Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF) is the public broadcaster serving the French community in Belgium. RTBF operates three television channels (La Une, Tipik and La Trois) and a number of radio channels, including La Première, RTBF Mix, VivaCité, Musiq3, Classic 21, and Tipik. RTBF plays a minor role in the Belgian television market compared with the other public media, commanding much lower audiences.
Media assets
Television: La Une, La Deux, La TroisArte Belgique and PureVision
Radio: La Première, RTBF Mix, VivaCité, Musiq3, Classic 21, Tipik, PureFM, Tarmac, Viva+, Jam
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State Funded and State Managed (ISFM)
Ownership and governance
RTBF is a public service broadcast company whose main governing structure is its Board of Directors whose 13 members are appointed by the Parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, in line with the political representation in parliament. The government also appoints two commissioners to supervise compliance with the legal provisions governing RTBF as well as to ensure that the station is fulfilling its public service mission.
Source of funding and budget
RTBF is majority financed by the Wallonia-Brussels government whose annual subsidy accounts for nearly 75% of the broadcaster’s budget. The remainder comes from commercial revenues, mainly advertising.
In 2021, RTBF operated with an annual budget of €410.7m, 74% of which was represented by the state subsidy, according to a company annual report. In 2022, RTBF had a budget of €442.7m, 76% of that being a state budget allocation, according to data from the company.
Editorial independence
The government doesn’t impose any editorial rules that would oblige RTBF to follow a pro-government editorial line. Moreover, RTBF has a reputation for editorial independence. An ad hoc content analysis carried out for this project found RTBF’s editorial coverage to be balanced, diverse, critical and objective. There is no evidence to date that any state authority has control over RTBF’s editorial agenda.
According to a decree of 14 July 1997, RTBF’s autonomy is guaranteed, being allowed to act on its own initiative based on a management contract with the Wallonia-Brussels government concluded every five years. This gives RTBF full control over the editorial coverage and prevents any external players, including politicians or state authorities, from intervening in the station’s editorial affairs.
On top of that, RTBF has a number of internal statutes that guide its work and further help improve its editorial performance.
There is no specific mechanism of editorial assessment at RTBF, yet the station has numerous mechanisms of decision-making in the editorial area in place that ensure regular evaluation of its editorial performance.
August 2023