BRATISLAVA, October 15, (WEBNOVINY- The sports channel of the public-service Slovak Television will not be shut down this year but will continue broadcasting. STV Director General Stefan Niznansky underscored after the meeting of the STV Council on Friday that the management is not going to stop the third channel this year. He said that if somebody said anything else then it is based on rumors or a leak of information, which he considers illegal or even anti-constitutional. Niznansky however was silent about the fate of the third channel next year. He said that there exist justified allegations that the management of the public broadcaster has been bugged and its e-mails and SMS messages leaked. He said they would take all measures and legal steps to stop this situation and identify the perpetrators.
The media started recently reporting on the allegedly prepared closure of the STV’s third channel as one of the possible solutions to the desperate financial station of the Slovak Television. However, the STV Council has recommended the broadcaster to preserve its sports broadcast. STV launched the new sports channel Trojka (Channel 3) in 2008. The network received a special subsidy of almost EUR 3 million to start up the channel.
The Slovak Television has been in a catastrophic economic situation. The STV Council says is no longer able to perform its public service mission as set by the law. It urgently demands compensation from the state for a shortfall in collected viewer license fees. The Culture Ministry however already said that STV cannot count on any such compensations. Miroslav Galambos of the STV supervisory commission says that the estimated financial deficit at EUR 16 million endangers fulfilling of STV task by the end of the year and shaping of the STV budget for next year. Despite the desperate situation of the public broadcaster, its Director General Stefan Niznansky got a bonus of EUR 12,000 for last year, which the STV Council approved in April. Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer recently presented his plan plans to merge the public service media Slovak Television and Slovak Radio and establish a new institution Slovak Radio and Television, the move, which is hoped to resolve the problems of the public service media..
SITA