Czech Television and Czech Radio have seen hundreds of thousands of new subscribers register in recent months, but the numbers still fall short of initial estimates. Both public media institutions are now preparing to reach out to non-compliant households, with potential penalties looming for those who fail to register.
Since May, a legal amendment has not only increased the fee amounts but also expanded the pool of who must pay. The new regulation requires payments from anyone with internet-connected devices such as smartphones, computers, or tablets—even if they don’t own a traditional television or radio. New payers were required to register by mid-June.
According to Czech Television spokesperson Patrik Vacek, May saw 96,000 new individual registrations for TV fees—83,000 more than in April. Czech Radio has reported even higher numbers, with 132,000 new individual subscribers and 181,000 businesses registering.
Culture Minister Martin Baxa had initially estimated approximately 600,000 households that weren’t previously paying fees would now be required to register. Both institutions plan to compare their subscriber databases with electricity customer records to identify non-compliant households.
The penalties could be substantial—Czech Television can impose surcharges of up to 10,000 Czech crowns. For households, the monthly television fee is 150 crowns and the radio fee is 55 crowns. Business fee structures changed in July, with companies now paying based on employee count—businesses with fewer than 24 employees are exempt, while those with more than 500 employees pay 100 times the basic fee.