The Czech TV crisis was an event in the Czech Republic that occurred from the end of 2000 until February 2001 as a battle for control of the airwaves, which included broadcast jamming and accusations of censorship.
On 24 December 2000, news programs on Czech Television were interrupted by Jana Boboà ¡ÃÂková, a veteran presenter at the channel and the newly-appointed head of the news department, sitting next to Jià ÂàHodaÃÂ, a former BBC employee who had been appointed general manager of Czech Television earlier on 20 December.
During the Czech TV crisis, ÃÂT reporters organized an industrial dispute by staging a sit-in and occupying the news studio, and rejected attempts by Boboà ¡ÃÂková to fire them. They were supported in their protest by politicians such as the then President Václav Havel and by Czech celebrities, but every time they tried to air their news broadcasts, Jana Boboà ¡ÃÂková and Jià ÂàHodaàwould interrupt the transmission either with a "technical fault" screen reading: "An unauthorized signal has entered this transmitter. Broadcasting will resume in a few minutes," or with their own news broadcasts featuring Jana Boboà ¡ÃÂková and a team she had hired to "replace" the staff members she had sought to terminate; news content from Bratislava was also rebroadcast.
These broadcasts began being referred to as "Bobovize" (Bobovision) by the disputing TV reporters and their supporters who opposed the new management. On the other hand, throughout the crisis, Boboà ¡ÃÂková's supporters, such as Václav Klaus and the then Czech Prime Minister Miloà ¡ Zeman, accused the protesting ÃÂT reporters of law infringement and claimed that those reporters who rejected the changes were not so independent after all. VladimÃÂr à ½elezný also criticized the ÃÂT reporters during his show on TV Nova, "Volejte à Âediteli" ().
Following the "technical fault" screens and prevention of the news broadcasts by Boboà ¡ÃÂková tens of thousands of people marched in the streets of Prague and other Czech cities and towns, calling for restoration of freedom of the press, demanding an end to what they perceived as censorship at ÃÂT. The demonstrations even drew support from the International Federation of Journalists and made world headlines. The demonstrators also demanded Boboà ¡ÃÂková's resignation and the dismissal of the allegedly biased general manager Jià ÂàHodaÃÂ. Hodaàwas even briefly hospitalized during the events.
Hodaàresigned shortly after the demonstrations, citing health reasons, but the protesters vowed to continue their demonstrations in order to push for more resignations and a change in the law. The lower house of the Czech Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, subsequently sacked the supervisory board of Czech Television, but a number of executives including Boboà ¡ÃÂková refused to resign. The Chamber of Deputies then took control of Czech Television on a temporary basis until a General Director could be appointed. The Czech TV crisis eventually ended in February 2001, following the departure of the remaining executives.
Jià ÂàJaneÃÂek, one of the news anchors who occupied the studio in protest, was later elected Director General, a role he held until 2011. Boboà ¡ÃÂková was later hired to host the political discussion program SedmiÃÂka on the private-owned TV Nova. She was elected a member of the European Parliament in 2004 on à ½elezný's ticket but soon split with him.