Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT)
The Lithuanian National Radio and Television (Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija, LRT) serves as Lithuania’s national public-service broadcaster. Its origins trace back to 1926, when radio broadcasting commenced, with television following in 1957. Today, LRT continues this legacy through three television channels—LRT Televizija (general public), LRT Plius (culture and sports), and LRT Lituanica (Lithuanian diaspora)—and three radio stations: LRT Radijas(general public), LRT Klasika (culture, classical music, minority programming), and LRT Opus (contemporary music and youth content).
Media assets
Television: LRT Televizija, LRT Plius, LRT Lituanica
Radio: LRT Radijas, LRT Klasika, LRT Opus
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
LRT is overseen by its LRT Council, which approves the annual budget and ensures mission implementation. This body comprises 12 members serving six-year terms: four appointed by the President, four by the Seimas (with at least two from opposition-nominated candidates), and four by civil society institutions (such as the Science Council, Education Council, Creative Artists Association, and the Bishops’ Conference), a design intended to safeguard political independence.
Advising the Council on economic oversight is the Administrative Commission, composed of five experts in management or finance, each serving four-year terms following Council appointment.
The position of Director General (equivalent to CEO) is presently held by Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, initially appointed in 2018 via public tender for a five-year term, and re-elected for a second term in 2023.
Source of funding and budget
Since 2015, LRT’s funding has been drawn automatically from taxes, specifically 1% of personal income tax revenue and 1.3 % of excise duty revenue, with a floor based on 2012 levels, a mechanism that ensures financial autonomy and removes direct government intervention in budgeting.
In 2019, the government revealed its plans to challenge this model before the Constitutional Court, arguing that automatic calculation of the broadcaster’s budget restricted its ability to draft the state budget freely. In November 2020, the Constitutional Court dismissed the case, confirming that the current funding system does not violate the Constitution. This ruling was widely regarded as solidifying LRT’s financial independence.
In 2021, LRT operated with a budget of €53.54m, according to a company’s annual report. The budget increased to €55.43m the following year, as shown in the 2022 annual report. In 2023, the public fund appropriation for the LRT amounted to €63.4m. Some 59% of that was spent on content and roughly 32% to cover staff costs.
In 2024, state appropriations to LRT totaled €72.9 million. Expenditure breakdown was as follows: 57.2 % (€41.5 m) for content, 34.5 % (€25.1 m) for staff, 5.6 % (€4.1 m) for administration, and 2.4 % (€1.8 m) for marketing. LRT returned €12.7 million in taxes to the state budget.
Editorial independence
LRT’s governance and funding framework, embedded in the LRT Law, underpins its editorial independence, enabling it to deliver diverse, high-quality programming free from undue political or financial influence. Editorial policy remains protected from external pressures, bolstered by stable, automatic funding mechanisms.
Effective January 1, 2021, a new role of an Ethics Controller was instituted via a legal amendment. Appointed through public tender by the LRT Council, the Ethics Controller serves a five-year term, ensuring journalists adhere to ethical standards aligned with international journalism norms. Dainas Elena Andrikiene became LRT’s first Ethics Controller in May 2021.
September 2025