The Municipal Court in Prague issued a resolution on Wednesday, May 27, on the termination of operation of the joint-stock company Barrandov Televizní Studio. This decision directly affects two thematic stations from the Barrandov group, specifically the channels Barrandov Kino and Barrandov Krimi, for which the company holds broadcasting licenses. With this step, the court granted the proposal of insolvency administrator David Jánošík, who deemed the broadcaster's continued operation economically unsustainable.
According to the insolvency administrator's report, the company's financial performance has fallen into a deep loss. Since February 2026, the operator has been generating a deficit of millions of crowns per month. While last year average monthly revenues reached 13.3 million crowns, this March they dropped to 8.08 million crowns. This represents a drop of almost 40 percent below last year's average, while fixed monthly costs consistently remain around 13.5 million crowns.
“Advertising revenues of Barrandov Televizní Studio plummeted far below the level of monthly costs in the first quarter of 2026,” the administrator stated in the proposal, also noting that the company received a termination of its lease shortly before the bankruptcy declaration.
The complex situation is further underscored by the state of the creditors' committee, which ceased to be quorate in April 2026. This occurred after the dissolution of a committee member, Czech Digital Group, which merged with České Radiokomunikace. The committee's powers were thus temporarily assumed by the insolvency court. The remaining creditors, Gomanold and RN Pohledávková development, agreed to the termination of the indebted studio's operation.
Despite the cessation of operations for two secondary stations, viewers should not expect the complete end of the Barrandov brand. TV owner Jan Čermák declared his intention to preserve the broadcasting of the main channel. This is operationally separate, as the license for the main program has been held since last spring by another entity from Čermák's holding, the company S-24 akvizice II.
Barrandov Televizní Studio has been in insolvency since July 2024. The originally permitted reorganization was converted into bankruptcy by the court on April 23 this year. There is no appeal against the current decision to cease operations. Further proceedings and settlement of claims will be addressed at a creditors' meeting scheduled for June 24, 2026.