4 billion views, equivalent to the combined reach of the entire competition. This is the result of consistently delivering clear, relevant, and well-told stories in formats that engage audiences. Our efforts have been recognized by the European Parliament, which has awarded us funding to serve as a strategic partner in the fields of communication, combating disinformation, and strengthening media literacy.


In a media landscape shaped by disinformation, how do you ensure that Pro Plus and RTL Croatia remain reliable anchors of credible information?

Credibility is our most valuable asset, and it is built every single day. Not just in moments of crisis, but every evening when viewers turn to RTL Danas or 24UR, and every morning when they open 24ur.com, net.hr or danas.hr. In today’s noisy environment, people are actively searching for trusted information. The moment we start taking that trust for granted is the moment we begin to lose it. So, we simply don't.
We see this reflected in audience behavior. For example, during the 2026 Slovenian Parliamentary elections period, some of our key programs reached over 70% share among viewers aged 18–24. At the same time, 24ur.com recorded the highest traffic in its history, reaching 76% of Slovenia’s online population, and generating nearly 150-million-page views. This shows that when the topic truly matters, audiences – the younger ones included – turn to credible, live, and verified information.


How are your operations currently performing in Slovenia and Croatia respectively, and where are you seeing the strongest growth or pressure points?

Both markets show a similar dynamic: strong linear performance combined with accelerating digital push driving the market. In Slovenia, we continue to lead across television and digital, with POP TV by far the most-watched broadcast channel, 24UR the undisputed leading news brand, and VOYO the number one local streaming platform.

RTL Croatia maintains a strong position with its popular local reality and fiction programs and leading main news program, RTL Danas. It also continues to perform strongly with major live events, especially the European and World Handball Championships, which we broadcast at the beginning of each year, as well as Formula 1, for which we have obtained exclusive broadcasting rights for both Croatia and Slovenia. Our digital assets, Net.hr and Danas.hr remain among the most-read web portals in the country.

Overall, in Adria region we have created the leading streaming ecosystem, scaling from Slovenia and Croatia into Serbia and Bosnia with digital transformation fully integrated into every function of our operation.


What are the synergies and good practices that you have introduced for your operations in Croatia and Slovenia?

Our strength lies in combining scale with local expertise. We share best practices in programming, technology, data and monetization, while content decisions remain local. This balance between shared knowledge and strong local autonomy is what drives performance. Scale also becomes increasingly important when content travels across markets. The launch of VOYO in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina is further proof that both our platform and our content strategy can successfully scale on a regional level.


Slovenia’s ad market declined by 4% in 2025, with budgets shifting towards global digital platforms. How is this changing the way you structure your commercial and content strategies? What about the Croatian ad market?

This trend reinforces the importance of trusted, high-quality environments. Global platforms offer reach, but they don’t offer the same level of trust, brand safety, or relevance. Our response is to focus on premium local content and deeper partnerships with advertisers and commercial partners.

Advertisers today are not just buying reach, they are buying access to audiences in a trusted, high-attention environment, combined with the emotional impact of premium local storytelling. So, we increasingly move beyond selling only advertising space towards building integrated partnerships and storytelling opportunities across our content, entertainment, and news ecosystem powered by a love brand.


Sports-driven moments, from major transfers to international victories, continue to attract premium advertisers. How important are these “national narrative” events in your programming and monetization strategy?

Sports is central to our strategy. It is one of the formats that people watch live, together with friends and family, and with strong emotional engagement. That makes it incredibly powerful both editorially and commercially.

Our portfolio includes the UEFA Champions League, Formula 1, MotoGP, Superbike, the E1 Series, the CEV Volleyball Cup, 2026 European Futsal Championship was a success as well, and many other premium sports properties. In Croatia, for example, RTL’s coverage of the 2026 European Handball Championship delivered exceptional nationwide engagement around the national team and an average audience share of 54% on RTL, with the most-watched match – Germany vs. Croatia – reaching a 66% share.

At the same time, we continue to expand our premium sports offering with additional content such as combat sports on VOYO, including regional FNC partnership, which attract highly engaged audiences and younger demographics. We see strong momentum in this segment and plan to continue strengthening our sports portfolio across both linear and streaming platforms.

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