The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) has issued a report on a draft royal decree that modifies the system by which CRTVE receives a percentage of the revenue from the public radio spectrum reservation fee.

The current funding model for CRTVE, established by Law 8/2009, relies heavily on public resources, with over 90% of its income coming from public sources in recent years. Key sources include compensations from the State Budget and revenue from the radio spectrum fee, which contributed 42.9% and 41.9% of CRTVE's total operating income in 2023, respectively.

The proposed reform updates articles 2 and 3 of Royal Decree 1004/2010 to improve the management of payments related to the revenue from the fee. It replaces the reference for net collection with a criterion more aligned with accrual accounting principles, which is expected to reduce temporary mismatches and enhance CRTVE's financial stability without negatively impacting public accounts.

Additionally, the reform raises the percentage of the fee revenue to 99%, while still adhering to the legal limit of 480 million euros annually. The CNMC emphasizes that this change does not automatically increase CRTVE's funding, as the corporation is already at the legal maximum.

The CNMC believes that the reform will improve the financial stability and predictability of CRTVE, ensuring a more adequate funding for public service obligations while maintaining the existing legal limits on public spending.

Finally, the CNMC recommends explicitly stating in the preamble that the removal of advertising and paid content on CRTVE applies 'without prejudice' to exceptions outlined in Article 7.2 of Law 8/2009, such as institutional campaigns and certain non-commercial promotions.