One sign of the newfound respect accorded TV production was the debut of two new competition categories at the Finale Plzen film festival, one for dramatic TV production and one for TV comedies.

The festival also extended its three-year-old industry section to include a range of topics devoted to TV. At the presentation of upcoming Czech films organized by the Czech Film Center, representatives of the Midpoint workshop programme for filmmakers embarking on their professional careers announced the introduction of a TV development workshop to begin in summer 2015 in cooperation with Greece. The international workshop for screenwriters and creative producers will cover TV serials and is aimed at producers who have already completed their first film and want to move into television.

The Czech MEDIA Desk is also giving TV production a hand. Rebranded as Creative Europe MEDIA Desk, it's Czech director Daniela Stanikova said TV would be among the categories eligible for support.

Masterclasses and panels at the festival focused heavily on TV production and collaboration, both with other partner TV stations and with fimmakers. At a well-attended panel on new trends in TV, Czech TV director of programme development and programme formats Jan Maxa said Czech TV, which launced a film development unit, already has two contracts for coproductions with ARTE and is beginning discussions on coproductions with Germany's MDR. However, he noted, because of Czech TV's launch of two new channels, an arts channel and a children's channel, CTV has "reached the limits on how far it can stretch its money." Coproductions with filmmakers and TV may be its best option, and attention from festivals like Finale Plzen (whose closing ceremony was broadcast on CTV's new arts channel) might be a necessity as TV tries to claim its spotlight.