Is there a future for public service broadcasting in Central and Eastern Europe?
Given recent developments at Poland’s Telewizja Polska (TVP), the region’s largest and arguably one of the most innovative, it is certainly a question worth asking.
Just this week it was reported that TVP is to outsource 400 of its staff to LeasingTeam, with the latter having won a tender that also involved two other companies. Needless to say, this raised concerns that it could be the first step in the eventual privatisation of TVP, which, despite embarking on a process of restructuring that has involved, by its own admission, cutbacks to its programming, is still losing money.
Indeed, TVP recently posted losses of PLN20.5 million (€4.9 million) for 2013, though this was a considerable improvement on the deficit of nearly PLN200 million a year earlier.
At the same time, it is becoming less dependent on receiver licence fees, which last year accounted for only 21% of revenues, and has, at least recently, seen an upturn in income from advertising.
TVP is clearly in a state of flux. Yet despite this, it also remains a hugely important player in Poland’s TV industry, operating a growing portfolio of channels – the newest of which (TVP ABC, aimed at children) was launched only earlier this year – and is at the forefront in such areas as the introduction of HbbTV.
This is in sharp contrast to the much-diminished role now played by public service broadcasters in most other countries in CEE, with the possible exception of the Czech Republic. The financial difficulties faced by some, including TVR in Romania, are well documented, while others, such as Hungary’s Magyar Televizio, seem to have slipped off the radar.
Clearly these are difficult times for public service broadcasting in the region as a whole. Larger ones such as TVP will undoubtedly still have an important role to play in the future, whereas others will probably see theirs continue to diminish.
