HRT — Hrvatska radiotelevizija

What is HRT?

Hrvatska radiotelevizija is Croatia's public broadcaster. Its activity is set by statute: Article 3(1) of the Zakon o Hrvatskoj radioteleviziji provides that “djelatnost HRT-a je proizvodnja radijskog, audiovizualnog i multimedijskog programa, glazbena proizvodnja, pružanje audio i audiovizualnih medijskih usluga” — the production of radio, audiovisual and multimedia programming, music production and the provision of audio and audiovisual media services. The consolidated text is drawn from Narodne novine 137/10, 76/12, 78/16, 46/17, 73/17, 94/18, 114/22, 20/23 and 18/24.^[1]

On its own pages the organisation describes itself as a “javni medijski servis” — a public media service — and lists its television channels as HRT 1, HRT 2, HRT 3, HRT 4 and HRT International, its radio services as HR 1, HR 2, HR 3 with regional stations and Glas Hrvatske, and its digital services as the hrt.hr portal and HRTi.^[2] That description is the broadcaster's own.

What does HRT cover?

The Act names sport among the public services. Article 9(1) provides that “javne usluge HRT-a u smislu ovoga Zakona sadrže programske obveze HRT-a koje ispunjavaju demokratske, socijalne i kulturne potrebe hrvatskog društva, jamče pluralizam, uključujući kulturnu i jezičnu raznolikost”. Article 9(2) then opens “u provedbi stavka 1. ovoga članka HRT će osobito:” — in implementing paragraph 1, HRT shall in particular — and lists among the duties “prenositi športske događaje u zemlji i inozemstvu kada sudjeluju hrvatski nacionalni timovi ili športaši, te manje zastupljene športove”: to broadcast sporting events at home and abroad in which Croatian national teams or athletes take part, and less represented sports.^[1] The obligation is expressed as a duty and it is not limited to any one sport.

Beyond sport, the broadcaster states that its programming and services “čuva i promiče europske vrijednosti i temeljna ljudska prava, nacionalne i kulturne vrijednosti” — protect and promote European values, fundamental human rights and national and cultural values.^[2] Again, that is its own statement of purpose rather than a finding.

How large is HRT's audience?

Reporting on 2 April 2025 and citing the audience-measurement company AllEyesOnScreens, HRT put the combined March 2025 share of HRT 1, HRT 2, HRT 3 and HRT 4 at 31.55 per cent, against 21.65 per cent for the second-placed broadcaster and 19.32 per cent for the third; it gave HRT 1 alone at 18.25 per cent.^[3] Those are figures published by the broadcaster itself, attributed by it to that measurement company, for one month; the article names no target group and defines the share only as the percentage of those watching at the time.

Croatian broadcasters do not all cite the same television measurement provider: RTL's audience reports in the same period cite AGB Nielsen. No cross-broadcaster comparison is attempted here, and no annual audited figure for HRT could be retrieved for this page.

Funding is measurable and dated. HRT states that the monthly fee under Article 38 of the Act is €10.62, that it is payable by “svi vlasnici ili posjednici prijamnika (radija, televizora ili kojega drugoga uređaja) u Republici Hrvatskoj” — all owners or holders of a receiver in Croatia, one fee per household — and that the amount for 2025 was set by a decision of its Supervisory Board of 11 December 2024.^[4]

Since when has HRT existed?

The statute that governs the institution in its present form is the Zakon o Hrvatskoj radioteleviziji, whose consolidated text runs from Narodne novine 137/10 to 18/24, the last of those in force from 14 February 2024.^[1]

The broadcaster's own account of its age is not a single date. Its about pages carry the headings “60 godina Hrvatske televizije” and “90 godina Hrvatskog radija”, sixty years of Croatian television and ninety years of Croatian radio,^[2] while a separate anniversary site the broadcaster runs is built around a centenary and opens its first period with the line “sve je počelo jednim jednostavnim ‘Halo, halo!’”.^[5] Neither page retrieved for this page prints a dated first broadcast, so no founding date is stated here; what can be dated is the statutory framework and the fee decisions taken under it.

Why does HRT matter in Croatia's sport?

Because the duty to carry national-team sport is written into the Act rather than bought in a tender. Article 9(2) requires the broadcaster to transmit events in which Croatian national teams or athletes take part and to carry less represented sports, which makes coverage of minority Olympic disciplines a statutory obligation and not a commercial decision.^[1] Rights to individual properties still move between broadcasters and each deal expires on its own terms, so no current rights holding is asserted here.

The governance of the broadcaster is the subject of published monitoring. The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom's Media Pluralism Monitor for Croatia, 2026 edition, scores the country at 53 per cent overall, with Political Independence at 51 per cent, and states that “governance structures of HRT and HINA, including parliamentary appointment procedures, continue to raise concerns about political influence.”^[6] That is the monitor's finding, quoted and attributed, not a characterisation made here.

On the wider market the Euromedia Ownership Monitor's Croatia report, 2025 edition, records that “while Croatia has advanced in formal transparency, the foundations of independent journalism remain fragile.”^[7]