Who owns Czech news? Blesk, public service media and the owners behind them

Since it launched in 1998, the most-read daily newspaper in Czechia has been a tabloid. Blesk, with its mix of crime, celebrity and sport, has regularly topped the readership tables, ahead of the serious titles that were meant to carry the new democracy's debates. The tabloid is the least interesting part of the picture. The system around it is the real story: who owns what, where Czechs get their news and how much they trust it.

Market figures change year by year, so figures are left to the monitors named below.

The public broadcasters

Czech Television (Česká televize, ČT) and Czech Radio (Český rozhlas, ČRo) were created by laws passed in 1991, part of the post-communist remaking of the state media. Czech Television runs several channels, including the news channel ČT24, and an online service. Czech Radio runs national and regional stations and a foreign service, Radio Prague International, which publishes in English and other languages. The national news agency ČTK, a separate public-law body, supplies wire reports to most media.

Each broadcaster is governed by a council elected by the Chamber of Deputies, and the council appoints the director-general. The design aims to keep them clear of the government of the day, though politicians on all sides criticise the broadcasters, and how councils are appointed is a perennial argument.

They live mainly on licence fees paid by households and businesses, with limited advertising on television. The fees were frozen for years, which squeezed budgets, and were later raised by law. Parties now in government have argued for abolishing the fee and funding public media from the state budget, a plan critics say would weaken independence (as of 2026; check the latest legislation and the broadcasters' position).

Audience surveys, including the Reuters Institute's annual Digital News Report, have consistently found public-service media among the most trusted news sources in Czechia, while trust in the news media in general is moderate.

Commercial television

Private television arrived in the early 1990s. TV Nova, launched in 1994, became the dominant entertainment channel; it was owned by the Central European Media Enterprises group and, since 2020, by the PPF group (as of 2026; check the company). Its main rival is Prima, part of a Czech-owned media group. Each group runs a family of channels for sport, films and news. The commercial channels live on advertising, and their news programmes draw large audiences. The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) licenses and supervises private broadcasters.

Streaming has changed viewing habits, as elsewhere. International platforms and the broadcasters' own services compete for younger audiences, and video on news sites keeps growing.

Newspapers and magazines

The print press has shrunk, as everywhere, but still has recognisable titles. Blesk is the tabloid and Aha! another popular one. The mainstream dailies include MF Dnes and Lidové noviny on the centre-right, Právo on the centre-left and the business daily Hospodářské noviny. Deník N, founded in 2018 as a reader-funded daily, presents itself as independent and is a notable example of a newer subscription model. Weekly magazines such as Respekt, Reflex and Echo24 cover politics and current affairs from different standpoints.

Circulation is audited by the Czech audit bureau (ABC ČR), and readership measured by surveys such as Media Projekt. Tabloids have lost much of their print circulation, but their websites still draw large traffic. Numbers date quickly, so look for the current release.

Online news

For many Czechs the internet is now the main source. The portal Seznam, run by the Czech tech company of the same name, is a leading search engine and news aggregator with its own newsroom, Seznam Zprávy. The websites of newspapers and broadcasters, such as iDNES.cz, Novinky.cz and Aktuálně.cz, draw large audiences. Social media, above all Facebook and increasingly video platforms, matter for finding news, and disinformation on them is a recurring public worry. Czech fact-checking organisations and the EU's rules on digital platforms try to respond.

Ownership and independence

A recurring theme in Czech media debate is ownership. Over the past two decades many newspapers and online outlets have been bought by industrial or financial groups. The best-known case was the purchase of a publishing house and its dailies by the businessman Andrej Babiš, who later became prime minister. In 2017 he put his business holdings into trusts to meet conflict-of-interest rules, but media influence stayed political, and the publisher has since changed hands (as of 2026; check the commercial register). Other owners include foreign publishers and Czech investors.

The worry is not unique to Czechia. Independent monitoring projects publish who owns what, and the EU's European Media Freedom Act, which began to apply in 2025, sets requirements on transparency of ownership and protection of editorial independence. Ownership of any Czech company, media firms included, can be checked in the commercial register (the Czech Commercial Register explained), and the people behind it in the Czech beneficial ownership register.

Press freedom and the legal framework

The Czech constitutional order protects freedom of expression and the press through the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, as explained in the Czech Constitution in plain terms. There is no state licensing of newspapers. Defamation remains a criminal offence, though prosecutions are rare. International press-freedom rankings have placed Czechia in the upper part of the table while noting concern about political and ownership pressure and about threats to journalists (as of 2026; check the latest index).

The state once ran every outlet. Under communism the press, radio and television were party instruments, and the lustration law of 1991 named heads of state media among the posts it covered (see Czechia and communist-era crimes). How Czechs now judge that period is the subject of nostalgia for communism, where the quality of the polls matters as much as the headlines.

How to read the Czech media

A few habits help an outsider. Check who owns the outlet. Separate news reports from opinion columns. Use the public broadcasters' English services, such as Radio Prague International, as a baseline and compare with a private outlet. Remember that tabloid headlines are written to sell and that comment sections do not represent the public. For business and legal news in English, most readers rely on Radio Prague International, the English-language sections of ČTK and a few independent English-language sites.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most-read Czech daily?

For many years it has been the tabloid Blesk. Print circulation has fallen across the sector, so check the latest audited figures and online traffic data.

How are Czech public broadcasters funded?

Mainly by licence fees. The fees were raised by law after a long freeze, and there are political proposals to change the funding model; check the current law.

Are Czech media trusted?

Trust in news in general is moderate. Public-service media are among the most trusted brands, according to the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report.

Where can I read Czech news in English?

Radio Prague International and the English-language services of the national news agency are good starting points.

Open the latest Digital News Report page for Czechia and compare the trust figures for the brands you read.