30. 08. 2012

AUTHORITIES REIGN CONTROL OVER RTS?

Belgrade, August 30, 2012 (Danas) - If the Serbian Government were to revoke the obligation of paying the TV subscription fee for public service broadcasting, then the state would have to take upon itself the financing of RTS from the budget funds, which would necessarily bring into question the independence of this media, Danas reports. According to Danas' interlocutors, the RTS program would thus be put under the direct control of the ruling structures.

"If the state decides to revoke the TV fee, then it would have to secure 80 million Euros from its budget. However, the question really is how it would manage to secure that amount of funds. On the other hand, Europe would not like it at all, as it insists on the independence of the public services from state financing", says the source close to RTS.

According to the source, such scenario would also affect the advertising on RTS, which secures around 22 million Euros revenues annually. "This money will consequently be transferred to commercial TV stations, which means that around 300 million Euros would end up in the pockets of owners of private media in the next 10 years", says the Danas' source.