MRT

What is MRT?

MRT is Македонска радио-телевизија, North Macedonia's public broadcaster, at Булевар Гоце Делчев бр. 18 in Skopje. Its sport output is published at mrt.com.mk/sport, a path of its own domain.^[1] Its own page on the organisation lists the television channels МРТ 1, МРТ 2, МРТ 3, МРТ 4 and МРТ 5, the Собраниски канал (parliamentary channel) and the satellite channels МРТ1 САТ and МРТ2 САТ, and the radio channels МР1, МР2, МР3 and МР САТ, and gives its address.^[2]

Its statute is the Закон за аудио и аудиовизуелни медиумски услуги. The regulator publishes the base law as of 26 December 2013 and lists amending acts from 2014 to one dated 10 December 2025; its page lists no consolidated text.^[3]

The amending act published in Службен весник на РМ бр. 247 of 31 December 2018 replaced article 107. Under the new paragraph (1), MRT provides at least one television programme service in Macedonian and one in the language spoken by at least 20 per cent of citizens that is different from Macedonian, each broadcasting 24 hours a day, every day of the week, and one television service broadcasting in the languages of the other non-majority communities.^[4] Whether later amending acts changed that paragraph was not established.

What does MRT cover?

Between 15 and 22 September 2026 the sport page carried items on the football national team, including the head coach's call-up of 28 players for the start of the Nations League and the absence of one player over a residence issue in Poland. It also carried the women's handball national team's preparation for the Трофеј Македонија tournament in Ohrid, a WTA 125 tennis tournament in Ankara, and a European Cup in judo in Skopje, which MRT reported had 439 competitors from 42 countries.^[1]

The same page carried the minister of sport, Borko Ristovski, meeting the national paragliding team, which the headline calls European vice-champions, and the Formula 1 calendar for 2027.^[1] Those are one week's items.

The provisions of the 2018 amending act on MRT's programme services set language and hours obligations; the retrieved articles on MRT do not name sport.^[4]

How large is MRT's audience?

Television audience figures in North Macedonia were not retrieved from an audited audience currency. The most recent per-channel reach figure retrieved is older. Meta.mk reported on 12 May 2020 a survey by the regulator for the first quarter of 2020, by computer-assisted telephone interview of a representative national sample of 2,400 respondents. It gave 39.5 per cent of respondents as having watched МТВ 1, against 60.5 per cent for Sitel and 54.42 per cent for Kanal 5.^[6] That is a survey of respondents' reported viewing in one quarter six years before the build date, reported by a news site, not a measured audience share.

Reporters Without Borders, in its 2026 index entry, states: “Although television is the dominant source of information, online media play an important role.”^[7] The regulator's 2024 analysis gives MRT 630 people in regular employment in 2024.^[5] No audience figure for mrt.com.mk/sport from an audited online measurement was retrieved.

Since when has MRT existed?

The MRT pages retrieved give no founding date, and none is given here. The framework under which it now operates is the Закон за аудио и аудиовизуелни медиумски услуги, whose base text the regulator dates 26 December 2013. It lists amending acts dated 23 January 2014, 5 March 2014, 7 July 2014, 5 September 2014, 1 August 2016, 20 September 2017, 11 September 2018, 31 December 2018, 5 February 2019, 16 February 2020, 6 April 2021, 20 July 2023, 6 March 2024, 18 September 2024 and 10 December 2025.^[3]

The regulator's page for the law lists the amending acts but no consolidated text. The texts of articles 105 and 107 given here are those of the 2018 amending act.^[3][4]

Why does MRT matter in North Macedonia's sport?

MRT is funded from the state budget under the statute. Article 105(1), as replaced in 2018, provides that the funds for broadcasting activity and for the work and development of Македонска Радио Телевизија, the public enterprise Македонска радиодифузија and the regulator are provided from the budget at 0.8 to 1 per cent of the realised total revenues of the year preceding the fiscal year for which the amount is set.^[4]

The regulator's analysis for 2023 states that MRT's revenues that year were MKD 1,000.44 million and that from 2018 to 2023 it received MKD 2,798.84 million less than the law stipulated.^[8] Its gives MRT's 2024 revenues as MKD 1,365.55 million, of which MKD 1,140.54 million came from the state budget, 83.52 per cent, and states that in 2024, for the first time in nearly seven years, the full amount was transferred from the budget.^[5]

Reporters Without Borders states: “The public broadcaster lacks editorial and financial independence.”^[7] That is RSF's characterisation, published in its 2026 index entry.