Financial constraints on the Slovak public broadcaster RTVS mean it is unlikely to launch a third channel in 2019.
Medialne reports that the RTVS budget for 2019, which was discussed and approved by its council this Wednesday (December 12), project a fall in revenues of €11 million. Within this, revenues will be lower by €0.6 million due to there not being any major sporting event in 2019.
RTVS’s CEO Jaroslav Reznik said that while it will continue its mission of producing and broadcasting programmes, investment will be hit and it will not be able to reduce the technological debt of previous years. At the same time, it is trying to secure more funding from the state.
RTVS’s balanced budget for 2019 projects total revenues of €146,410,065 and total expenditure of €144,523,700.
Receiver licence fees, which brought in €82.3 million in 2018, will again be the main source of revenue, while less money will be spent on TV productions.
Unless RTVS’s funding is changed, it will not be able to launch a third channel and could indeed find itself in negative equity.
