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Week ending June 12, 2010

HRT - Croatian Radio and Television Communique - June 11, 2010
HRT via Katie De Noel/EBU

Herewith Croatian Radio Television (HRT) informs the EBU of a unilateral decision by the Government of Croatia to cut the radio and television licence fee by 25% as of 1st August 2010. The decision has been taken, with no warning, by intervening into the present Law of Croatian Radio Television and in the course of a public debate on a new Law due to enter force this autumn and in which no change in the licence fee is considered.

HRT is financed through the licence fee and commercial activities. The proportion between the licence fee and the income from commercials was slightly less than 80:20 % last year. HRT is the only public broadcaster in Croatia with the television market share of 36%. Therefore it is obvious that we will no longer be able to fulfil our mission of public radio and television broadcaster as of this summer. In order to survive with such suddenly reduced income, a drastic reduction of volume and quality of programme will have to come. This will be seen in all segments of the programme, from News and Current Affairs to Drama, Cultural, Entertainment, Religious and Sports programmes. Further more, negative consequences of this decision will be impossible to evade in the whole remaining Croatian industry of audiovisual contents that is greatly supported by HRT.

Herewith it should be said that HRT is the only radio and television organisation in Croatia that is meeting fully the law quota on independent production in its programme.

We point out that this decision has been taken by the government of a country in the final phase of accession to the European Union. In a resolution passed on 25 September 2008, the European Parliament stated that “public broadcasting services need to have the necessary resources and institutions to allow them to be genuinely independent of political pressures and market forces”.