The role of public service broadcasters has never been more important, but the emergence of far-right governments across Europe puts their independence and survival under unprecedented threat.

France Télévisions came under threat from the far-right National Rally party

‘Far-right parties are on the rise across Europe.’ No, not the first line of a plot summary for a historical drama set in the 1930s, but the headline of a BBC News article published last year against the backdrop of a resurgence in extremist politics in Europe.

One year on and the far right has surged in the European Parliament elections, while Austria’s Freedom Party, founded by former Nazis in the 1950s, is the latest in a wave of ‘new populist’ parties to gain power in the north, south, east and west of Europe.

Countries including Italy, Finland, Hungary, Croatia, Greece, Sweden and Slovakia have swerved to the right in recent years, while right-wing parties tapping into and enflaming anti-establishment sentiment and nationalistic values among voters have made gains in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Belgium in 2024.

European public service broadcasters (PSBs) find themselves at the centre of the turmoil and there’s no doubt an increasing number of European governments see public media as too liberal or a barrier to their messaging, resulting in efforts to reduce their funding or influence their output.

In France, a traditionally left-leaning media sector seemed set for drastic change under Marine Le Pen’s National Rally but breathed a sigh of relief after a left-wing coalition won the most parliamentary seats in the country’s snap parliamentary election over the summer.

The far-right National Rally party had threatened to privatise pubcaster France Télévisions (FTV) if it had won a majority – a move that would have threatened hundreds of thousands of jobs, with gargantuan repercussions for the European PSB landscape, given FTV’s support for genres such as factual, drama and kids and family.

UK PSBs joined forces to launch streamer Freely

Le Pen had looked on course for victory after the first round of voting, when her party secured the biggest share of the vote. However, tactical voting in the second round saw the New Popular Front, a hastily arranged coalition of left-wing parties, win the most parliamentary seats of any political bloc, but not enough for an overall majority.

Since then, President Emmanuel Macron has installed the right-leaning Michel Barnier as prime minister in September, with Barnier’s selection of a staunchly conservative cabinet highlighting a sharp turn to the right.

Things look a little different in the UK, where, after over a decade of meddling from the Conservative Party, the BBC has been granted a respite following the left-of-centre Labour Party’s return to government after a 14-year absence under premier Sir Keir Starmer.

Starmer has ruled out changes to how the BBC is funded until at least 2027 and backed the licence fee model that had come under threat from a revolving door of hostile Tory culture secretaries.

Nevertheless, BBC director general Tim Davie is aware the pubcaster must look at how it can reform its funding model to secure the long-term future of the institution – a move that could see wealthier people pay more for the licence fee in a radical overhaul of the payment system.

Slovakia’s premier Robert Fico

Meanwhile, the BBC and its fellow UK PSBs have teamed up to launch Freely, a streaming service providing live TV over the internet that media commentator Evan Shapiro has claimed could help save the country’s pubcasting sector.

In Switzerland, a campaign to halve pubcaster SRG SSR’s licence fee is being backed by political parties including the populist Swiss People’s Party, while a rival cross-party group called Pro Media Diversity has called for SRG SSR’s funding to be maintained.

Dubbed the ‘200 francs should be enough’ referendum, it comes after Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected the opportunity to scrap the licence fee entirely in 2018, when 71% of the nearly three million voters were against the abolition of radio and TV fees.

Meanwhile, in Slovakia, the government has come under fire from European media freedom groups since replacing pubcaster Radio & Television of Slovakia (RTVS) with STVR. In August, pubcaster Česká Televize in the neighbouring Czech Republic distanced itself from STVR, citing its connections with Slovakia’s pro-Russian governing party Direction: Social Democracy.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s director general, Noel Curran, described the move as a “thinly veiled attempt” by Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, to exert state control over public broadcasting.

In September, the EBU urged EU policymakers to prioritise media in the new legislative term. It stressed the need to safeguard Europe’s media sector through commitment to the rule of law, ensuring the prominence of general interest media, enforcement of legislation around big tech and a strategy for artificial intelligence within the sector.

But the existential threat facing PSBs is not restricted to Europe. In Canada, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party remains in power but the opposition Conservative Party has gathered momentum over the past year, with leader Pierre Poilievre making regular comments about plans to defund the CBC were he to become prime minister.

Catherine Tait, whose tenure as CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO ends in early January 2025, recently told C21’s Content Canada event she believes public broadcasting across the globe is in a “very vulnerable situation.”

Tait’s warning comes as calls grow for collective action to ensure PSBs, and an entire ecosystem of independent producers, can continue to reliably inform, educate and entertain all audiences, ultimately empowering and strengthening democracies worldwide.

Lisa Nandy, UK culture secretary
I want to bring to an end this constant political interference in the media – we’ve seen far too much of that in recent years. It’s not the job of politicians or the government to dictate what can or cannot be said. The accusations against our institutions have got to stop. The relationship between the media and politicians is often very uncomfortable, and so it should be, because they hold us to account. Rest assured, there’ll be a very different approach from this government.

Perrine Gauthier, producer and founder, La Cabane Productions, France
Thanks to an unprecedented coalition and to the mobilisation of civil society, the extreme right did not get a majority in parliament. But the last few weeks have also been a brutal reminder that nothing should be taken for granted. Not our rights and freedoms. Not democratic principles. Not pluralism. Not the media landscape. Not freedom of the press. Not public broadcasting. Not the funding of culture and associations. Not the artists’ social status. Not this victory. The weeks, months and years to come will be decisive in preserving all of this.

Bakel Walden, outgoing director of development, SRG SSR
The licence fee is our main income and it’s under pressure. There’s going to be another referendum that is calling for our budget to be halved. We will probably see a vote in the next two years. We are confident it will once again be rejected, but it puts a lot of pressure on the teams. Either way the licence fee will be cut. This is clear, the government has decided. We’ll probably see 15-18% less income in the next five years. That’s quite significant.

Dr Patrick Hörl, MD, Autentic
Roughly 50% of all investment in factual content in Europe is actually coughed up by the public broadcasters, so we had better watch very carefully what happens with them. They are under enormous pressure for various reasons, including political.

Catherine Tait, outgoing president and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada
I spend a lot of time talking to Canadians about why public broadcasting matters more than ever. I’m not sure it’s landed, and that is a regret – that I have not been successful at a call to action to activate Canadians. Perhaps my successor and others I leave behind will be more successful in communicating the urgency. But the public broadcaster in this country is under existential threat, and it’s not just in Canada.

Andrea Campbell, communications manager, EBU
When you return to your countries, I would like you to watch your public service media news and assess it for yourself. Do you trust what is being said? Is it independent, balanced and informative? If not, it is time to start asking questions and using Council of Europe recommendations to support these enquiries. We are beyond a time where we can just sit and watch. We need action to ensure that there is media freedom and respect for journalist safety for the generations to come.