Radio and Television of Slovakia ( ), or RTVS, was a nationwide

public broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

, state-funded organisation in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The organisation was created in 2011 following a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

Slovenská televízia Slovenská televízia (; "Slovak Television"; STV) was a state-owned public television organisation in Slovakia. It was created in 1991 as the Slovak part of the former Czechoslovak Television and was headquartered in Bratislava. It was funded ...

(Slovak Television) with

Slovenský rozhlas Slovenský rozhlas (, ) or SRo was a state-owned nationwide public-service radio broadcaster in Slovakia. It was headquartered in Bratislava in a building shaped like an inverted pyramid, which currently serves as STVR radio's headquarters. Hi ...

(Slovak Radio). It was headquartered in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. Like its two predecessor organisations -

(STV) and

(SRo), RTVS was a member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU). Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) transformed into

Slovak Television and Radio Slovak Television and Radio ( ), in short STVR is a nationwide public broadcasting, government-owned corporation, state-funded organisation in Slovakia. Its headquarters are located in Bratislava and led by General Director Martina Flašíková. ...

(STVR) on 1 July 2024.

Finances

Funding for the RTVS was obtained through advertising and government payments. There was also monthly

licence fee A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

levied on most individuals registered with electricity retailers and most businesses containing three or more employees. The TV licence fee in

was €4.64 per month (€55.68 per year). The license fee was abolished from 1 July 2023.

Radio stations

There were 9 national radio stations in 2024:

Television channels

There were four national television channels in 2024: *:1 (

Jednotka Jednotka (:1 formerly STV1) is a Slovak television generalist channel owned and operated by public broadcasting, state-funded STVR. Programming News and journalism * Góly, body, sekundy (''Goals, points, seconds'') - sport news * O 5 mi ...

) is a

generalist channel A generalist channel is a television or radio channel whose target audience is not confined to a particular set of people, but instead aims to offer a wide range of programs and program genres to a diverse general public. The term is mainly used in ...

, family-oriented television, broadcasting Slovak movies, children's programming, news and documentaries, major sport events on club and international level. *:2 ( Dvojka) broadcasts documentaries, nature-oriented shows, minor sport events, old Slovak dramas and movies, and also frequently shows classic and art foreign films in the original versions with Slovak subtitles. *:ŠPORT () launched on 20 December 2021. The sports channel broadcasts 24 hours a day, programs such as live sport events, sport news, lifestyle magazines and archival materials. With the arrival of the fourth broadcasting circuit, regional sport was given more space, and one of the priorities of the new channel is also the support of education and motivation of all ages for a healthy lifestyle. *:24 () is a news channel launched on 28 February 2022 as a consequence of the emergency situation associated with the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. This channel consists of regular news blocks, supplemented by premieres and reruns of regular news and current affairs programs acquired from the other channels and Rádio Slovensko.

Defunct

*:3 ( Trojka) was launched on 22 December 2019 and focused on archive programming. The channel discontinued operations on 30 November 2022.

General Directors

The General Director was elected by the

National Council of the Slovak Republic The National Council of the Slovak Republic (, abbreviated to ''NR SR'') is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameralism, unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation ...

. * Miloslava Zemková (2011–2012) * Daniela Vašinová and Peter Ondro (2012), acting * Václav Mika (2012–2017) * Jaroslav Rezník (2017–2022) * Ľuboš Machaj (2022–2024)

News and objectivity

During the term of the General Director Václav Mika (2012–2017), the content and graphics of the news have changed significantly. The title also included the RTVS brand titled ''Správy RTVS''. The news broadcasting programmes were initially struggling with very low audience on 18 December 2012 with only 7.8% share. Over time, the audience began to grow, and RTVS news has started to appear as the most objective news in TV in public opinion surveys, with exceptions lasting by now. However, after the election of Jaroslav Reznik as General Director in 2017, who was nominated by SNS party, which was in government, the situation in the newsroom has changed. A new head of the news section has been appointed, under whose leadership, according to most of the journalists, the content of the news was being manipulated. The tense atmosphere led to the departure of a dozen journalists in 2018. More and more space in the news was reserved to the SNS party officials, including journeys of Andrej Danko, the party leader, serving till 2020 as Speaker of the parliament, to Russia. The topic of his plagiarism in rigorous work was also not addressed in the main part of the news. After the parliamentary elections in 2020 and the new government appointed, news too favorable towards the governmental or oppositional parties seem to not appearing anymore, nonetheless some of the content was still manipulated. In 2024, RTVS news has been the most objective TV news in Slovakia in public opinion surveys.

Closure

In April 2024, the Slovak government approved the Television and Radio Act proposed by prime minister

Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who has served as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party D ...

and minister of culture Martina Šimkovičová over alleged partiality of the broadcaster. The move has been criticised by then-president of Slovakia

Zuzana Čaputová Zuzana Čaputová (; Strapáková; born 21 June 1973) is a Slovak politician, lawyer and environmental activist who served as the fifth president of Slovakia from 2019 to 2024. Čaputová is the first woman to hold the presidency, as well as the ...

, Slovakia's opposition and the EBU's director general Noel Curran as potentially undermining the independence of public broadcasting in the country. The bill was passed on 20 June 2024 by the Parliament of Slovakia. As such, RTVS was closed by 1 July 2024 and replaced by a new broadcaster,

(STVR). The legislation was passed by 78 out of 78 present lawmakers, with the opposition not taking part in the vote.

Logos and identities

RTVS

File:Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska Logo (2011-present).svg

RTVS television channels

File:Jednotka logo.svg, Logo of Jednotka File:Dvojka logo.svg, Logo of Dvojka File:Šport logo.svg, Logo of :Šport File:24 logo.svg, Logo of :24

RTVS radio stations

File:Rádio Slovensko.svg, Logo of Rádio Slovensko File:Rádio FM.svg, Logo of Rádio FM File:Rádio Devín.svg, Logo of Rádio Devín File:Rádio Regina.svg, Logo of Rádio Regina File:Rádio Patria.svg, Logo of Rádio Patria File:Rádio Slovakia International.svg, Logo of Rádio Slovakia International File:Rádio Pyramída.svg, Logo of Rádio Pyramída File:Rádio Junior.svg, Logo of Rádio Junior File:Rádio Litera.svg, Logo of Rádio Litera

References

External links

Radio and television website
{{Coord, 48.157, N, 17.072, E, display=title Publicly funded broadcasters Mass media in Slovakia European Broadcasting Union members Radio stations in Slovakia Radio in Slovakia Multilingual broadcasters Television channels and stations established in 2011 Radio stations established in 2011 Radio and Television of Slovakia 2011 establishments in Slovakia Television channels and stations disestablished in 2024 Radio stations disestablished in 2024 2024 disestablishments in Slovakia