Czechia’s prime minister pledged to scrap the license fee. Thousands are taking to the streets. From Based in Bohemia.
I spent 27 years working for two public broadcasters, Czech Radio and the BBC. I tried in that time to remain scrupulously objective and impartial.
But I’m on my own now. So, I guess I’m more free to speak my mind.
The issue of how public broadcasters should be funded is eye-wateringly complex. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds.
But after a week of interviews and research, I think some things have become clear.
Saying you shouldn’t pay the license fee because you don’t watch Czech TV or listen to Czech Radio is like saying you shouldn’t fund ambulances because you don’t have heart attacks or strokes.
Public broadcasting is a public service. It’s there for all, whether you use it or not.
The two stations enjoy greater trust than any other news organization in the Czech Republic. This is based on evidence, not vibes.
In its 2026 survey, the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report found that 59% of Czechs trusted the news they saw on Czech TV and 58% trusted the news they heard on Czech Radio.
When a big story breaks, people turn straight to Czech TV and Czech Radio, TV presenter – and protest organizer – Daniel Stach told me when I interviewed him for The Guardian this week.
“They are symbols. They are part of our history. They are part of our culture. And that’s why people are standing up,” said Daniel.
OK, let’s give the government the benefit of the doubt for a moment. Let’s take them at their word when they say the system is broken and needs to be reformed. That the license fee is unfair and outdated and should be replaced by direct state funding.
I didn’t know this, but each time a bill is submitted to the lower house, the sponsor of that bill has to produce something called a duvodova zprava, a report explaining why the law needs to be changed.
This one was also accompanied by an impact assessment.
Of the four options it examined, the government’s own impact assessment found that a reformed license fee offered the strongest protection for the broadcasters’ independence.
Direct state funding was the riskiest of the four options it examined.
Let that sink in for a minute.
According to its own assessment, the government is deliberately embarking on a path that carries the greatest risk.
If that’s true, why go ahead?
Tomio Okamura – leader of the far-right SPD party – has at least been candid about his intentions. He clearly loathes Czech TV and Czech Radio.
He’s said openly that if someone proposed a bill to abolish the two broadcasters altogether, he would vote for it.
Which is fine. At least we know where he stands.
His party campaigned on the issue before last year’s elections. He says the SPD promised the two license fees (currently 205 crowns – around 8 euros – per month) would be scrapped if they got into government, and he’s delivering on that promise.
It’s hard to criticize the SPD for pursuing a policy they made a priority.
But what about his colleagues?
The Eurosceptic Motorists for Themselves party initially defended the fees. In early December, incoming Culture Minister Oto Klempir came out of a meeting with President Petr Pavel saying the party was in favor of maintaining the status quo.
By January, he said every Motorist parliamentary deputy was in favor of scrapping the license fees.
As for Prime Minister Andrej Babis, he perhaps is in the toughest position.
Certainly he’s no fan of Czech Television, or Czech Radio.
But he’s now facing huge public protests. And not just in Prague, but in smaller cities like Jihlava, Hradec Kralove, Liberec.
He’s said to be furious at the size – and the extent – of the protests.
So why expend so much political capital pushing through something that is unpopular and offers little in the way of political reward?
Because his coalition now hinges on it. Babis knows a U-turn is a red line for Okamura and the SPD, who have made abolishing the license fees their overarching priority.
All three parties did poorly in the recent Senate and local elections. A first reading for the bill was scheduled barely a week later.
“They need a win,” as one observer put it.
The vote itself was scheduled for 4:36 a.m. This was something of an own goal, as “4:36” has now become a rallying cry.
Babis says 17 of the EU’s 27 members fund public broadcasting from the state budget. The Czech Republic with its license fees is in a minority.
He says Czech TV and Czech Radio can be funded directly without a new tax or other financial burdens on the Czech citizen.
The settlement would extend beyond the life of a parliamentary term and would guarantee independence from political interference, he promises.
He and others often point to “the Nordic model” as an example.
But there is no “Nordic model.”
Finland and Sweden replaced their license fees with dedicated charges collected through the tax system (Babis has ruled out a new tax).
Denmark and Norway fund their main public broadcasters from the state budget.
Iceland also levies a dedicated broadcasting charge through its tax system.
A better example is Slovakia, where the license fee was scrapped by the caretaker government of Eduard Heger in 2023, with a promise that Slovak TV and Radio would remain well-funded and protected from political influence.
Within a year it had been hollowed out and brought to heel by Robert Fico’s populist-nationalist coalition. The result is noticeable in the output, especially on Slovak Television.
“We’re deeply concerned and we want to believe that the government will not proceed with its initial intentions,” said Thibaut Bruttin, director general of the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders.
“We should favor public service media rather than question it. We should strengthen it rather than weaken it,” he told me this week on a visit to Prague.
I asked the Culture Ministry for an interview. There was no response.
The dispute over the license fees is now a lightning rod for dissatisfaction with the government.
But even if half a million people gather on Prague’s Letna Plain, a traditional site of mass demonstrations, this Sunday, the fees will most likely be scrapped.
Some hope for some kind of fudge when the bill enters its second reading next year. But the government has tied their colors to the mast, and it feels like it’s too late now to change course.
Motorist parliamentary deputy Gabriela Sedlackova said recently that one part of society had made public broadcasting a totem, and was giving the other part the finger.
There’s a degree of truth in that, even if it is largely the government’s fault. And that feels quite dangerous for Czech society.
Because if Slovakia is anything to go by, it’s unlikely to stop at public broadcasting.
Rob Cameron is a journalist and broadcaster based in Prague. For many years he was the BBC correspondent for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This article originally appeared in Based in Bohemia, where you can sign up for free to receive regular stories like this, or become a paid subscriber to support Rob’s work. Republished by permission.
