Radio Television of Serbia (RTS)

The public broadcaster Radio Television Serbia (RTS) operates multiple television channels and radio stations. It also runs a music records house, a symphony orchestra, a jazz band, and a children’s choir. RTS’s history goes back to 1924 when Radio Belgrade was founded. Radio Television Belgrade (RTB), the first television station in Serbia, launched broadcasting in 1958.

Media assets

Television: RTS1, RTS2, RTS3, RTS Svet, RTS Nauka, RTS Drama, RTS Life, RTS Classic, RTS Kolo, RTS Trezor, RTS Music, RTS Poletarac

Radio: Radio Belgrade 1, Radio Belgrade 2, Radio Belgrade 3, Radio Belgrade 202, Radio Pletenica, Radio Rock and Roller, Radio Jukebox, Radio Vrteshka

State Media Matrix Typology

Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)

Ownership and governance

RTS is state-owned. Its highest governing body is a management board. The board elects the General Manager (sometimes called Director General) of RTS and the station’s top editors. The nine members of the management board are appointed by the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), the Serbian media regulator. REM’s own members are in turn chosen through processes heavily influenced by political appointments.

Dragan Bujošević remains the General Manager (Director General) of RTS. He has held the position since 2015. Critics point out that despite having reached retirement age, his term continues under decisions of the management bodies.

In June 2025, amendments were adopted to several media laws: the Law on Public Media Services, the Law on Electronic Media, and the Law on Public Information and Media. Among the most important changes is the establishment of an Audience Ombudsman, a formal channel for audience complaints regarding public broadcasters, which for the first time gives legal duty to respond to viewers’ concerns. Other amendments address REM’s appointment/dismissal procedures, its financial autonomy, and oversight mechanisms. However, observers caution that some amendments are more declarative than operational, and may not significantly strengthen editorial independence in practice. 

Source of funding and budget

In 2024, RTS collected about RSD 15.7 billion , which is roughly €134 million, but still ended the year with a loss of RSD 310 million (€2.6 million). Of that revenue in 2024, approximately RSD 11.2 billion (€95.8 million) came from RTV license fees (a fee for public media, included in the monthly electricity bill, paid by all households in Serbia, which was introduced in 2016). Advertising revenue contributed another €28 million. 

In 2023, RTS reported a total revenue of RSD 14.7billion (US$ 136m), RSD 10.4 billion generated by license fees, and RSD 3.4 billion by ad sales. According to data from a company report, the broadcaster’s costs amounted to RSD 15.1 billion.

Editorial independence

No legal provisions require RTS to produce propagandistic content about the Serbian government. Yet, through the management board, staffed with government loyalists, the government exerts significant influence in the editorial decision-making process at RTS. Journalists working for the broadcaster interviewed for this report in May 2024 said that editors are continuously subjected to pressures from government and party officials who have an important say in how the station’s news content is presented. The news content is biased in favor of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has been in power since 2012, according to content analysis carried out by the Novi Sad School of Journalism.

During a series of street protests in May 2023, considered by observers to be the largest revolt against President Aleksandar Vučić, vast crowds of protesters encircled the RTS building, criticizing the station for being pro-government. Research conducted in recent years also found that RTS programmatically spreads sophisticated pro-Russia propaganda in its news programs. No domestic statute establishing RTS’ editorial independence has been identified.

RTS has a Programming Council composed of 15 members. Its role is to advise the station’s management on editorial matters. However, the council is not independent and hence fails to fulfill its role, as many of its members are appointed along political lines and have ties with the government.

In April 2025, more than fifty RTS journalists held an assembly in the broadcaster’s parking lot, demanding greater professional accountability and freedom of expression. Some of these employees were later summoned for questioning by security or intelligence bodies, raising concerns among journalist groups about intimidation or pressure.

The legal amendments of June 2025 — particularly the introduction of an Audience Ombudsman — are presented by the government as measures to increase accountability. However, watchdog groups argue that without genuine political independence in appointments to REM and the management board, such reforms are unlikely to change entrenched editorial bias.

September 2025