Thousands Rally in Prague as Czech Bill Would Cut Public TV and Radio Funding 15%

Thousands of people packed Prague's Old Town Square on Sunday, October 25, 2026, to protest a government bill that would scrap the licence fees funding Czech Television (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo) and pay for both from the state budget instead. The plan would also cut the broadcasters' combined funding by about CZK 1.4 billion a year, roughly 15%, according to the European Broadcasting Union.

The rally came hours after Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's coalition pushed the bill through its first reading in a vote held at 4:36 a.m. on Saturday. Staff at both broadcasters have called a full-day strike for November 3, and organisers have already announced a bigger rally for November 15.

The fight matters beyond Czechia. It tests how the EU's new media freedom rules work in practice, and it lands while the UK is deciding how to fund the BBC after 2027.

Key facts at a glance

• The protest: "Hands Off the Media", organised by Million Moments for Democracy, filled Old Town Square on October 25, with crowds spilling into side streets.
• The bill: It abolishes household fees and writes a fixed state payment of CZK 7,807,592,000 for 2027 into law.
• The vote: The first reading passed after a debate capped at about nine hours; a motion to reject the bill won only 81 of 177 deputies present.
• Next dates: a committee meeting listed for October 29, the strike on November 3 and a rally on Letná Plain on November 15.
• Current fees stay for now: households still pay, and the bill faces more votes in both chambers and a possible presidential veto.

How the bill got here

Babiš's populist ANO party governs with the far-right SPD and the Motorists. The government has frequently clashed with both public and private media, and the funding overhaul has been brewing for months. Million Moments for Democracy already held a demonstration on September 28.

What changed on Friday, October 23 was the timing. The coalition unexpectedly moved the bill to the top of the Chamber of Deputies' agenda, outside the planned order of business. Speaker Tomio Okamura of the SPD then won approval for a fixed voting time of 4:36 a.m. on Saturday and limits on speeches.

Some 65 deputies never reached the podium during the shortened debate. The sitting ran for about 20 hours with breaks, and the opposition argues that cutting off so many registered speakers will not stand up at the Constitutional Court.

The night was tense outside the chamber too. Several hundred people demonstrated outside parliament overnight, and police stopped some from trying to force their way in.

What the funding change actually does

Today, Czech households that owe both fees pay CZK 205 a month, according to the Czech government. The government argues that a charge tied to owning a TV or radio set makes little sense when many people watch on their phones.

The bill replaces that income with monthly payments from the state budget through the Culture Ministry. It names each broadcaster's amount in the law itself:

The sums would return funding to 2024 levels, before the fee increase and wider pool of payers approved under the previous government of Petr Fiala. The bill also includes an inflation clause: once cumulative inflation reaches 10%, the state payment rises by 10%.

The size of the cut is the core of the dispute. The EBU says the payment falls about 15% short of expected fee income, and the Finance Ministry itself asked during internal consultation why the figures tracked 2024 receipts. The coalition has not yet published a costing tied to what ČT and ČRo are legally required to deliver.

Why critics fear for independence

Critics' main worry is that broadcasters paid from the budget depend on the politicians they cover. Opposition parties call the plan a step towards state control and have compared it with Hungary under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, where pro-government media expanded sharply.

The stakes are high because of how much Czechs rely on these outlets. Czech Television is the country's most-watched broadcaster across major age groups, and a 2025 survey found public media among the most trusted news sources in the country.

European rules add a legal angle. Under Article 5(3) of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), EU countries must fund public service media through transparent, objective criteria set in advance, and the money must be "adequate, sustainable and predictable". On October 23, the EBU and more than a dozen other organisations, including Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute, urged lawmakers to slow down and revise the provisions that threaten the broadcasters' finances.

President Petr Pavel has also weighed in. In his view, the surprise scheduling and overnight weekend vote undermined confidence in the government's intentions. The opposition plans to take the way the first reading was handled to the Constitutional Court and the European Commission.

At the rally, protest leader Mikuláš Minář addressed Babiš and Okamura directly:

"(This protest) is a clear message to this government: you have really gone too far this time."

— Mikuláš Minář, Million Moments for Democracy

The government's case

The coalition rejects the idea that this is an attack on press freedom. Babiš says the change is about funding transparency, and he has described the payment as a mandatory expenditure with an inflation clause that guarantees stability and independence. He has accused the opposition of exploiting the issue to raise tensions.

Culture Minister Oto Klempíř told deputies that state-budget funding is a standard solution in Europe. There is a substantive point here, too. The fixed statutory sum is arguably the bill's strongest argument: because the amount is written into law, a finance minister could not quietly trim it in the yearly budget to punish awkward reporting. Changing it would need a new, visible vote in parliament.

The same analysis says the weakness is the amount, not the mechanism. Without a published costing, nothing so far shows that CZK 7.8 billion is "adequate" in the sense EMFA requires.

The opposition is not backing down either. STAN leader Vít Rakušan said the coalition had acted "under cover of darkness", and ODS chairman Martin Kupka promised that the later readings would be "among the toughest sessions".

What it means for you

For most readers in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, nothing changes directly. But the Czech fight is a live example of a question many countries face: who pays for public broadcasting, and who controls the purse.

The contrast with the UK is sharp. The BBC's charter expires on 31 December 2027, and the UK government is reviewing how to fund it. The annual TV licence rose to £180 from April 1, 2026, according to GOV.UK. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has ruled out paying for the BBC from general taxation, saying it is essential that the BBC can hold governments to account "without being heavily reliant on direct funding from government".

Prague is moving in the opposite direction, which is why media groups across Europe are watching. For people who follow Central European politics, invest in the region or work in media, the outcome will show how much bite the EU's media freedom rules have when a government with a parliamentary majority wants a change.

If you watch Czech Television or listen to Czech Radio from abroad, expect visible programming changes on November 3. The Veřejnoprávně staff initiative says details of the strike are still to come.

What happens next

The bill is far from law. It now goes to the Chamber's Media and Culture Committee before a second reading, and the Chamber session was adjourned until November 3.

The Senate can reject or rewrite the bill, and President Pavel can veto it. Neither can block it for good: the Chamber can override both, but only with a majority of all deputies, not just those present. Separately, any challenge at the Constitutional Court or a complaint to the European Commission could take longer than the legislative process itself.

The open questions are whether the coalition will publish a costing before the committee votes, whether it will soften the 15% cut, and how large the protests grow by mid-November.

Conclusion

The Czech government wants to swap a CZK 205 monthly household fee for a fixed state payment, but it has paired the change with a 15% cut and an overnight vote that has drawn thousands onto the streets. The coalition's best argument is that a sum written into law is hard to tamper with. Its weakest point is that it has not shown the sum is enough.

Practical takeaways:

1. Watch October 29 and November 3. The committee meeting and the strike day will show whether the coalition is willing to amend the bill or press ahead.
2. Read the numbers, not just the slogans. The dispute turns on CZK 5.74 billion for ČT and CZK 2.065 billion for ČRo against higher expected fee income.
3. Follow the EMFA angle. Any European Commission response will signal how the EU enforces its media funding rules in other member states.
4. If you are in the UK, take part in the BBC debate. The White Paper on the next BBC charter is still to come, and the Czech case shows why the funding route matters as much as the amount.