Czech Television has hit a rough patch. Following controversial exchanges between CEO Jan Souček and the Television Council, as well as his dismissal, it now appears the public has lost its trust in the public media outlet, reports Echo24.
According to analysts’ findings, approximately a third of Czechs do not trust public television at all, although there are significant differences in evaluations based on party affiliation.
“At the end of April, approximately one-third of the population expressed complete distrust of Czech Television,” said STEM analyst Doris Borovcová. According to the data, even 46 percent of supporters of non-parliamentary parties hold a negative attitude, which is a significant increase compared to last October, when it was 33 percent.
In contrast, trust among supporters of the government parties SPOLU, STAN, and Pirates has not changed much, at around 43 percent.
Earlier this month, the Czech Television Council dismissed director Jan Souček, who had been in charge since October 2023. He had repeatedly violated the Act on Czech Television and was damaging public television through his communications, according to the council, with 15 out of 17 council members voting in favor of his dismissal.
“The public Czech Television, although not primarily a political institution, provokes a relatively strong degree of political polarization in society. It is important to emphasize that this data was collected in April and therefore does not capture the situation surrounding the dismissal of Director General Jan Souček in May,” he adds.
Meanwhile, Souček disagrees with the criticisms and emphasized that the television is in excellent shape and, thanks to the increase in fees, has secured funding for many years to come.
“Directors of large companies resign at a time of poor results or embezzlement, which is not my case,” he said after the dismissal.
Borovcová pointed out that further research will show whether trust will stabilize or deteriorate with the new leadership.
The new head of CT will be elected on June 18. Michal Fila, the current head of corporate services, is now the interim director.
After Souček’s dismissal, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that the Czech Republic needs stable public media. Politicians expect the council to elect a new director quickly and professionally, but according to media expert Jan Potůček, the election may be more complicated than the dismissal itself. “It may happen that the council does not elect a director within the statutory three-month period,” he warned.
The STEM research also shows that the most trusted institutions in the Czech Republic still include the Czech National Bank (73 percent), the Czech Police (73 percent), and the Czech Army (68 percent). In contrast, the government, the Chamber of Deputies, and the Senate have long remained below the 35 percent trust threshold.
The survey was conducted on a representative sample of 1,031 respondents between April 8 and 17, 2025.
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