Czech Television needs 8.5 billion crowns to keep services in 2027

To keep its current range of public services in 2027, Czech Television needs to hold its budget at no less than this year's level — 8.5 billion crowns. That is according to director general Hynek Chudárek. Even with that budget, he said, the broadcaster has to save money because of rising costs, a higher minimum wage and higher rates for creative professions.

Management, he said, has already launched an optimisation and transformation while keeping all six channels, including online broadcasting and digital services. Job cuts follow long-term plans and are unrelated to the threat of a budget cut.

What the government proposes

Next year's budget is based on the long-term plans approved by the Czech Television Council in 2025 and on expected revenue from TV licence fees: 6.7 billion crowns this year and 7 billion in 2027. The government bill proposes switching to funding from the state budget: 5.7 billion crowns. That is a billion less than this year's expected fee revenue and 1.3 billion less than in 2027.

If revenue drops substantially, it would directly affect the range of services, Chudárek believes. Public service would have to be redefined and priced anew, as the European EMFA regulation and the EBU also demand. Doing that in a short time is unacceptable, he said: agreeing the current memorandum on fulfilling the public service took a year.

Lawmakers will soon start working on the bill, and Czech Television, Chudárek said, will be “very active” in pushing for amendments that secure stable funding. He does not consider it realistic for the changes to take effect as early as next year: similar reforms in Western and Northern Europe took two to four years. In case its budget is cut, the broadcaster is already building a financial cushion.

Staff to be cut, programmes to stay

Czech Television employs about 2,900 people. Long-term plans call for cutting staff by 12–15 percent over five years. Chudárek stressed that the reason is not the change in funding but rising salaries and a change in how programmes are made — above all drama, which is increasingly produced as co-productions and by outside studios.

The broadcaster does not plan to reduce the output of new programmes next year and will probably even make more than planned. Some shows will be cancelled or aired less often because of falling ratings or rising production costs. The children's shows “Dragons in the Pot” and “The Handymen” will only be rerun, “On the Trail” is ending, and the broadcast of the costly Eurovision and the overnight news are being dropped. On the other hand, four new children's formats for the ČT:D channel and seven new series of Večerníček have been approved, and a new 13-part family drama, “The Doers of Good Deeds”, is in production.

About 2.2 billion crowns are earmarked for programme production in 2027 — roughly the same as in 2025. This year's costs came to 2.85 billion, driven by the Olympics and the football World Cup.

Savings on sports rights

Sports rights were the first to go. The broadcaster sold half of its football World Cup rights to Nova, dropped out of the race for the Wimbledon finals because the price had risen, and this summer did not show a single match by Czech clubs from the qualifying rounds of European tournaments. For the first time in its history, it also did not take part in the tender for European club competition rights for the next period.

The priority will remain events of major public significance and Czech national team matches. A significant part of the rights is secured by long-term contracts, and ending them early would mean heavy penalties. Uncertainty over future funding, Chudárek stressed, severely limits long-term planning and is forcing the broadcaster to give up some important sporting events already now.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz