Workers at Czech Television and Czech Radio began a 24-hour strike at midnight on Tuesday to protest a government plan to abolish license fees and fund the broadcasters from the state budget.
The strike, called by the initiative Veřejnoprávně with support from trade unions at both broadcasters, has significantly disrupted programming. On the ČT24 news channel, the strike began with a special broadcast moderated by editor-in-chief Michal Kubal and TV moderator Daniel Stach, both dressed in black. The two read prepared statements and short news items from paper before archive programming began. Viewers will not see the main news program Události, the morning show Studio 6 or the program Sama doma, while on radio, regular programming has been replaced by music and reruns.
Workers are also holding rallies in Prague, Brno and Ostrava, among other cities. In Prague, a march will start shortly after 14:00 from Kavčí hory via Nuselský bridge toward Wenceslas Square, with a second group leaving from Czech Radio in Vinohrady about an hour later. At 16:36, a main rally will begin in the lower part of Wenceslas Square with a performance by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra. Speakers include Alice Němcová Tejkalová, head of the Journalism Department at Charles University, and Slovak director Tereza Nvotová.
The strike is a reaction to a bill passed in its first reading by MPs of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's government on October 23 at 04:36. The bill would abolish the license fees that currently fund the broadcasters and instead finance them directly from the state budget, with a budget cut of around 15 percent. Workers fear that economic dependence on political power could threaten critical reporting and independent production. They demand that the coalition withdraw the bill and begin a transparent discussion with experts.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has denied that changing the financing would threaten the independence of either broadcaster. He said the government would never interfere in the editorial work of Czech Television or Czech Radio, nor in their personnel matters. He suggested that fees could become voluntary, saying: "Whoever wants pays, whoever doesn't want doesn't have to pay."
More than 320 Czech athletes signed an open letter calling on the government to abandon the plan to finance the broadcasters from the state budget. Signatories include Olympic medalists Lukáš Rohan and Vavřinec Hradilek, and snowboarder Eva Adamczyková. Student organizations and actor unions have also joined the strike in solidarity.
The initiative Veřejnoprávně said the strike could be interrupted in case of a serious extraordinary event with possible consequences for lives, health or safety of citizens. Tomio Okamura, chairman of the coalition movement SPD, recently stated that he would agree if someone proposed abolishing Czech Television.
