Amendment to RTBF's management contract: refocusing on its core public-service duties

The Community Policy Statement had already foreseen it: the Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation approved this Friday the amendment to RTBF's management contract (2023-2027), presented by the Minister for Media, Jacqueline Galant. This text formalises, among other things, the non-indexation of budgetary funds allocated to RTBF (including the standard grant) and addresses several structural changes: an analysis of the relevance of maintaining the current number of television and radio channels, a review of the policy for acquiring sports broadcasting rights, RTBF taking on the technical costs linked to the distribution of local media on Auvio, negotiation of a reform of the minimum service, and the possibility of including advertising in the morning show Matin Première. “This amendment is a first step towards an evolution of the public audiovisual service, aimed at improving the Federation's budgetary situation while guaranteeing a framework of fair competition with all the other media present in our territory. I thank RTBF's management for the quality of our collaboration in drafting this amendment,” said the Minister for Media.

An ambitious amendment to refocus RTBF on its core public-service duties

For several months, the Cabinet of the Minister for Media and RTBF have worked together on drafting this amendment, which pursues three main objectives:

1. Refocusing RTBF on its public-service duties;


2. Guaranteeing a pluralistic and balanced media ecosystem;


3. Improving the public funding framework.

• Carrying out an analysis of RTBF's radio and television offering, to be submitted to the Board of Directors by 30 June 2026 at the latest;


• The introduction of an emergency radio service by 1 January 2026;


• A review of the policy for acquiring free-to-air broadcasting rights for sports programmes, so as not to hinder, for example, Belgian French-speaking private channels wishing to acquire these rights at market price;


• The formalisation of the non-indexation and removal of the additional 2% for the standard grant, as well as the non-indexation of RTBF's annual contribution to TV5 Monde;


• The introduction of a deadline for negotiating a reform of the minimum service, with a view to adopting a text in the first half of 2026.


• The possibility for RTBF to reintroduce advertising on Matin Première should it deem it appropriate.

The amendment also provides concrete support for local media. At their request, the “ Vivre ici ” portal is being discontinued. In addition, RTBF will henceforth cover the technical costs linked to publishing local media content online, which will also benefit from free training through the RTBF Academy.

“While legitimate concerns are being raised about preserving a pluralistic media landscape, I remain deeply convinced of the added value of a public-service broadcaster within the audiovisual landscape of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. That said, RTBF is not meant to become the centre of gravity of French-speaking Belgian broadcasting. This amendment is a first step towards refocusing our public broadcaster on its core duties. It strengthens fair competition in the sector by giving local media some breathing room and leaving more room for manoeuvre to private players. We will continue this work until the next management contract, due in 2027, which I am convinced will be an ambitious text bringing about profound positive changes for our public broadcaster,” concluded the Minister for Media.