By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE, March 23 (Reuters) - The Czech ruling coalition will introduce a legal change on Tuesday that would lower funding for public television and radio later this year, coalition
Czech Coalition Moves to Partly Defund Public Media, Raising Independence Concerns
Proposed Funding Changes and Reactions
By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE, March 23 (Reuters) - The Czech ruling coalition will introduce a legal change on Tuesday that would lower funding for public television and radio later this year, coalition politicians said on Monday, in a step critics see as an attempt to weaken independent media.
Details of the Proposed Legislation
The coalition of Prime Minister Andrej Babis' populist ANO party, the far-right SPD and the eurosceptic Motorists will introduce a bill to cancel the monthly user's fee for public media for senior citizens, young people and companies.
Government's Long-Term Plan
SPD chief Tomio Okamura said the proposal was the first step toward the government's plan to cancel the user's fees altogether and bring financing fully under the state budget.
"Our voters want the end of user fees," Okamura told reporters in comments broadcast on Czech Television after a meeting of the coalition chiefs.
Role and Importance of Public Media
The public Czech Television and Czech Radio play a large role in the country's media space, with Czech Television claiming to be the most watched television among viewers aged 15 and over, with a 29% market share of that audience, including its various channels of entertainment and news.
Czech Television and Czech Radio each had trust of 59% of Czechs in a 2025 Reuters Institute survey, the highest ratings among Czech media included in the poll.
Concerns and Criticism
Public Media Response
CZECH TV PROTESTS
Czech Television said the cut would make it impossible to meet its public service commitments.
"General Director Hynek Chudarek and the entire CT leadership will continue to take all steps aimed at maintaining the current functional fee system, and in its current extent," it said in an email.
Uncertainty Over Funding Impact
It was not immediately clear how large the funding cut would be under the proposal. Okamura said funding would return to levels of 2024, before a slight increase in fees by the previous parliament.
Czech Television has a budget of 8.5 billion crowns ($402.54 million) for 2026, mostly from the user fees that are 155 crowns ($7.36) per month.
The introduction of the bill by members of parliament means it will skip wider discussion that a government-sponsored bill would have in the legislative process.
International and Domestic Reactions
Media Watchdog Perspective
Pavol Szalai, the head of the Prague office of Reporters Without Borders, said the changes would make a significant change to a decades-old model that made public media a pillar of democracy.
"The proposal is not worthy of a democratic country, a member of the EU," he said.
Political Context
Babis, a billionaire businessman and political ally of Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, a self-proclaimed advocate of 'illiberal democracy', has long railed against both public and private media, accusing them of lies.
Media independence was among key topics at the largest anti-government protest in years in Prague on Saturday, which organisers said drew 250,000.
Additional Information
($1 = 21.1160 Czech crowns)
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka, Additional reporting by Jason Hovet, Editing by William Maclean)
