RTV subscription is daylight robbery. Seriously, how much do the red TVP stripes and the cult of Zenek Martyniuk cost?

Poczta Polska has announced the amount of the RTV subscription for 2020. There is probably no fee in Poland that would raise so much controversy.

I did a quick survey of my friends and acquaintances, which will provide only anecdotal evidence, but it is a voice I often hear and read. No, I did not ask my friends if they pay the RTV subscription, it would be too intrusive. I asked if they saw the sense of this form of maintaining public media.

Of the dozens of people asked at Messenger, none answered in the affirmative. The vast majority consider paying a subscription a waste of money. Quite typical voices have been raised emphasizing the low quality of public media offer and their politicization. A few people would not like to support the subscription of public media in their current shape, but as a rule they see the need for television and radio fulfilling the so-called "missions".

RTV subscription - how much do you have to pay in 2020

Let's reach for the official "price list" on the Poczta Polska website , according to which - here is a quote - "The amount of subscription fees for using a radio receiver including the discount for paying fees for a period longer than 1 month" is PLN 75.60 per year

For using a television or television and radio receiver: PLN 245.15 per year.

In the second case (TV + radio), the monthly fee, if we do not pay it in advance, but we want to make payments every month is PLN 22.70. Then the annual cost of maintaining public media out of a single pocket will be PLN 272.40.

PLN 22.70 per month in the "I pay every month" variant may not be an excessive amount, but when we combine it with services available on the market, it acquires total ... meaninglessness.

These PLN 22.70 is 67 per cent, i.e. 2/3 of the monthly fee for the cheapest Netflix plan. In my case it is also 88 percent. what I pay to the cable operator for HBO with HBO GO. Access to the VOD IPLA Premium service is PLN 15 (normally PLN 20) for 30 days. Amazon Prime Video costs PLN 25.40 after 6 months discount.

The RTV subscription cannot be combined with VOD services.

I made the above comparison to reflect the scale of fees, and not because I do not understand the essence of the subscription. This one is not a payment for access to utilities. We buy - a beautiful word - receiver, connect it to the antenna or cable (of course we pay separately for the latter) and watch what we want.

The probability that a postman will knock on us, temporarily performing a control function, is rather negligible, although there are reports of an attempt to "seal" the system, that is, increase the efficiency of subscription fees from households.

The media also once described examples of people who had a hand of justice and had to pay a penalty calculated in the law at PLN 681.

In this context, I sought a 2016 Super Express text asking how to avoid punishment.

Can control be avoided? - You can, just don't let the inspector into your home. We are not threatened by any consequences.

What is the RTV subscription really?

What is the RTV subscription formally? The answer can be found in the Act of April 21, 2005 on subscription fees, specifically in its article 1:

Subscription fees are collected to enable the public mission referred to in art. 21 paragraph 1 of the Act of December 29, 1992 on radio and television (Journal of Laws of 2019, items 361, 643 and 1495), hereinafter referred to as the "Act on radio and television", by public radio and television units.

The mission of public media has been discussed for years. Critics have recently raised a colorful accusation that citizens are sponsoring as part of this mission of New Year's Eve in Zakopane and the benefit of Zenon Martyniuk. Others, more insistent, will stick one of the outrageous blue stripes from "Wiadomości" or red from TVP Info, cursing the subtle propaganda on TVP under his breath. There will also be those who recall (again somewhat populist) the British BBC's example, which is to be a model for the implementation of the mission.

As many people as many votes. I may be living in a bubble, but I don't see human value in public media today. I listen to music from discs and on Spotify. I don't watch linear television at all. I find excellent movies and series in the cinema, on Netfliks, HBO, Amazon Prime Video and recently (less perfect) on Apple TV +. I have practically no contact with public television, and I just pay for much more reasonable subscriptions for culture and information. Attempts to watch TVP end 25 seconds after the start of "News". It's not on my nerves.

The answer to the question whether I see the meaning of the RTV subscription is therefore obvious.

You can theorize and delight with the vision of independent public media performing the mission. However, there were never such in the Third Polish Republic. They were better and worse, and the current one can easily be considered the worst in the history of the last 30 years, but in fact they have never even come a step closer to what is so proudly called a mission.

RTV subscription is daylight robbery. Seriously, how much do the red TVP stripes and the cult of Zenek Martyniuk cost?