Marek Czy¿ in an honest conversation about emotions after taking over TVP, Holecka and the beginnings of “19:30” [WYWIAD]

There was a lot of talk about changes in TVP before the parliamentary elections. During the election campaign, the ruling coalition talked about the need to depoliticize public media. The majority of Poles expressed the same opinion and voted for it at the ballot box on October 15. However, no one knew when exactly the “revolution” would take place and what the next course of events would be.

This took place before noon on Wednesday, December 20, 2023. Then the TVP3 and TVP Info signals were turned off, and the planned editions of “Teleexpress”, “Wiadomości” and “Panorama” were not broadcast. After 7:30 p.m., Marek Czyż appeared on TVP1, who in a short statement explained to the viewers the reasons for these changes and announced that a new news daily of Telewizja Polska would appear the next day.

He was the first to announce changes to TVP. “It wasn’t important who would do it, but who would stand it”

From that moment on, the Polish Television journalist became, in a way, a symbol of the changes that have been continuously taking place since December not only in TVP, but also in other public media. The host of “19:30” and the program “Bez retoszu” talked in an interview with Gazeta.pl about the emotions that accompanied him that day.

I was convinced that I would end up in a place where I would work as a journalist. Meanwhile, it turned out that in those first days and hours I was treated outside like a soldier. Like a guy who comes to fight over something. (…) It slightly distorted my perception of what I was involved in, so if I were to look for some strange and different emotions, these were strange and different, because it turned out that the perception of what we do is moderately related to journalism – he said.

The journalist also admitted that he decided to appear first on the new TVP because it had to be a person with extensive experience who could cope with the massive hate that the new management of Telewizja Polska expected after the broadcast.

Marek Czyż: We don’t have any special ideas for differentiating ourselves from commercial stations. Because we are completely different worlds

Later in the conversation, we discuss a lot about how “19:30” wants to distinguish itself from the competition. Marek Czyż stated that the greatest intention of the new station team was for the viewer to see as much difference as possible between what was before and what is now. He also admitted that public media should not be politically expressive, nor should they compete with competitors for viewership. Although, as he admitted, “there is no mission without viewership.”

We also discuss the issue of “real Polish news”, i.e. TV Republika, which took over a large part of the audience of the former TVP Info. – This rapid outflow of viewers from Telewizja Polska after December 2023 is the clearest evidence of the type of viewers that have been developed over the last eight years. He completely left because he suddenly stopped finding content and things that interested him on Polish Television. (…) Now we will have to slowly but effectively regain this viewer and convince him that he will also find his point of view here – he said.

The host of “19:30” told us what he thinks about Danuta Holecka. He also admitted what public media he dreams of

We also asked the host of “19:30” whether he would arrange a coffee with Danuta Holecka, who has been sitting with the journalist “desk to desk” for years. We also talk about the program “Bez retuszu”, which returned to TVP Info after a break of several years. Marek Czyż assures that he does not want his program to be another “Forum”, but a place where politicians can confront the real problems of Poles, which will be represented by experts and the audience, which plays a large role in this program. At the end of the conversation, we asked the journalist about the public television of his dreams.