Government to push ahead with public media funding shift

At a meeting with the heads of Czech Radio and Czech Television on Tuesday representatives of the ruling coalition reiterated their intention to push ahead with a plan to abolish television and radio license fees, and replace them with state funding.

The cabinet will discuss how much funding Czech Television (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo) should receive from the state budget next Monday. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who was present at the talks, said the amount would be fair, predictable and indexed to inflation.

Babiš rejected opposition claims that the change is aimed at influencing public-service media, saying the goal is to end charges for people who do not use the services.

Czech Radio Director-General René Zavoral said after the meeting that there had been no debate on the matter and media representatives were merely informed of the government's plan to abolish the current license-fee law.