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On 15 May the Saeima (Parliament) of the Republic of Latvia again opened the discussion on the Law on Radio and Television. The amendments put forward shall change the regulations on the National Broadcasting Council. As the existing law envisages, the National Broadcasting Council oversees both public and private broadcasters. The Council is an autonomous legal entity and operates independently of any Ministry ­ its 9 members are elected directly by the Saeima. Among other things it also manages the state capital shares of the public broadcasters ­ Latvia Television and Latvia Radio. As to the...

On 1 May 2003 the Radio and Television Law was amended in a substantial matter, for the powers of the National Broadcasting Council were increased, strengthening its supervisory and controlling authority. Until these amendments the National Broadcasting Council, although it was responsible for supervising and controlling the broadcasters (both public and private), could not apply any penalties. The Council was entitled to issue a warning or to draft an administrative act. This act had to be forwarded to other institutions (Consumer Protection Office or Ministry of Justice) for the application of...

The Digitalais Latvijas radio un televizijas centrs (the Digital Latvian Radio and Television Centre - DLRTC), concerned with the introduction of digital television in Latvia, published an announcement in February 2003 stating that it is planned to secure the coverage of digital television throughout the Republic of Latvia by the year 2005. The Centre's plan envisages that digital television will begin to operate in Riga-Capital as well as in the Riga Region already by autumn this year. Thus, the broadcasting stations' expenses for the use of the channels would - according to the plan - decrease...

While revising the budget for the year 2003, the recently elected Cabinet of Ministers questioned the necessity to finance the production of Latvian films from the national budget. As background information it noted that the majority of already-financed films has not been seen by the audience of Latvia and only a few films received financial support from the national budget in 2002. The National Film Centre (the government body overseeing the film sector and acting under the Ministry of Culture) explained that its overall strategy has firstly been to create platforms to help producers to attract...

As the new Director General of public Latvian television introduced some changes to the organisational structure and programme taking effect in 2003, the discussion on the financing of the public service broadcasting raises again. The Latvian public television operates two channels which have been renamed (LTV 1 and LTV7) and whichafter the reform - shall integrally supplement each other by defining their programmes more clearly. LTV1 shall be the national channel, while LTV7 shall be dedicated to sports and minorities. Bearing in mind the large Russian-speaking minority in Latvia, a regular slot...