ANALYSIS

How public media should be funded is rarely a settled debate. Questions like how public service media should be paid for, by whom, and how much, are often discussed in public arenas, newspaper editorials, and corridors of power.

That’s only accentuated at times of austerity, budget constraints, and cost-of-living pressures on citizens, as has been the case since the COVID pandemic.

Public media funding has had its fair share of headlines in recent years as several governments decided to shake up the funding model. There was a move towards a household levy in Austria and funding from VAT for public media in France. Ireland’s RTÉ received a government bail-out after licence fee income dropped off a cliff following an undisclosed payments scandal involving a high-profile presenter in 2024,although the system remains in place. In May 2025, Zimbabwe’s government introduced a radio licence fee for motorists, but the cost of a licence was reduced on 1 January 2026 due to public outcry. South Korea changed its funding collection system in 2024, before reverting late last year. Domestic and international US public media were almost entirely stripped of their federal funds last year. And in 2023, Slovakia’s public broadcaster was the subject of widely condemned reforms which, as well as a rebrand, saw the end of the licence fee and the start of direct budget funding.

This is not to mention the various broadcasters that have seen changes in their funding allocation – both down (as is the case in Lithuania and Sweden) or up (as in Canada and the Czech Republic).

So, can we expect to see 2026 continue in the same vein as the past few years?

“I expect the financial instability to continue to accelerate this trajectory in 2026: budget freezes, cuts, and restructuring are no longer restricted to crisis-affected states but are expanding to systems once considered stable,” said Marius Dragomir, Director of the Media and Journalism Research Center said in his 2026 PSM Prediction for PMA.

In this analysis, we highlight the expected flashpoints in the global public media funding debate.

What will become of the licence fee?

Could 2026 be the year the death knell sounds for the licence fee funding system?

It’s not on death’s door just yet. In 2023, the licence fee accounted for 47 percent of all funding for European public media — although given several broadcasters have changed funding systems since that research was done, that figure is likely to be down.

But it’s certainly not as popular as it once was. Global shifts in technology use, and fragmenting audiences have changed the way the licence fee is perceived. Despite some form of modernisation to include OTT services, its attachment to television ownership now appears as an outdated vessel from a bygone era, no longer reflective of consumption habits.

For so long, the licence fee was the de facto funding system for many public media, seen as a reliable and viable system for independently funding public media. But undoubtedly, it is on the decline, and that trend looks set to continue, with the licence fee on the ropes in several countries. High rates of licence fee evasion in both Ireland and South Africa have left RTÉ and the SABC facing huge budget shortfalls and needing government support or bailouts.

For RTÉ, a half-resolution to its funding crisis came in 2024, when the licence fee collection model was reformed, and the government pledged additional subsidies to support the public broadcaster. But this deal will only last until 2027, and the current government has already made it clear it doesn’t plan on keeping this arrangement in place. A new long-term solution will need to be found soon.

Even more imminent is a replacement system for the SABC. The search has been going on for years, with the SABC desperately calling for reform amid an existential funding crisis and evasion rates of 85 percent. Things could finally be about to change. In September 2025, the government appointed BMI TechKnowledge (BMIT)to report back on an alternative funding model, and it’s believed this will spell an end to the licence fee.

Meanwhile, the departure of the licence fee, which funds the GBC, is all but confirmed. Since 2021, there have been calls for a rethink of the model. Now, Ghana’s President and cabinet are discussing what would take its place; the President, on a recent visit to the GBC’s headquarters, said the government was considering a public media levy instead.

It seems likely that some governments will look to move towards such a model. Already, the Czech Republic’s new government – only established at the tail-end of 2025 – has promised to remove the licence fee modeland is reportedly considering funding Czech Radio and Czech TV via the state budget. In Poland, it’s expected that similar legislation will be introduced at some point this year, given the licence fee isn’t bringing in the required income, and government subsidies are already being provided to TVP and Radio Polski.

The problem with the transition to such a model is that, without those essential and vital editorial protections, robust governance models and regulation, and without the political consensus that supports the independence of public media, the institutions are suddenly vulnerable to interference and financial threats. For example, the reforms imposed on RTVS by the Slovakian government drastically altered its governance, appointments process, and its funding system. These changes have left the broadcaster in a weakened, more politicised state. Its funding was reduced in 2023, and at the start of this year, it was announced 5 percent of the 1700 staff would be made redundant.

But one country is considering going the other way and bolstering the protection of public media funding. In his pre-election manifesto, the now-Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada pledged that his government would update the mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada. Within these reforms is the proposal to make public media funding statutory, meaning it would require parliamentary approval, rather than just cabinet approval, to make changes to CBC/Radio-Canada’s appropriation. The initial work on such reforms is expected to begin in the next few months.

For public media leaders, experts and workers, the funding of public service media is at the centre of everything. Without a viable and sustainable method of funding, the breadth of services provided by public media are weakened – services that cover education, culture, emergency broadcasting, the provision of local news, and much more.

Without a funding stream that is independent, trust can take a hit. Combined, this can lead to a loss of relevance and public support for public media. Transitioning to a weak funding model can present an existential crisis. That’s why those who support public media often urge lawmakers to above all, prioritise the sustainability and independence of public media.