Commercial TV Stations Consider Move to Paid Programming
Estonia's largest commercial TV stations are bruiting possible plans to become restricted access channels this summer.
Kanal 2 and TV 3 say they want the cable operators to pay them a chunk of the profits they make retransmitting their programming.
The operators have countered that the law does not require them to pay a fee. Indeed the Electronic Communications Act says they are required to ensure continuous re-transmission of unrestricted commercial stations.
But Kanal 2 director Urmas Oru says legislation contains a conflict.
"The new Electronic Communication Act compels operators to transmit the unrestricted access stations free of charge, but another section in the Act requires an agreement between the parties for this to happen."
The commercial TV stations feel that once they approach the network operator asking for a fee, the operator must oblige.
If the TV stations left the unrestricted access sphere, they would have to sit down with the operators to negotiate fees for transmitting their content.
Two smaller channels that went on air about the same time, TV6 and TV11, have already become restricted-access. If TV3 and Kanal2 followed suit, that would leave only three unrestricted stations - ETV, ETV2 and Tallinn TV.
Kristopher Rikken