"Independent media outlets in the Western Balkans are facing major challenges to their financial sustainability. With the exception of some of the largest broadcasters with national coverage and the most visited online media, the majority of media outlets across the region are not sustainable businesses. In particular, local media outlets, media engaged in niche reporting and/or those critical of the government are unable to generate sufficient advertising revenues. Media outlets in the region operate within a dysfunctional media system. Their revenues are shrinking, and a larger number of media outlets compete for increasingly thin pickings. Meanwhile, political interference and corrupt advertising practices deepen their woes. Media outlets are further disadvantaged by the radical changes in media consumption habits and advertising flows. As a result, independent journalism is sustained on only a small number of platforms that are committed to pluralism, democratic debate and democratic processes. Media ownership in the Western Balkans lacks transparency, and ownership of media outlets is often used as a way of influencing the public and/or the government, in line with the particular political and business interests of their owners. In addition, there is a strong tendency towards the concentration of power in the hands of few dominant players in areas such as media production, distribution, advertising and related businesses (in BiH, Serbia, and Montenegro, mainly the United Group and Telekom Srbija). By acquiring the rights to virtually all premium content, these dominant groups are making it highly challenging for other media outlets to secure a reasonable share of advertising income. The advertising market is affected by three dominant issues: the continuing economic crisis and the shift of advertising budgets to regional and global media and to online communication platforms; corrupt advertising, instrumentalised for the promotion of particular political and other interests; a lack of credible audience data." (Conclusions, page 40)