{"id":175767,"date":"2025-04-19T17:58:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T15:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=175767"},"modified":"2025-04-19T18:07:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T16:07:26","slug":"rts-operates-deep-in-the-red-despite-massive-revenue-the-public-broadcaster-owes-millions-in-loans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/rts-operates-deep-in-the-red-despite-massive-revenue-the-public-broadcaster-owes-millions-in-loans\/","title":{"rendered":"RTS OPERATES DEEP IN THE RED: Despite massive revenue, the public broadcaster owes millions in loans!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although <strong>Radio Television of Serbia (RTS)<\/strong> brings in an annual income comparable to a highly successful company closely tied to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party\u2014one that typically reports multi-million-euro profits\u2014<strong>RTS continues to operate at a significant loss<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to official financial data, <strong>RTS earned an impressive \u20ac134 million in 2024<\/strong>, yet still <strong>ended the year with a deficit of around \u20ac2.6 million<\/strong>. And that\u2019s not all: in the years ahead, the public broadcaster faces the <strong>repayment of at least two major loans totaling nearly \u20ac12 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite its financial potential, RTS\u2014currently <strong>under blockade by protesting students<\/strong>\u2014struggles to achieve both financial stability and fulfill its role as a true public service broadcaster. Many critics argue it serves more as a <strong>state-controlled media outlet<\/strong> than as a voice for the public, and its financial woes only reinforce that picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>latest financial report<\/strong> reveals a troubling picture. In 2024, <strong>RTS collected 15,711,169,000 dinars<\/strong>\u2014roughly <strong>\u20ac134 million<\/strong>\u2014but <strong>still failed to turn a profit<\/strong>. The final balance sheet shows a loss of <strong>310,301,000 dinars<\/strong>, or approximately <strong>\u20ac2.6 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As 2025 begins, RTS is not only starting in the red but is also saddled with debt. Official documentation confirms that the broadcaster must repay a <strong>\u20ac11.7 million loan from the Ministry of Finance<\/strong>, issued due to \u201ca continued lack of funds during the transition from budget-based funding to funding from RTV subscriptions and fees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, <strong>RTS owes Bank Intesa about \u20ac500,000<\/strong>, and carries <strong>a long-term leasing liability of approximately \u20ac180,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the red ink, money has poured in from multiple sources. <strong>RTS is primarily funded by citizen-paid RTV subscription fees<\/strong>, which brought in <strong>11.2 billion dinars (about \u20ac95.8 million)<\/strong> in 2024. <strong>Advertising revenue<\/strong> added another <strong>\u20ac28 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the broadcaster&#8217;s <strong>biggest challenges is its massive workforce<\/strong>: RTS employs <strong>2,428 people<\/strong>. After taxes and contributions, this translates to an average monthly salary of around <strong>135,000 dinars (approx. \u20ac1,150)<\/strong>. Not included in this figure are external collaborators. In 2024, <strong>RTS paid out nearly \u20ac4.8 million for freelance and author-related contracts<\/strong>, with an additional <strong>\u20ac1.1 million<\/strong> going to temporary and occasional work agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">FIND OUT MORE:<\/mark><\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fserbiantimes%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02cBNdMk33qcAwz3uhSnZTCnSEmXqkgZSpD5gVeJqWn7soFhbUXjEb2CxG56q1Xhkpl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"576\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A considerable drain on the budget comes from <strong>intangible expenses<\/strong>, which reached <strong>1.2 billion dinars (\u20ac10.2 million)<\/strong>. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u20ac2.8 million<\/strong> for copyright fees paid to SOKOJ (Serbian Organization of Music Authors),<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u20ac970,000<\/strong> for cleaning services,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u20ac1.4 million<\/strong> for phonogram copyrights,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and other miscellaneous costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another major cost category is <strong>production services<\/strong>, totaling <strong>5.3 billion dinars (\u20ac45.1 million)<\/strong> in 2024. The largest share\u2014<strong>\u20ac23.1 million<\/strong>\u2014went to <strong>sports broadcasting rights<\/strong>, including installments for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the <strong>Summer Olympic Games (LOI)<\/strong>,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UEFA Champions League<\/strong>,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UEFA Europa League<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/bloody-easter-1944-how-the-allied-bombing-shrouded-belgrade-in-mourning-photo-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">BLOODY EASTER 1944: How the Allied Bombing Shrouded Belgrade in Mourning! (PHOTO, VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/order-of-saint-stephen-what-the-most-famous-serbian-chivalric-order-looked-like-during-the-reign-of-emperor-dusan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">ORDER OF SAINT STEPHEN: What the Most Famous Serbian Chivalric Order Looked Like During the Reign of Emperor Du\u0161an!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/shocking-testimony-the-war-diary-of-a-serbian-policeman-from-kosovo-in-1999-reveals-all-the-horrors-of-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">SHOCKING TESTIMONY: The war diary of a Serbian policeman from Kosovo in 1999 reveals all the horrors of war!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Source<\/strong><strong>: <\/strong>Nova, <strong>Foto<\/strong>: Marko Dragoslavi\u0107 Fonet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) brings in an annual income comparable to a highly successful company closely tied to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party\u2014one that typically reports multi-million-euro profits\u2014RTS continues to operate at a significant loss. According to official financial data, RTS earned an impressive \u20ac134 million in 2024, yet still ended the year [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":100000180375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[253,5520,6169,4421,3537,2490,4837],"class_list":["post-175767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-serbia","tag-beograd","tag-blokada-rts","tag-dugovanja","tag-javni-servis","tag-rts","tag-studenti","tag-studenti-u-blokadi","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175788,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175767\/revisions\/175788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}