Elections to the European Parliament

Before the elections to the European Parliament, Czech Television will fulfil its legal obligations and broadcast election spots of political parties, movements and coalitions, as required by law. Apart from that, it will also focus on the elections in its own news and discussion programmes as well as in special election broadcasting.

Election spots

Article 59, par 4 of Act No. 62/2003 Coll. on Elections to the European Parliament stipulates: "In the period beginning 16 days and ending 48 hours before the start of the elections to the European Parliament, the political parties, political movements and coalitions whose candidate lists have been registered shall be entitled to (...) the total amount of 14 hours of free broadcasting time on Czech Television channels. Each of the political parties, political movements and coalitions registered to take part in the elections shall be entitled to an equal share of the aforementioned broadcasting time. Individual broadcasting slots shall be distributed among the participants in a draw. Responsibility for the content of the broadcasts shall be borne by the respective political parties, political movements and coalitions."

The aforementioned obligations cannot in fact be met otherwise than by broadcasting fixed-length election spots of political parties and coalitions scheduled in comparable broadcasting slots, with Czech Television having no influence over the content of the broadcast material. In the fulfilment of this task, Czech Television acts in accordance with the terms stipulated by guidelines of the Czech Ministry of the Interior (Elections to the European Parliament, June 11 and 12, 2004, Schedule of tasks and deadlines ensuing from Act No. 62/2003 Coll., on the Elections to the European Parliament).

Czech Television will guarantee equal conditions for the use of the broadcasting time to all political parties, political movements and coalitions registered to take part in the elections. It will divide the available broadcasting time into twelve 70-minute slots that will be filled by one- or two-minute spots. The election spots of political parties, political movements and coalitions will be broadcast from Wednesday May 26 to Tuesday June 8, 2004, on all workdays from 4:05 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.; on Saturday May 29 and on Saturday June 5 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:10 p.m. A special mathematical matrix serves to ensure that each political party, political movement or coalition will have at least one spot included in each of the twelve election slots. On Sunday May 30 and June 6, 2004, Czech Television will remain faithful to its traditional Sunday schedule and will not broadcast any election spots.

Czech Television's own news and discussion programmes, special election broadcasting

Viewers may look forward to pre-election debates with election leaders of individual parties and coalitions. In addition to that, Czech Television will commission its own opinion polls, conducted according to its instructions by SC&C. In co-operation with Czech Radio and the MF Dnes daily, Czech Television will publish results of "instant" polls focused on the European Union and the European parliamentary elections (first of these polls has already been conducted before 1 May). Immediately after the closing of election premises, Czech Television will broadcast its own estimates of the outcome of the European parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic.

From May 31 to June 7, the evening slot for Events, Commentaries, a current affairs programme, will be extended to 60 minutes. Apart from a short news broadcast, the whole programme will be dedicated to the presentation of candidates running for seats in the European Parliament. In this format, Czech Television will broadcast six discussions, inviting the participants - election leaders of individual parties and coalitions - in the order determined by their ballot sheet numbers given to them by the State Electoral Commission.

In addition to the aforementioned polls, Czech Television has commissioned its own exclusive poll, the outcomes of which will be published in the first week of the election campaign. It is a comprehensive survey mapping the opinions and sentiments of the public, the assessment of the country's status within the EU and factors influencing decisions in the elections to the European Parliament. The survey should also produce estimates of domestic election results.

The largest portion of technological and material resources will be allocated to Czech Television's own election broadcasting, which will begin on Saturday 12 June at 1.55 p.m. At 2 p.m. sharp, Czech Television will broadcast an EXIT POLL, i.e. first estimates of the outcomes of the European parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic. The exit poll will offer unique data not available from other sources and its figures will be continually updated throughout Saturday afternoon. Under the law regulating elections to the European Parliament, vote counting may not start earlier than on Sunday at 10 p.m. (this regulation applies to the whole territory of the EU). After 10 p.m. on Sunday, Czech Television will therefore broadcast another part of its election studio, which will continue throughout most of the night (news at midnight and at 5 a.m.). Around 1 a.m., Czech Television (in co-operation with the Czech Statistical Office) will offer first preliminary results of the elections to the European Parliament. Election broadcasting will culminate on Monday morning: the whole Good morning with Czech Television will be dedicated to the elections, hosting the leaders of the winning parties. For all presentations, Czech Television will use its virtual studio with a number of visual aids showing in detail behaviour of the voters during the elections. The viewers will get the chance to hear the opinions of political commentators as well as of sociologists and political scientists.

The special election broadcasting will end on Monday evening at 9 p.m. on ČT1. Czech Television will invite the leaders of all parliamentary parties to a live debate, which will focus on the impact of the European parliamentary elections on the domestic political landscape, on the cohesion within the ruling coalition and plans of the opposition.