State and Public Media in Europe in 2025

Europe continues to lead globally in terms of editorial independence of its public media, but the trend of gradual decline has persisted in 2025. According to our latest mapping, of the 116 outlets identified in Europe, 54 (46%) fall under one of the four categories of independent state and public media. This represents a marginal decrease compared to 2024, when 56 of 119 outlets (47%) were assessed as independent, yet it continues the downward trajectory from 49% in 2023 and 50% in 2022.

The distribution of models reveals important shifts in the past year. The State-Controlled (SC) model consolidated its position as the most widespread form of state media governance in Europe, with 31 outlets (27% of the total). This represents the second consecutive year that SC media outnumber all other models, a development first observed in 2024 when they overtook the Independent State Funded and State Managed (ISFM) category.

By contrast, the ISFM model, long considered the dominant type of independent public service systems in Europe, declined further to 26 outlets (22%), down from 27 in 2024 and 30 in 2023. Similarly, the Captured Public/State Managed (CaPu) category contracted to just 8 outlets (7%), compared with 9 in 2024 and 11 in 2023, suggesting a small but notable reduction in the number of public media outlets under direct political capture.

The Captured Private (CaPr) category remained stable at 23 outlets (20%), following a drop from 25 in 2023, underlining the persistence of politically influenced private media across the continent. At the same time, the Independent State Managed (ISM) model held steady at 10 outlets (9%), maintaining a small but stable segment of institutions with editorial independence under direct state management.

On a more positive note, Europe continues to be the global leader in Independent Public Media (IP), with 13 corporations (11%) operating across the region. Although the figure has not grown since 2024, it demonstrates that Europe remains the only region with a significant and enduring cluster of genuinely independent public service corporations. The Independent State Funded (ISF) category, however, shrank back to 5 outlets (4%) after a small rise in 2024.

Overall, the 2025 data confirm that Europe’s public media landscape is characterized by a slow erosion of independence, primarily driven by the expansion of state-controlled outlets and the continued weakening of state-funded but independent entities. Yet, the region remains unmatched globally for its concentration of independent public media institutions, which serve as a cornerstone for democratic resilience.

In 2025, editorial independence in Europe’s public media has continued to deteriorate, with several outlets downgraded in our typology. A notable case is Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG), which has now been classified as State Controlled (SC) following a series of government interventions that dismantled the broadcaster’s independence safeguards and undermined its role as a pluralistic media platform. Similarly, in Spain, Corporació Audiovisual de la Comunitat Valenciana (CACVSA), the public broadcaster in Valencia, and Ens Públic de Radiotelevisió de les Illes Balears (EPRTVIB), the broadcaster in the Balearic Islands, were also downgraded to SC after political authorities significantly tightened their control over editorial operations. These cases illustrate how fragile the institutional safeguards of public media remain in Europe, particularly in contexts where political polarization is acute and legal protections are weak or easily dismantled.

The situation in Spain’s regional public media has thus worsened dramatically. Out of the 15 regional broadcasters mapped in 2025, eight are now classified as State Controlled, compared to just one in 2022. This marks a rapid and concerning shift towards political instrumentalization of public broadcasters by regional governments. Much of this state control has been implemented by the conservative Partido Popular (PP) administrations, which have expanded their influence over regional broadcasters in communities where they govern. The tightening of editorial oversight by PP-led governments has further politicized regional public media, leaving them more vulnerable to partisan agendas and reducing their capacity to operate as independent institutions. This erosion not only undermines public trust in regional media but also contributes to the broader fragmentation of Spain’s media ecosystem, which has become more vulnerable to politicization than at any point in the past decade.

In Central Europe, Czech Television (ČT) has faced sustained political attacks in recent years, particularly from parties critical of its independent editorial stance. Although ČT has so far managed to resist direct government control and therefore has not been downgraded in our typology, the persistence of these attempts to undermine its governance and independence remains worrisome. The broadcaster’s ability to stave off capture illustrates the resilience of some European public media systems, but it also highlights the fragility of independence in environments where political elites increasingly view public service journalism as a target rather than a democratic asset.

By contrast, in Slovakia, the situation has deteriorated markedly since the return to power of Robert Fico’s Smer party. The public broadcaster, restructured and rebranded as STVR in 2024, increasingly functions as a state propaganda channel, amplifying government narratives. As a result, STVR was already downgraded to State Controlled (SC) in 2024, and its trajectory in 2025 confirms the persistence of this captured status. The case of Slovakia underscores how quickly public media institutions can be destabilized when political leaders move decisively to replace editorial independence with partisan control.

On the bright side, Poland has moved in the opposite direction. Following the 2023 elections and the subsequent reform agenda of the new government, public media outlets TVP and Polish Radio have been upgraded in our typology. The government has also initiated plans to sell Polska Press to relieve it from state ownership, aiming to restore pluralism in the publishing sector. While these reforms remain contested and face institutional resistance, they represent one of the most ambitious efforts in Europe to roll back media capture and rebuild independent public service broadcasting. However, the efforts to depoliticize the media remain very difficult after years of capture by the former PiS regime, which left deep-rooted structures and loyalists within the media system that continue to obstruct reform.

One trend that intensified across Europe is related to changes to funding models and mounting cost pressures that are reshaping public media—and, in several cases, sharpening political leverage over them. In Austria, ORF has moved through a major financing transition (from the device-based fee to a universal household contribution), but the shift has not ended the pressure: political debates around fee levels, exemptions, and efficiency mandates continue to squeeze room for investment in journalism and digital transformation, keeping ORF in a defensive posture. In Finland, Yle’s tax-based funding remains comparatively stable, yet real-terms budgets are tight as inflation, wage settlements, and platform costs outpace indexation, prompting savings programs and commissioning cuts that risk narrowing output. The picture is further darkened by the closure of Liechtenstein’s public broadcaster, Liechtensteinische Rundfunk (LRF), removing public service broadcasting from the country altogether.

In France, the government has revived plans to merge the main public media—including France Télévisions—into a single holding as a route to rationalize governance and cut costs. While advocates frame the merger as a digital-era modernization, unions and editorial staff warn that consolidation without ring-fenced, predictable funding could erode remit diversity and editorial autonomy.

Finally, the UK is entering the most consequential financing debate in decades: the BBC’s Charter renewal process (toward 2027) is now formally under way, with broad political consensus that the current license-fee model will be reworked. The direction is still open—ranging from a reformed license fee or household levy to forms of general taxation—but most scenarios point to a material change in the BBC’s funding model, with long-term implications for universality, scale, and independence.

Taken together, Europe’s trajectory is negative but the slide isn’t inevitable. Yet, the spread of state controlled models and tightening budgets show how fast gains can unravel. The decisive tests for 2026 will be whether governments lock in independent governance and predictable, and insulated funding in line with the European Media Freedom Act provisions to help public media fulfil their mission to serve the public, not the party in power.

Read Europe Overview 2024

Read Europe Overview 2023

Read Europe Overview 2022

Read Europe Overview 2021