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Another Public Broadcaster Under Government Pressure – Nobody’s Happy

Romanian public television is losing money and the Parliament is unhappy. The broadcasters’ president walked (or ran) out a week ago. He was unhappy. Another public broadcaster in the new Member States faces a crisis.

The Romanian Parliaments’ culture committee rejected yesterday (May 8) the 2006 annual report of public television broadcaster Societatea Româna de Televiziune (SRTv). No specific reason was made public, other than the 2006 financial loss that followed several years of profitability. During the vote journalists on hand were asked to leave the meeting room, according to HotNews.ro. The committee rejected SRTv’s annual report, 12 members voting in the negative and five abstaining. Rejection is a no confidence vote and SRTv’s supervisory board will be asked or forced to resign.

SRTv President and General Manager Tudor Giurgin submitted his resignation last week (May 4) citing “pressures” and fear for the broadcasters independence.

SRTv operates three terrestrial television channels – TVR1, TVR2 and TVR Cultural. The public radio broadcaster Societatea Româna de Radiodifuziune (SRR) is a separate company and operates two national radio channels. SRR’s 2006 annual report was accepted by the Romanian Parliament’s culture committee.

The 2006 operating loss, he claims, was the result of necessary reforms following his predecessors aggressive quest for profits. He complained of “pressures” -political and competitive - which, it seems, coincide in Romania. Romania is ranked the most corrupt country in the European Union according to Transparency International, ranking slightly above Serbia and slightly below Moldova.

Conservative party head Dan Voiculescu published in the newspaper he owns Jurnalul National a scathing criticism of TVR just days after TVR reported that Voiculescu and his daughter were under investigation for money laundering. Voiculescu also owns commercial television channel Antena 1 through his media company Intact.

Voiculescu was in a constant fight with Romanian President Traian Basescu, who has been suspended by the Romanian Parliament. Shortly after his election in 2004 Basescu cut short the mandate of SRTv General Director Valentin Nicolau. The replacement was Tudor Giurgiu. Nicolau went on to work for Voiculescu’s television channel Antena 2. 

SRTv’s financial picture was revealed in mid-April, a 2006 operating loss on €5.1 million. Giurgin responded that the problem wasn’t so bad, explaining “the losses are not significant, compared to other public TV stations that have been losing money for many years, as it currently happens in Spain, France, Finland, Portugal or Norway.” Advertising, the license fee and the State budget funds SRTv. Media observers have long suspected that State budget funding comes with long strings.

Giurgin also offered a restructuring plan involving, first, voluntary redundancies, then the involuntary kind to reduce SRTv’s 3000 person work-force. Over-time and bonuses accounted for €15 million in 2006.

Transitions from State broadcasting to the public service broadcasting ideal is a trial for governments, particularly – though not exclusively – in the new Member States. The European Commissions’ acquis communautaire – the spirit of the European Union – mandates the independence of public broadcasters from political control and a complete transition from State broadcasting. The Polish, Slovak and Hungarian governments have, in different ways, resisted this mandate knowing that the EC’s ability to enforce rules on public broadcasting independence is limited after EU membership is granted.

The community of Europe’s public broadcasters, represented by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has acted subtly by sending consultants to work with broadcasters in transition and not so subtly on occasion by appealing directly to parliaments, prime ministers and the EC itself. The EBU acted vigorously with the Hungarian government regarding public broadcaster MTV’s financial and organizational malaise. Subtleties have little impact in Poland and had no impact on Italy under Silvio Berlusconi. 

SRTv hired EBU consultant and former Czech public television Development Director Gordon Lovitt in mid-2005 – almost immediately after Giurgiu’s appointment - to assist with program and organizational strategies. His mandate ended at the end of March this year. On leaving, he said “TVR is much closer now to its public service mission, even if there still are many challenges ahead. I wish Romanian Television and Romania all the best and good luck in fulfilling this mission.” - May 9, 2007

Keywords:public television, broadcasting in Romania

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