Colorful Media Owner Wins Court Decision, Meets End Of Road

Michael Hedges February 17, 2020 - Follow on Twitter

Being glib and controversial is a beneficial quality for a talk-show host. Also helpful is ubiquity. Having powerful friends, too, can make things happen. But an interruption in cash-flow can bring all this to a halt. So it goes.

Last week, the Prague Municipal Court temporarily relieved Czech television broadcaster TV Barrandov of a CZK 400,000 (a bit more than €16,000) fine levied last August by media regulator Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (RRTV). The Court admonished the RRTV to revisit its decision and submit new findings to the Supreme Administrative Court. The RRTV found TV Barrandov had violated provisions in the Broadcasting Act on providing “objective and balanced information.” The Prague court said RRTV had not provided sufficient detail. The Supreme Administrative Court adjudicates differences between government agencies.

By all appearances, the decision is part of a paper chase. The case in point involves a TV Barrandov talk show hosted by Jaromir Soukup on which allegations of improper financial activity were directed toward Czech automaker Skoda Auto. The RRTV cited TV Barrandov of failure to offer Skoda Auto, a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG since 1991, the legally required right to reply as well as making false statements.

The RRTV has relentlessly issued fines to TV Barrandov for bias, imbalance and false claims. Last December it fined TV Barrandov CZK 200,000 (€8,000) for “unbalanced contributions” regarding a commentary about outdoor advertising company JCDecaux, which separately filed a civil lawsuit. The current matter is the first time a court has ordered the media regulator to review its complaint with the Constitutional Court.

Mr. Soukup principally owns TV Barrandov, Empresa Media, publisher of news weekly Tyden, and marketing agency Medea. He appears quite frequently on TV Barrandov, hosting at least six hour-long talk shows, on which he expounds colorfully. He has, offered news portal kafkadesk.org (February 11), a “colossal ego.” The minority shareholder (49%) is CITIC, a state-owned investment company of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The television channel and publishing company are loss-making, fed almost entirely through the marketing company. Mr. Soukup is buried in debt, a CZK 460 million (€18.5 million) loan payment was due at the end of January. It was missed.

Creditors agreed to “extend” the terms in exchange for restrictions on cash disbursements from Medea. “The lenders were informed about this and had no major objections,” said an insider source to investigative news portal Neovlivni (February 14). “Everyone wants to sort it out.” There is wide speculation Empresa Media and TV Barrandov will come to new ownership.

Mr. Soukup has benefitted from friends in high places, notably Czech president Milos Zeman. He regular Sunday evening TV talk-show has featured President Zeman for several years. This, obviously, makes for colorful TV as the two bonded on right-wing populist ideology as well as conspiracy theories. President Zeman has been very close to Chinese investment companies.

Recently, President Zeman stepped back from appearances on TV Barrandov. This, suggested Noevlivni, coincided with the acquisition of Central European Media Enterprises (CME) by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner, who is close with President Zeman. CME owns TV Nova, the highest rated TV channel in the Czech Republic.

A year ago Mr. Soukup set up a political party, named after himself (List Jaromir Soukup), then announced intention to run for the Czech presidency in 2023, when Mr. Zeman’s term expires. Failing to submit required documents, the Czech Supreme Court moved to abolish the political party.

See also...

• Hot Topics - Media in the Czech Republic