Protesters against scrapping the TV and radio licence fee tried to force their way into the Chamber of Deputies in Prague on Friday, October 23, 2026, as parliament debated into the early hours a government bill that would abolish the fees funding Czech Television and Czech Radio. Police stopped them; no one was detained.
What happened at the parliament
Since Friday, a rally against abolishing the licence fees for Czech Television and Czech Radio has been under way on Malostranské náměstí, next to the parliament building, with hundreds of people taking part, according to novinky.cz via AroundPrague.cz.
Several dozen of those gathered approached the doors and windows of the Chamber of Deputies and tried to force their way in. Members of the Special Police Unit stopped them. Police spokeswoman Eva Kropáčová said no one was detained and the situation was calmed.
The protesters chanted "We are fed up with this" and called on Culture Minister Oto Klempíř — "Oto, come out," "We pay you with our taxes." Klempíř drafted the fee abolition, agreed by the governing coalition. According to Czech Television, several demonstrators argued with MP Jaroslav Foldyna (SPD), who came out to the building; police separated them.
What the bill changes
On Friday evening, the Chamber of Deputies began debating the bill changing the funding of Czech Television and Czech Radio, which would abolish the licence fees. At the coalition's proposal, it was to be approved overnight into Saturday; the outcome of the overnight vote was unconfirmed at the time of writing.
The proposal would scrap the licence fee system, under which households pay $9.44 a month (205 Czech crowns), and instead finance the broadcasters through the state budget, with funding cut by about 15%, possibly during next year, Reuters reported. Czech Television is the country's most-watched broadcaster across the main age groups. In an unusual move, the lower house voted to extend the debate — the first of three required readings — into Saturday to overcome opposition obstruction.
The government's stated rationale: ANO, the leading coalition party, pledged before the election to abolish the fees so households would no longer pay directly for public broadcasting. The bill cites a European trend "under which ever more European countries depart from the fee-funded principle." The government also says savings are needed at the broadcasters and that editorial coverage would not be affected.
Why it is contested
The opposition and the protesters criticize both the idea — suspecting the government of curbing media independence — and the procedure: SPD caucus chairman Radim Fiala unexpectedly proposed on Friday that the bill be taken out of turn.
Czech Radio director general René Zavoral called the move "an extremely dangerous move against public service media," arguing that replacing the fee with state-budget funding would remove safeguards against political intervention and raised doubts about compliance with the European Media Freedom Act, which requires sustainable, predictable funding for public service media.
International press organizations weighed in on October 23: the International Press Institute, the European Broadcasting Union and Reporters Without Borders raised alarm over the fast-tracking, saying the change "deserves thorough assessment, open parliamentary debate and genuine consultation." Pirate Party leader Zdeněk Hřib likened the government's behaviour to Hungary under Viktor Orbán. A journalists' action group, Verejnopravne, announced a strike for November 3 in protest.
The clash in Prague showed how much is at stake — households resent paying the fee, while critics say moving the broadcasters onto the state budget would leave the country's most-watched news outlets dependent on whichever government controls the purse strings. Whether the bill survived its first reading, and what happens in the two remaining ones, will decide which vision of Czech public broadcasting prevails.
Watch: YouTube search results for video coverage of the Prague protest against scrapping the TV and radio licence fee — video coverage of the demonstrators at Malostranské náměstí and the parliament debate.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0