Romania

[RO] The Annual Audience Index for „Must Carry“

IRIS 2010-4:1/37

Eugen Cojocariu

Radio Romania International

On 12 February 2010 the Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (National Council for Electronic Media, CNA) published the audience-based ranking list of the Romanian TV stations in order to put into practice the „must carry“-principle regulated by Article 82 of Audiovisual Act no. 504/2002. The Asociaţia Română pentru Măsurarea Audienţei (Romanian Association for Audience Measurement, ARMA) issued the list of the annual audience index of the TV stations.

According to Article 82 of Audiovisual Act no. 504/2002 (see IRIS 2002-3: 11, IRIS 2009-2: 17 and IRIS 2010-1: 1/36) the providers of electronic communications networks services have to observe the principle of «must carry». They have to include within their regular offer, in various proportions according to the geographical coverage, the programmes of the public broadcaster Societatea Română de Televiziune (SRTV), of commercial stations (free-to-air, without technical or financial conditions), of programmes in languages of significant national minorities or the mandatory channels established by international agreements. If possible, the providers have to carry the programmes of the public Radio Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune (SRR) and of two commercial channels, one with national and one with local coverage. The criterion for the selection of commercial TV stations is the decreasing value of the annual audience index. ARMA issued the following ranking list:

1) SRTV channels: TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR 3, TV România Cultural, TVR INFO, the regional stations of Cluj, Craiova, Iaşi, Târgu Mureş and Timişoara;

2) Mandatory programmes according to international agreements: TV 5 (French speaking);

3) Commercial stations (25 stations measured; decreasing annual audience index): PRO TV, Antena 1, Realitatea TV, Kanal D, Prima TV, Antena 3, OTV, Naţional TV, Taraf TV, Favorit TV, Kiss TV, N24 Plus, U Televiziune Interctivă, Mynele TV, DDTV, Trinitas TV, Music Channel, TV Neptun, Alfa Omega TV, Party TV, The Money Channel, TVRM Educational, Speranţa TV, Canal Teleshop, Alpha TV.

A breach of the above-mentioned Article leads to sanctions being imposed on the provider, as set out in Article 90 (1) to (4). The CNA can issue a fine of Lei 10,000 to 200,000 (about EUR 2,400 - 48,800) or a public warning.