Slovak Television and Radio (STVR)
Slovak Television and Radio (STVR) is Slovakia’s national public broadcasting operator. The institution was established in July 2024, when the parliament voted to abolish Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS), created in 2011 through the merger of Slovak Television and Slovak Radio. The restructuring, passed by the ruling coalition of SMER, Hlas, and SNS, replaced RTVS with a new broadcaster under direct political oversight. STVR operates three television channels, nine radio stations, and three regional radio channels, continuing RTVS’s role as a nationwide media platform.
Media assets
Television: :1, :2, :Sport, :24
Radio: SRo1: Rádio Slovensko, SRo2: Rádio Regina, SRo3: Rádio Devín, SRo4: Rádio FM, SRo5: Rádio Patria, SRo6: Radio Slovakia International, SRo7: Rádio Pyramida, SRo8: Rádio Litera, SRo9: Rádio Junior
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
STVR is regulated by the Slovak Television and Radio Act (Law No. 157/2024), which came into effect on 1 July 2024. The act dissolved the relatively autonomous RTVS, allowing the government to appoint an entirely new board and management structure.
The new STVR Board has nine members, all selected by political actors: four nominated by the Ministry of Culture, one by the Ministry of Finance, and five by Parliament. This gives the ruling coalition direct control over all seats, raising concerns of systemic politicization. The Board elects the Director General, who heads the institution.
The reform sparked protests among journalists, opposition parties, and civil society groups, with former RTVS director general Ľuboš Machaj calling it a “black day” for Slovak media. Media freedom organizations, including IPI and the European Federation of Journalists, criticized the move as incompatible with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
Appointments under the new law included individuals with close ties to the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), which controls the Ministry of Culture. For example, Lukáš Machala, chief of staff at the Ministry of Culture and a close SNS ally, was appointed to the STVR Council, and Peter Nittnaus, previously associated with politicised editorial management under Jaroslav Rezník, was made head of the news channel :24.
Source of funding and budget
Until 2023, RTVS was financed by a mix of licence fees, advertising, and state subsidies. In July 2023, parliament abolished the licence fee, making the broadcaster fully dependent on allocations from the state budget.
For 2024, STVR’s budget was set at 0.12% of GDP, equivalent to about €131 million, down from the previous 0.17% under RTVS, a cut of around €55 million. The reduction caused significant financial strain, forcing discussions about cutting programming and potentially closing one television channel.
While STVR is formally entitled to 0.12% of GDP annually, observers have described this amount as “insufficient” and vulnerable to political manipulation. Additional ad hoc funding from the Ministry of Culture or through so-called “contracts with the state” remains possible, further entrenching dependence on government decisions, according to Media Capture Monitoring Report for Slovakia. Advertising is allowed, and new provisions suggest STVR could expand commercial slots compared to RTVS, although this remains under review.
Editorial independence
RTVS enjoyed a reputation for balanced and independent coverage until recent years, but political influence intensified after 2020, with investigative programming reduced and pressure on journalists mounting. The 2024 restructuring and creation of STVR marked a new stage of capture, according to Media Capture Monitoring Report. Several senior journalists and editors were dismissed or resigned in protest after the July 2024 reform. Censorship allegations arose under the interim director, including interference in news output and politically motivated appointments. Peter Nittnaus’s appointment as head of :24 revived fears of editorial pressure, given his history of enforcing partisan lines under earlier SNS-led governments. Statements by SNS leader Andrej Danko, openly calling for a “state television” rather than a public service broadcaster, confirmed the coalition’s intent to replace public-service values with government messaging.
The broadcaster’s Ethics Commission still exists under the new statute, but its independence is compromised, as its members are now indirectly appointed through the politically controlled STVR Board.
The transformation of RTVS into STVR has shifted Slovakia’s public broadcaster decisively into the State-Controlled (SC) category of the State Media Matrix. With its governance bodies fully politicized, its finances dependent on annual government allocations, and its newsroom subject to dismissals and censorship, STVR represents the most far-reaching example of political capture of Slovak public broadcasting since the 1990s.
September 2025