Author: Petr Szczepanik (Charles University)
On 24 October 2026, Czech lawmakers advanced a bill to abolish licence fees for Czech Television (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo), following an unexpected overnight parliamentary debate that ended with a vote at 4:36 a.m. The populist-led coalition of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, in which the small right-wing Motorists party holds the culture portfolio, proposes replacing licence fees with state-budget funding, cutting the broadcasters’ combined annual funding by approximately CZK 1.4 billion (15%). The bill has passed its first reading, with the legislative process still underway.
The dispute touches a sensitive historical legacy. Established as independent public institutions after the fall of communism, ČT and ČRo remain central to the Czech media system, providing widely trusted journalism and supporting domestic cultural production. Their autonomy has faced repeated political challenges, most visibly during the Czech Television crisis of 2000–2001. The previous centre-right government led by Petr Fiala introduced legislation in 2025 that increased licence fees after almost two decades of frozen rates and established inflation-linked adjustments. The new proposal would reverse that settlement without comparable safeguards against political interference. Without strong safeguards against future political revisions of the state-budget contribution, governing majorities could use funding decisions to exert pressure on the broadcasters, while the immediate cuts would weaken their capacity to sustain independent journalism and long-term programming. Thousands protested in Prague on 25 October, while a PSM employee initiative, Veřejnoprávně, has called a one-day strike for 3 November.
Government representatives defend the shift by pointing to Western and Northern European examples. Yet this comparison overlooks the institutional conditions under which those systems function. A 2026 comparative study by Marína Urbániková and colleagues, covering 13 European countries, found that state-budget funding is particularly exposed to political cycles. Denmark initially planned a 20% reduction in DR’s funding during its transition away from licence fees; the eventual cut was approximately 10%. In Slovakia, a change of government reduced the broadcaster’s GDP-linked allocation from 0.17% to 0.12%. Norway demonstrates that state-budget funding can be compatible with independence, provided strong political norms and institutional safeguards are in place.
Funding pressures also threaten the capacity of public service media to evolve. ČT’s free streaming platform iVysílání has expanded beyond catch-up television into original online-first drama and nonfiction production, including web series Adikts and Vlastně se nic nestalo. In April 2026, ČT also launched tak.moment, a social-media-native channel targeting 15–25-year-olds through short-form news, cultural reporting and entertainment, primarily on Instagram and YouTube. These initiatives illustrate the dynamic, market-shaping public value discussed by Mariana Mazzucato and colleagues: public media can experiment with new formats, develop creative capacities and strengthen the wider production ecosystem. Funding cuts risk constraining these developments as younger audiences move away from traditional broadcasting.
The government’s parallel plans to cut funding for the State Audiovisual Fund and replace its governing bodies raise concerns about a broader pattern of institutional capture across the country’s cultural sector. Together, reduced commissioning budgets at ČT and cuts to the Fund’s support programmes would mean fewer projects for independent producers and diminished employment opportunities for freelance writers, directors, production crews and other creative professionals. Meanwhile, the European Broadcasting Union has warned that the funding proposal raises serious concerns under Article 5(3) of the European Media Freedom Act, which requires adequate, sustainable and predictable funding. The Czech dispute raises questions about the independence and future capacity of public media that extend well beyond the immediate budgetary conflict.