Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has called on the opposition to stop calling for demonstrations over plans to change the financing of Czech Television and Czech Radio. In a post on the social network X, he rejected claims that the government was preparing to nationalize the media.
“I call on the opposition to stop increasing tensions in society. There is no war for independent media. There is no fight for democracy and there is no plan to nationalize the media“, Babis wrote.The prime minister accused his political opponents of deliberately inciting public tension, calling on people to take to the streets, and thus putting their health and safety at risk. His statement came after the Chamber of Deputies began an accelerated discussion of a bill to abolish television and radio fees.
Majority passes the project on first reading
In the early hours of October 24, the ruling coalition of ANO, SPD and “Motorists for Their Own“ passed the proposal on first reading. 81 of the 177 deputies present voted to reject it. The bill provides for Czech Television and Czech Radio to be financed from the state budget instead of through mandatory fees.
Households in the Czech Republic pay 150 crowns per month for television and 55 crowns for radio. From May 2025, the obligation will also cover households that do not have a TV or radio, but have a smartphone, computer or tablet that allows access to the content.
According to data cited by the Czech media iDNES, Czech Television has a budget of 8.5 billion crowns for 2026, with 6.7 billion of them coming from fees. Czech Radio expects 2.4 billion crowns in fee revenue with total revenues and expenses exceeding 2.7 billion crowns.
Opposition and media workers oppose
Opposition parties see the change as a risk to the independence of public media. UDS chairman Martin Kupka said that people do not want television and radio to be controlled by the state or the government. Pirates leader Zdenek Hrib compared the actions of the government to Viktor Orbán's policies in Hungary.
Around 500 people protested in front of the Chamber of Deputies building in Prague. Police later intervened after some of the demonstrators attempted to enter the building.
Employees of Czech Television and Czech Radio announced a full-day strike on November 3. Czech Television Director General Hynek Hudacek said that financial independence is an important pillar of the institution's independence and called for a stable, predictable and adequate funding model.
The bill must pass the Senate and be signed by President Petr Pavel. Opposition forces have a majority in the upper house after the October elections, which could complicate the final adoption of the changes.
Sources: idnes.cz, euronews.com