From now on, the VRT must provide more insight into expensive exclusivity contracts in its annual report. This is stated in an updated draft text of the management agreement between the public broadcaster and the Flemish government, which De Tijd was able to view.
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Under the draft management agreement, the public service broadcaster is not required to provide a full list of all contracts, but to provide an aggregate amount paid on an annual basis for all exclusivity fees for screen faces and radio voices. In addition, the VRT will have to state in its annual report how many of those contracts are more expensive than 250,000 euros.
The publication obligation comes after fierce criticism of the public broadcaster about the lack of transparency in expensive exclusivity contracts. Moreover, a review by Audit Flanders showed that in addition to the actual contract, substantial consultancy fees are sometimes also paid.
The transparency obligation is contained in an updated draft text of the management agreement between the VRT and the Flemish government, which De Tijd was able to inspect. That text is not yet final, but the passage about transparency in exclusivity contracts is new compared to a previously leaked version.
The draft management agreement also corrects a few other sensitive passages. For example, the VRT news site should strive to place at least 55 percent of the items in the form of video and audio online, instead of text. It is an old requirement of the newspaper publishers that the public broadcaster on its site should focus more on audiovisual content.
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