Czech public broadcaster Česká televize staged a one-day strike on Tuesday to protest the government’s plan to replace broadcasting fees with direct allocations from the state budget. Its channels showed mostly archive footage, interrupted by brief appearances from news presenters dressed in black, while an on-screen message said the broadcaster wanted to continue fulfilling its public-service mission in full and at a high standard.
Just after midnight, two presenters on the ČT24 news channel appeared in a darkened studio and described the day as unprecedented in the history of Czech public media. The broadcaster’s protest follows earlier actions by employees this spring against the government proposal.
The funding plan was brought before parliament by lawmakers from Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s ANO party, the Motorists and the far-right SPD. A vote was scheduled for 4:36 a.m. on a Saturday. The proposal would end the current fee-based model and fund public broadcasters directly through the state budget.
Babiš has said the government does not intend to interfere with editorial independence and has pointed to other EU countries where public broadcasters receive state funding. However, journalists and media experts fear that annual budget allocations could create indirect dependence, since funding might be reduced from year to year. The draft provides for a budget 15% lower than the current level in its first year.
The proposal has also prompted concern among Czechs who recall that Slovakia’s abolition of general broadcasting fees in 2023 was followed by changes that dismantled its public media system. In the Czech Republic, public broadcasters have a strong base of public support, and an earlier dispute over ČT’s leadership sparked a broad protest movement in 2001.
The issue has caused divisions within ANO as well. Local party representatives in Zlín distanced themselves from the plan, while some ANO municipal politicians in other towns left the party. Babiš has said the coalition will proceed, but also indicated that the bill’s details could still be negotiated before its second and third readings. After meeting ČT’s secretary-general, he referred to alternative funding options without specifying them.
The final readings in parliament are provisionally planned for December, and the date the law might take effect remains unclear. The opposition-controlled Senate could return the bill to the lower house, and President Petr Pavel could veto it, although the coalition majority could potentially override either obstacle. The article notes that next year’s budget has already been settled and contains no provision for funding public broadcasting without fees.
Sources: FAZ.