Czech Television cancels current affairs show "168 Hours"

Czech Television has announced the cancellation of its long-running Sunday current affairs program "168 Hours". The show's host, Nora Fridrichová, will remain with the public broadcaster.

The decision to end the program was made by Director General Jan Souček in agreement with the news and programming management. "Long-time host and editor Nora Fridrichová, as well as the show's reporters, will remain with Czech Television. In the coming days, news management will discuss with the show's creators about their involvement in Czech TV's current affairs production," the broadcaster stated in a press release.

"The final decision to end the production of '168 Hours' was influenced by recent events that unfortunately also involve the show, which not only damages the program itself but also casts Czech Television in a negative light," said Jan Souček.

In recent days, tabloid media have revisited the atmosphere in the current affairs department during Marek Wollner's leadership. Lawyer Lucie Hrdá obtained a copy of a confidential report from when Czech Television internally investigated allegations of bullying and inappropriate behavior towards women by Marek Wollner.

The lawyer published the report on social media platform X, prompting Wollner to respond in the media. His wife then provided journalists with part of a private conversation with Nora Fridrichová, who in turn responded that the content was incomplete and provided her own screenshots.

According to Jan Souček, the team behind "168 Hours" will have the opportunity to continue working at the television station. "The management believes that the creators of '168 Hours' will remain with Czech Television and wants to utilize their years of experience. Host Nora Fridrichová will be offered the chance to participate in new current affairs formats," he added.

The show has been on air since September 2006, featuring many interesting reports and highlighting various social issues. "Over the years, however, its format and content have deviated from the original news and current affairs program that was meant to cover the events of the past week on the main ČT1 channel," states the Czech Television press release.

The announcement also notes that the show faced criticism from the Czech Television Council, which repeatedly found that it violated journalistic ethics standards for public broadcasting. "The preparation of '168 Hours' was also accompanied by increasingly frequent internal editorial disputes about the content and processing of reports," said Petr Mrzena, Director of News and Current Affairs.

The program has been involved in several notable controversies over the years:

• In January 2009, the then news editor-in-chief apologized to President Václav Klaus for broadcasting behind-the-scenes footage of his New Year's address preparation.
• In April 2011, the show aired footage of Václav Klaus pocketing a ceremonial pen during a visit to Chile, which gained international attention.
• In 2019, the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting criticized a report about Agrofert for lacking the company's statement.
• The same year, the program highlighted comments by the Minister of Industry about Czechs having expensive mobile data due to low usage, which led to her resignation.
• In 2023, the Czech Television Council found that a report on same-sex marriage violated the journalistic ethics standards, resulting in disciplinary action against Nora Fridrichová.
• In autumn 2023, Czech Television received two warnings from the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting regarding violations of objectivity in "168 Hours" reports on Slovak political affairs and debt relief legislation.

"We have been working on developing new formats to complement and enrich the current affairs programming on ČT for some time. In preparing these, we plan to involve creators previously engaged in other current affairs programs, including '168 Hours'," said Michal Kubal, Editor-in-Chief of News and Current Affairs.

"168 Hours" premiered on September 10, 2006, initially conceived as a weekly program featuring exclusive interviews, a review of the week's events, reports, and commentary. Nora Fridrichová has been the show's editor and host since its inception.