Turkish Radio and Television (Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu, TRT) is the national public broadcaster of Turkey. Founded in 1964, the company had a monopoly in broadcasting until the early 1990s when the radio and television markets in Turkey were liberalized, making it possible for numerous privately owned broadcasters to launch operations. TRT today runs a dozen television channels, most of which air nationally. Of those, TRT World broadcasts internationally, in English, catering to a global audience. TRT also owns radio channels with both a nationwide and local footprint.
Media assets
Television: TRT1, TRT2, TRT Spor, TRT Cocuk, TRT Kurdi, TRT Arabi, TRT Muzik, TRT Belgesel, TRT Haber, TRT Turk, TRT Avaz, TRT World
Radio: National- Radyo 1, TRT FM, Radyo 3, TRT Nagme, TRT Turku, Voice of Turkey; Regional- Antalya Radyosu, Cukurova Radyosu, Erzurum Radyosu, Radyo GAP, Trabzon Radyosu, Kent Radyo Istanbul, Kent Radyo Ankara, Kent Radyo Izmir
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
TRT’s activity has been governed by the Radio and Television Law, which defines its objectives, powers and obligations. TRT is run by the General Director and a six-member Board that includes the general director.
In the past, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), the Turkish state agency in charge of regulating radio and television broadcasters, had a major say in the composition of TRT’s governing bodies as it was legally empowered to nominate candidates for the General Director and Board positions, from which the government chose to appoint.
However, as of 2018, following a presidential decree, TRT was affiliated with the Presidential Communication Authority and RTÜK with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Source of funding and budget
The TRT funding model has suffered several changes in recent years. According to the company’s latest annual report, TRT had a budget of roughly TRY 2.15bn (€250m) in 2016. The main sources of funding were revenues from state subsidies raised through taxation, namely from a tax stamp on electronic devices (45%) and license fees collected as a tax on electricity consumption (37%). Advertising generated some 6% of the station’s total budget.
According to the TRT Revenues Law from 1984, which regulates the funding of public media, all electricity consumers have to pay a public media license fee in the form of a tax of 2% of their electricity bill. The tax stamp is a tax imposed on producers and importers of electronic devices (such as TV sets, DVD players, game consoles, etc.).
In 2017, the Turkish government announced that it would stop charging the electricity tax on enterprises. Large companies, particularly those operating in the manufacturing industry that are heavy electricity users, used to contribute large amounts of money through this tax. Government officials at the time said that the gap created by the elimination of this fee on corporations would be filled by revenues from the lottery, but that hasn’t happened yet.In 2021, the government scrapped the electricity bill tax completely, following growing public anger over the uncontrolled rise of the price of electricity. To fill the gap resulting from these measures, the government approved in May 2022 a decree according to which the tax on electronic devices was increased quite significantly.
In 2021, TRT had total revenues of TRY 5.6bn (US$ 488m), most of it coming from the government, according to reports in the media. In 2020, the revenues raised through the tax on devices and the electricity bill tax accounted for some 90% of TRT’s total budget.
Editorial independence
TRT has been under intense political control in all its existence in spite of constitutional provisions stating that it should be independent. The radio and television law defines it as an “unbiased public entity.” However, as the government has the power to appoint its governing structures, TRT has always been faced with pressures from authorities. After the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power two decades ago, the political pressures on TRT have intensified. Following the failed coup of 2016, they further grew, culminating with a presidential decree in 2018 that brought the broadcaster under the Directorate of Communications, a unit in the presidential authority.
A series of independent assessments over the course of the past decade found TRT’s editorial line heavily slanted in the government’s favor. A 2019 report from the EU stated that “the editorial policy of the public service broadcaster TRT continued to display a significant pro-government line.” Particularly after TRT was put under direct presidential control in 2018, the editorial policy of the broadcaster became even more clearly pro-governmental.
A member of the opposition who is also a member of the media regulator RTUK said in May 2023 that a quarter of the TRT’s daily programming time is devoted to government propaganda.
There are legal provisions stating that TRT should be independent, but they don’t provide real guarantees for independence. Numerous sources indicate that the broadcaster is under the Erdogan government control and that these legal provisions are not complied with.
There is no independent assessment/oversight mechanism that would validate the outlet’s independence.
October 2023