COMMENTS OF COMMERCIAL MEDIA ON THE DRAFT ACT ON PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA
Associations representing the entire media market, except for public service media, point out that fundamental changes to the operation of public service media cannot be viewed in isolation from their impact on the rest of the media market. They have therefore jointly prepared comments on the submitted draft Act on Public Service Media, drawing attention to major shortcomings in the proposed amendment. Key points include an unclear definition of public service, the absence of regulation of online advertising, and the loss of safeguards contained in memoranda.
Prague, 15 May 2026 – Associations representing commercial television and radio broadcasters, online and print publishers had already strongly emphasised, during previous discussions on changes to the financing of public service media, the interdependence of the public and private media markets. In view of this dual system, we consider it necessary that any changes be consulted with private media service providers as well. Associations representing the entire private media market have therefore prepared several fundamental comments on the submitted draft Act on Public Service Media.
First, the draft act does not define public service with sufficient precision. Nor does it provide any other instrument through which the state could further define public service and the conditions for its provision beyond the statutory framework, for example, for a specific period. The current legislation at least contains the institution of a memorandum on the manner of fulfilling public service. In addition to specifying the scope of public service, the memoranda guaranteed a number of negotiated safeguards and guidelines for the activities of public service media, such as clarification of their operation in the online environment or transparent access to archival productions for other media service providers. All of these specifications are missing from the submitted draft and must be incorporated into the amendment appropriately.
The draft also completely omits the already existing restrictions on public service media in online advertising. This fundamental shortcoming is contrary to the principle of technological neutrality, since the existing restrictions in terrestrial and radio broadcasting remain in place; it goes against the purpose of providing a public service, as it forces ČT (Czech Television) and ČRo (Czech Radio) to compete in the advertising market; and, finally, it raises the issue of distortion of competition, where commercial media compete directly with entities that have state-guaranteed revenues.
The proposer has also removed the existing statutory procedures for approving the introduction of new significant services. The current act assumes that, before launching new projects that could have a potentially significant negative impact on the dual media system, public service media must consult their intentions with the public and supervisory bodies, so that the projects’ impacts and relevance to the fulfilment of the public service function can be assessed.
Following the discussion on the transparency of financial spending, we also propose introducing a benchmark cost control mechanism for public service media through an expert commission. Such a commission could assess, in a qualified and independent manner, whether the costs incurred are efficient, particularly compared to similar costs incurred by comparable media service providers. This instrument is an established practice in many other European countries and is in line with the Communication from the Commission 2009/C 257/01.
The draft rather illogically offers public service media the possibility of publishing their own printed periodicals, which does not correspond in any way to the media type of either Czech Television or Czech Radio. We also propose that the application of the directive on audiovisual media services on demand be clarified, and that obligations to ensure the accessibility of content for persons with visual or hearing impairments be reinstated, as these are omitted in the draft compared to the current act for reasons that remain unclear.
Contacts
Association of Commercial Television (Asociace komerčních televizí, AKTV), contact: Marie Fianová, marie.fianova@aktv.cz
Association of Online Publishers (Asociace online vydavatelů, AOV), contact: Ondřej Neumann, ondrej.neumann@hlidacipes.org
Association of Private Broadcasters (Asociace provozovatelů soukromého vysílání, APSV), contact: Jan Neuman, neuman@mms.cz
Czech Publishers’ Association (Česká unie vydavatelů, ČUV), contact: Kateřina Kroupová, kroupova@cuv.cz
Association for Internet Development in the Czech Republic (Sdružení pro internetový rozvoj v ČR, SPIR), contact: Filip Dotlačil, filip.dotlacil@spir.cz
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Appendix
Comments of the media market submitted within the consultation process available here.
