The Czech government has proposed increasing license fees for public broadcasters Czech Television and Czech Radio. The ministry also wants to amend existing legislation to make license fees compulsory for people who own a smart phone or tablet. This would increase the number of households paying license fees by around 600,000. Czech Radio, which celebrated its centenary on May 18, would like the current monthly license fee of 45 crowns increased to 60. The monthly license fee for Czech Television is presently 135 crowns.
The proposed changes are part of the government’s efforts to ensure that public broadcasters are adequately funded. The increased license fees would help to ensure that Czech Television and Czech Radio can continue to provide quality programming to the public. The government is also looking into other ways to support public broadcasters, such as increasing advertising revenue and introducing new technologies.
The proposed changes are still under discussion and will need to be approved by the government before they can be implemented. It remains to be seen whether the proposed changes will be accepted by the public.