Romania

[RO] The 2011 „Must Carry“ TV Stations

IRIS 2011-6:1/30

Eugen Cojocariu

Radio Romania International

On 11 April 2011 the Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (National Council for Electronic Media - CNA) issued a ranking list of TV stations in order to put into practice the „must carry“ principle according to Art. 82 of the Legea audiovizualului nr. 504/2002, cu modificările şi completările ulterioare (Audiovisual Law no. 504/2002; see IRIS 2010-4/37). The list was drawn up by the Asociaţia Română pentru Măsurarea Audienţei (Romanian Association for Audience Measurement - ARMA).

Art. 82 of the Audiovisual Law includes the “must carry” principle that providers of electronic communications networks services, except those using the radio spectrum, have to observe. The providers have to include - in the amount of up to 25 percent of the total number of their services - the programmes of the public television Societatea Română de Televiziune (Romanian Television Corporation - SRTV); programmes of commercial stations under Romanian law (free to air, without technical or financial conditions); programmes in languages of significant national minorities (in cities or villages with more than 20 percent of the population belonging to the respective ethnic minority) or the mandatory channels as determined by international agreements signed by Romania. The selection criterion for the commercial TV stations is the decreasing value of the annual audience index. The providers are also obliged, at a regional and local level, to include in their service at least two regional and two local programmes, if such programmes exist. The selection criterion is, again, the decreasing value. The TV stations included in the „must carry” list are:

I) SRTV-channels: TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR 3, TV România Cultural, TVR INFO, the regional stations of Cluj (covering seven counties), Craiova (covering seven counties), Iaşi (covering eight counties), Târgu Mureş (covering five counties), and Timişoara (covering four counties);

II) French speaking TV 5 (mandatory according to international agreements);

III) Commercial stations (25 stations measured; decreasing annual audience index): PRO TV, Antena 1, Realitatea TV, Kanal D, Antena 3, Prima TV, Naţional TV, OTV, B1 TV, Favorit TV, Taraf TV, Kiss TV, U Televiziune Interctivă, N24 Plus, Trinitas TV, Mynele TV, DDTV, Music Channel, Neptun TV, Alfa Omega TV, The Money Channel, Party TV, Speranţa TV, TVRM Educaţional, Alpha TV.

According to Art. 90 the Council can issue a fine or a public warning for infringements of Art. 82.