Slovak Television (STV) and Slovak Radio (SRo) will be merged into a single public-service institution, Culture and Tourism Minister Daniel Krajcer (SaS) announced on Tuesday, October 12.
The range of current broadcasting will be reduced from the current six radio stations to four in the case of SRo, while only two out of the three STV channels will remain in place after the change. "The aim of this model is to strengthen the status of the public-service media," said Krajcer, as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that this is how he plans to resolve the current financial problems at STV.
The minister was fully supported by his party's coalition partners. The ministry and the government believe that there is no other way to resolve the catastrophic situation at STV, claimed Krajcer, blaming STV general director Štefan Nižňanský and the STV Council for the broadcaster's woes. Krajcer argues that if he hadn't come up with his solution, it would have been necessary to start discussing the privatisation of STV and SRo.
The selection of the general director of SRTV (the result of the merger of STV and SRo) will be carried out by parliament. According to Krajcer, he or she could be chosen as early as December.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
13. Oct 2010 at 10:00
