ČTK

What is ČTK?

ČTK, Česká tisková kancelář, is the Czech News Agency. Its law is Zákon České národní rady č. 517/1992 Sb., o České tiskové kanceláři, dated 21 October 1992. The statute register e-Sbírka serves the Act for 25 September 2026 in the version in effect from 15 November 1992, marked current, and lists no amending act.^[4]

Section 2(1) reads: “Posláním tiskové kanceláře je poskytovat objektivní a všestranné informace pro svobodné vytváření názorů.” — the agency's mission is to provide objective and comprehensive information for the free formation of opinions. Section 2(2) reads: “Tisková kancelář poskytuje službu veřejnosti šířením slovního a obrazového zpravodajství z České republiky a ze zahraničí.” — it provides a public service by distributing text and picture news from the Czech Republic and abroad.^[3]

The agency runs a public news site, ceskenoviny.cz, whose footer carries the line “© Copyright 25.09.2026 ČTK” and which has a sport section.^[5]

What does ČTK cover?

ČTK describes its service as “Denně na 500 vydaných domácích a zahraničních zpráv z ekonomiky, politiky, kultury a sportu” — about 500 domestic and foreign reports a day on the economy, politics, culture and sport. It lists further services, including English-language news, photographs, video and communication services.^[1]

On 25 September 2026 the sport items on its public site included a preview headed “Tenistky zabojují o finále Poháru BJK, proti Španělkám chystají odvetu”, on the Czech women's tennis team in the Billie Jean King Cup against Spain; a report of the UEFA Nations League; and a report of a match in which Hradec Králové beat Liberec.^[5] Those are one day's items.

Its history records a sport data service. It states: “Po úspěchu flashové aplikace z mistrovství světa v hokeji v roce 2011 připravila ČTK pro své klienty a jejich sportovní fanoušky v následujícím roce datový servis a widgety k největším sportovním událostem roku včetně olympijských her v Londýně.” That is, after an application for the 2011 ice hockey world championship, ČTK prepared a data service and widgets for its clients for the largest sporting events of 2012, including the London Olympic Games.^[2]

The agency also reports on the sport-media market. On 9 October 2025 it reported that TV Nova would acquire 100 per cent of O2 TV, the operator of the pay sport channels Oneplay Sport and Premier Sport, from December 2025.^[6]

How large is ČTK's audience?

An agency's output reaches readers mostly through the media that take its service, and no audited measure of that reach was retrieved. ČTK's own figure is its output of about 500 reports a day.^[1]

SPIR's NetMonitor, the online audience measurement whose contractor is Gemius, publishes a monthly landscape of Czech publishers.^[8] Its landscape for August 2026, covering internet users aged 10 to 99 and a universe of 8,686,941, has no row for ČTK or for ceskenoviny.cz.^[7] No reach figure for the agency's public site was therefore retrieved.

Since when has ČTK existed?

ČTK's history states that ČTK came into being on 28 October 1918, the same day as the Czechoslovak Republic, under the name Československá tisková kancelář.^[2] That is the agency's own account.

It continues: “V roce 1992 se oddělila slovenská část agentury a následně na základě zákona č.517/92 vzniká veřejnoprávní Česká tisková kancelář.” — in 1992 the Slovak part of the agency separated, and the public Česká tisková kancelář then came into being under Act No. 517/92.^[2] Section 1(2) of the Act names property transferred from the Československá tisková kancelář as the basis of the new agency's property.^[3] e-Sbírka gives 13 November 1992 as the date the Act was promulgated.^[4]

Why does ČTK matter in Czechia's sport?

ČTK is the statutory national news agency, with a public-service mission written into section 2 of its Act, and it states that sport is one of the four fields of its daily output of about 500 reports.^[3][1]

Its oversight and funding are statutory. Section 4(1) reads: “Orgánem, jímž se uplatňuje právo veřejnosti na kontrolu tiskové kanceláře je Rada tiskové kanceláře (dále jen „Rada“). Rada má sedm členů. Členy Rady volí a odvolává Česká národní rada.” — the body through which the public's right to control the agency is exercised is its seven-member Council, and in the text as printed its members are elected and dismissed by the Česká národní rada.^[3] Section 10(2) reads: “Tisková kancelář může dostat účelovou dotaci ze státního rozpočtu České republiky, která však nemůže být poskytnuta na krytí ztráty z hospodaření.” — the agency may receive a purpose-bound subsidy from the state budget, which may not, however, be granted to cover a loss from its operations.^[3]

The Euromedia Ownership Monitor's 2025 report for the Czech Republic groups the agency with the public broadcasters. It refers to “public service media such as Czech Television, Czech Radio, and the Czech News Agency” and states: “They still have high societal relevance, as illustrated by their high population reach and public trust, which remains relatively high (Štětka, 2024) and increases regularly during times of crisis, despite attacks on PSM from different political parties.”^[9] That is the monitor's characterisation.