The Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF) is the public broadcaster that serves the French community in Belgium. RTBF operates three television channels (La Une, Tipik, and La Trois) and several radio channels, including La Première, RTBF Mix, VivaCité, Musiq3, Classic 21, and Tipik. Compared to other public media, RTBF has a relatively minor role in the Belgian television market and attracts 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 broadcasting company with a main governing structure consisting of a Board of Directors. The Board has 13 members appointed by the Parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, in accordance with the political representation in parliament. Additionally, the government appoints two commissioners to oversee compliance with the legal provisions governing RTBF and to ensure that the station is fulfilling its public service mission.
Source of funding and budget
RTBF is mostly funded by the Wallonia-Brussels government, which provides nearly 75% of the broadcaster’s budget. The rest comes from commercial revenues, primarily advertising.
In 2021, RTBF operated with an annual budget of €410.7m, 74% of which came from state subsidies, according to the company’s annual report. In 2022, RTBF had a budget of €442.7m, with 76% of the funding coming from the state budget allocation, according to company data. In 2023, RTBF had a budget of €469m, some €366.9m coming from the state coffers.
Editorial independence
The government does not impose any editorial rules requiring RTBF to follow a pro-government editorial line. Additionally, RTBF is known for its editorial independence. An ad hoc content analysis conducted for this project in May 2021 and another in March 2024 found that RTBF’s editorial coverage is balanced, diverse, critical, and objective. In recent years, there have been accusations of censorship at RTBF; however, we do not find a trend of systematic suppression of editorial freedom that would show state control at RTBF.
According to a decree from 14 July 1997, RTBF’s independence is ensured. The organization is permitted to take action based on its own judgment, guided by a management contract with the Wallonia-Brussels government renewed every five years. This grants RTBF complete control over editorial content and prohibits external interference from entities such as politicians or government bodies.
RTBF also has several internal statutes that guide its work and help improve its editorial performance.
There is no specific editorial assessment mechanism at RTBF. However, the station has multiple decision-making mechanisms to evaluate its editorial performance regularly. (see above)
August 2024