Technical Supervision Authority allows Kanal 2's leaving free-to-air TV
The Technical Supervision Authority on Friday gave Eesti Media the permission to end the free-to-air broadcasting of its Kanal 2 TV channel on Aug. 1.
This means that as of that date Kanal 2 won’t have to broadcast its program for free and on terrestrial networks, but customers will have to join a subscription service to see the program.
Eesti Meedia submitted the application for a conditional access activity license on June 28. The license will be issued for five years.
The change only affects all those viewers who so far received Kanal 2 by free-to-air terrestrial signal, but will have no effect for all those who get their signal from operator companies with a paid subscription.
Hanno Tomberg, content and program director at AS Eesti Meedia, said in June that everybody who could see the Kanal 2 program now would be able to see it also in the future if they chose a suitable operator company. “We continue to be available in the basic packages of all operators and will be able also in the future to offer better quality in HD, which today reaches only paying customers,” Tomberg said.
Another Eesti Meedia television channel, Kanal 11, has already left free-to-air and according to the company has increased its viewer numbers since.
According to different estimates, 10 to 12 percent of viewers in Estonia watch free-to-air television. About 90 percent of the population meanwhile buy the service from operators like Telia, Starman, STV, or Viasat.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS