edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

Consequently, although B92 cannot be understood as an alternativepublic service broadcaster anymore, it still featurescertain public service characteristics. Out of all commercialmedia in Serbia B92 comes closest to PSB. 62Radio Television of Serbia (RTS)Under the first law on Public Broadcasting, which was adoptedin 1991, the hitherto independent broadcasters Radio TelevisionBelgrade (RTB), Radio Television Novi Sad and RadioTelevision Pristina were merged and became part of the newcentralized media conglomerate Radio Television of Serbia(RTS) – which from the beginning was completely controlledby the Milošević government. 63 Around 1,000 journalists werefired because they were considered politically problematic bythe regime. 64 The control of the authoritarian government ledto a deterioration of professional standards, which resulted indecreasing credibility and influence of the formerly successfulbroadcaster. RTS quickly became Milošević’s propaganda instrument– and thus its headquarters the main place of assemblyfor the mass protests in the 1990s. During the NATO bombingsin 1999, the broadcaster was even declared a military goalbecause it was seen as the main promoter of the Milošević regime.65 Consequently, transmitter masts, technical equipmentsuch as studios and RTS’s headquarters were destroyed by theNATO; 16 employees died. 66 Although never declared a warcrime, the bombing of RTS was sharply criticized by internationalmedia and human rights organizations. The dissatisfactionand anger of the Serbian population towards RTS becameeven more apparent during the huge protests in 2000, whichfinally resulted in the fall of Milošević: Protesters occupiedboth the parliament and RTS’s headquarters, and even set thelatter on fire. 67Under the Broadcasting Law, RTS was formally transformedinto a public service broadcaster on April 30, 2006. 68 Currently,RTS employs around 3,500 people. 69 As will be seen later, thishuge number of employees is one of the biggest problems RTSis facing.RTS television consists of the following three nationwidechannels: The main channel RTS 1 broadcasts mainly informationand entertainment. RTS 2 focuses on educational andcultural programs as well as sporting events and parliamentarysittings. RTS Digital 70 is available through DVB-T2 and airsclassical music, jazz and ballet performances and broadcastsvarious concerts. Further, RTS SAT is RTS’s satellite service createdto serve the Serbian diaspora across the world, broadcastingthe most popular programs from RTS 1 and RTS 2. The twochannels have the following program structure:RTS 1Genre Percentage (%)Information/news 31,83TV Series 20,82Movies 13,78Documentaries 7,71Entertainment 5,76Live sports 4,90Advertising 4,54Children 2,79Music 1,85Self-promotion 1,65Education/Science 1,49Sports 1,42Culture/Arts 0,76Religion 0,68RTS 2Genre Percentage (%)Live sports 15,23Information/news 13,99Documentaries 13,37Education/Science 12,48Music 10,92Culture/Arts 7,30Children 6,85TV Series 4,34Entertainment 3,68Movies 3,04Advertising 2,83Religion 2,63Sports 2,43Self-promotion 0,92Source: RRA, 2012 (p. 16 & p. 59)166