Swan Song of a Loyal Public Servant?

At a conference two years ago with representatives of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the continent’s syndicate of public service media, after I had slammed several public service media for their politicization and bad management, I was asked what in my opinion was the best public service broadcaster in eastern Europe. Unexpectedly even for me, I reacted promptly and said that Czech TV was by far one of the most independent public service broadcasters in this part of the world. I lauded its professional news coverage, the vision of the station’s management with regards to digitization and new media, its output of documentaries and cultural programs, and its financial health.

Back in Prague, these comments were received lukewarmly by several Czech journalists. They said Czech TV had never managed to escape political control and influence. They proved to be right. Just shortly after the May parliamentary elections, significant changes are taking place at Czech TV – many of them politically dictated.

THE COUNTER-REFORM

The country's media have covered several waves of speculation and rumors about big changes at Czech TV over the past few years. Faced with a worsening financial situation exacerbated by the economic crisis, Czech TV’s general director Jiri Janecek spoke in early 2010 about plans for a major restructuring of the station, including laying off some 20 percent of staff.

The major changes in station management, however, were not announced until after the spring elections. Janecek plans to appoint a director for each of the station’s four channels, all subordinated to an overall channel manager. But the change most people are talking about is the replacement of the news director, Milan Fridrich, a move that other Czech media have criticized severely. Several people at Czech TV who talked to TOL said Janecek's decision was politically motivated.

Fridrich is known for being a good manager. During his tenure, the station’s all-news channel CT24 saw its audience grow from near zero to 3 percent in less than two years. The quality of public TV's news programs is much lauded by journalists. Many of them, in fact, rely on CT24 for their own coverage.

Janecek never offered any explanation for his decision to transfer Fridrich to take over the station’s brand-new department of new media. Fridrich was known to have good relationships with politicians from both the Social Democratic and center-right Civic Democratic parties – although more so with the Social Democrats, the strongest opposition party between 2006 and 2009. Several journalists at Czech TV speaking on condition of anonymity, said Janecek’s move to weaken Fridrich was dictated directly by the political parties – the Civic Democrats, joined by two new parties made up of a mixture of experienced rightwing and liberal politicians and untried newcomers – that gained power after the elections. Unlike the previous Civic Democrat-led administration that crashed in 2009, the new government has a larger majority and is expected to be more forceful in pushing for spending cuts and other changes.

Critics of the personnel reshuffle at Czech TV fear the new government is scheming to bolster its influence over the station. Its plans are expected to come to fruition in the fall when the parliament-appointed council that governs the station will be reshuffled. Janecek, once lauded for his strong stance towards the political establishment, has developed close ties with many politicians since he took the helm of the station six years ago.

Other voices at Czech TV think Janecek might have been motivated by fears for his own job. Fridrich's reputation as a manager and journalist has grown dramatically over the past year and he is seen as an aspirant for the top job. Fridrich said in an interview with the Czech daily Hospodarske noviny in mid-July that he didn’t understand the decision to be replaced. His replacement, Roman Bradac, Czech TV's former U.S. correspondent, is known both as a good journalist and a Janecek loyalist.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END?

The waves of criticism triggered by the changes at Czech TV are adding to the station’s growing woes. The station runs one generalist channel, a second channel devoted to documentaries and cultural programs, the all-news channel CT24, and the sports channel CT4.

Although it has managed to stay out of debt for the past five years, Czech TV is now facing serious financial problems. The station’s budget has declined in recent years in the context of the economic crisis, which had a negative impact on advertising spending. The future is not rosy at all in light of the station's legal obligation to stop selling ads in 2012. At the moment, Czech TV is funded from the roughly 5-euro monthly license fee paid by all Czech TV households and commercial revenues, including advertising. The government wants to strip the station of advertising following well-established public service models such as the BBC and Germany’s ARD. But it’s unlikely the station will be able to keep up its standards and compete with the leading commercial stations on license fees alone.

In 2009, the station pulled in advertising revenues of some 470 million crowns (19 million euros), down by a huge 270 million crowns from 2008. Revenue from license fees was around 5.8 billion crowns out of last year's total budget of 7.2 billion crowns (285 million euros). Ad spending is expected to be even lower in 2010. In parallel with the decline in the station’s funding, its audience has been going down as more TV stations launched in the country over the past three years and an increasing number of people move away from the public station. Czech TV’s flagship channel, CT1, has an audience share of some 17 percent; its second channel attracts 8 percent of viewers; and the specialized channels CT24 and CT4 have under 3 percent each. The largest private station in the country, Nova, has an average audience share of 28 percent.

Just as in other Central and Eastern European countries, the Czech public broadcaster is losing credibility, and with it its audience and cash. Unlike countries such as Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, where public media fell much faster, Czech TV has managed to defend its position for many years. Ten years ago many of its journalists barricaded themselves in station headquarters for days and refused to broadcast the news as thousands of Czechs demonstrated in support, until the detested government-appointed management resigned. But this time, the mood at the station is gloomy and journalists more pessimistic than ever.