Croatian Radio Television (Hrvatska radiotelevizija, HRT) is the public television service in Croatia. It operates four nationwide television channels and five regional ones. The radio service includes three nationwide channels and eight regional ones. Additionally, HRT provides television and radio programs for international audiences. HRT also has its own Symphony, Jazz, and Tamburitza Orchestras.
Media assets
Television: National- HRT 1, HRT 2, HRT 3, HRT 4; International- HRT International; Regional TV-HRT Čakovec-Varaždin, HRT Osijek, HRT Rijeka-Pula, HRT Split-Dubrovnik, HRT Zadar-Šibenik
Radio: National- HR 1, HR 2, HR 3; Regional- HR Dubrovnik, HR Knin, HR Osijek, HR Pula, HR Rijeka, HR Sljeme, HR Split, HR Zadar; International- Voice of Croatia (Glas Hrvatske)
State Media Matrix Typology: Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)
Ownership and governance
HRT’s operations are regulated by the Croatian Radio Television (HRT) Law of 2010, which has been amended several times. HRT is a legal entity with the status of a public institution established by the Government of the Republic of Croatia. As the recipient of the majority of the revenues collected through the license fee, HRT is required to adhere to a set of regulations and submit financial reports to the parliament.
The main governing bodies of HRT are the General Manager, the Management of HRT, the Supervisory Board, and the Program Council. The General Manager is appointed by parliament for a five-year term. The Management of HRT comprises the General Manager and the heads of the Program, Production, Technology, and Business departments. The Supervisory Board consists of five members, with four appointed by parliament and one elected by HRT’s employees, all serving a four-year term. The Program Council has eleven members, nine appointed by a specific committee in parliament (Committee on Information, Computerization, and the Media) for a four-year term.
Source of funding and budget
HRT is funded through a combination of license fees paid by all households in Croatia that own a device capable of playing audiovisual programs and revenues from advertising sales. Every home pays a fee of to support public media. Most of the funding collected from the fee goes to HRT, with a small portion used to finance other electronic media.
In 2021, HRT operated with a budget of HRK 1.33bn (US$189m). As reported in the broadcaster’s latest annual report, almost 90% of this budget was from revenues generated through the license fee. Advertising sales accounted for around 6% of the total budget.
In 2022, HRT had a total budget of HRK 1.34bn (US$ 176m), with approximately HRK 1.13bn generated through the license fee, as per a report from the broadcaster.
To prevent politicians from using the license fee to interfere with the operation of HRT, the fee level was set at 1.5% of the average monthly salary in Croatia. In 2023, the fee was set at €10.62.
According to a company financial plan, HRT pulled in €178.6m in 2023, €156.1m of which came from license fee revenue. HRT also generated ad sale revenues of €10.1 and other commercial revenues of €4.5m.
Editorial independence
After the 2016 elections, won by the right-wing political party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), media independence has been increasingly affected. Experts have noticed a solid pro-government bias in the HTV programming that was not present between 2010 and 2016.
The broadcaster came under sharp criticism when it started to sue its own journalists who were critical of HTV’s biased editorial practices. Cases of HTV editors and journalists being dismissed due to their criticism have become common. With HDZ also winning the elections in 2020, government control has persisted.
Accusations of censorship at HRT intensified once again in 2023. Hrvoje Zovko, president of the Croatian Journalists’ Association, rejected the claims of HRT’s Director General, Robert Sveb, that there was no censorship at the public broadcaster. Zovko stated that Croatian court rulings had confirmed the existence of censorship. In February 2022, HRT lost a court case against Zovko: the broadcaster had sued him for defamation after he publicly criticized censorship on HRT. After a series of legal battles, the Croatian Supreme Court decided in May 2024 that Zovko’s dismissal in 2018 was legal. This decision was sharply criticized by international media freedom NGOs.
In another case of censorship, HRT removed a movie from its schedule after pressure from several right-wing associations.
The HRT Law states that the Croatian public service broadcaster should operate independently of political influence and commercial interests. HRT also has a domestic statute that outlines the main tasks and obligations of the broadcaster. However, since 2016, these rules have not been followed as the government has clearly interfered with the station’s editorial coverage.
HRT has a Commissioner who is responsible for addressing complaints and suggestions from the public. The commissioner is appointed by the HRT Council.
August 2024