Fines in the Amount of 437000 Lei for 6 TV Channels Which Breached Legal Provisions on Local Programs

The Broadcasting Council (BC) applied more than 20 sanctions totaling 437000 lei, to Prime, Publika TV, Canal 2, Canal 3, Canal 5, Mega TV, and Familia TV channels for non-compliance with the provisions on local programs, according to the institution’s press release. The decision was taken at the meeting held on Friday, August 18.

According to the source, such TV channels as Publika TV, Canal 2, Canal 3, Canal 5, Mega TV, and Familia had 0% of their own products in the first broadcast during the controlled term.

According to the monitoring report, the Prime channel broadcast about four hours less local programs than scheduled, of which nearly nine hours were self-promotion. Another 28 hours of the broadcasts were supposed to be the first broadcast, but the channel had just over 1 hour. In prime time hours, Prime broadcast almost 12 hours less programs than it was supposed to; hence, the total sanctions applied amounted to 35000 lei.

Publika TV broadcast almost 44 hours less local programs than the legislation required. The channel had a little more than 12 hours of local products, approximately 4 hours of which were self-promotion. The local programs broadcast during prime time were almost 78.5% less than expected. According to the BC statement, the sanctions applied to the Publika TV channel amounted to 40000 lei.

Canal 2 broadcast the largest amount of self-promotion – approximately 14 hours and 30 minutes out of the total of approximately 49 hours of local programs. The programs in Romanian accounted for almost 39 hours. In prime time, it broadcast more than 13 and a half hours fewer programs than the legislation required. The total amount of sanctions applied was 66000 lei. According to the BC, in March 2023, Telestar Media company, the founder of Canal 2, was repeatedly sanctioned for similar breaches.

Canal 3 produced almost two times less local programs lasting for more than 30 hours, of which seven and a half hours were self-promotion. The channel broadcast approximately 18 hours of content in Romanian, and in prime time, it had more than 53.5% fewer programs than it was supposed to broadcast. The sanctions amounted to 94000 lei. In March 2023, Canal 3 was also sanctioned for similar breaches.

In prime time, Canal 5 had over 61% less local products. Besides, almost 14 hours out of a total of 31 hours and 39 minutes of local products were self-promotion. The channel broadcast approximately 5 hours less programs in Romanian than it was supposed to. Therefore, the fines totaled 65000 lei; last year, the channel was also fined for similar breaches.

According to the BC monitoring, Mega TV broadcast almost 17 hours less local programs than it was supposed to, and in prime time, it aired approximately 9 and a half hours less shows than expected. Mega TV also had an insufficient amount of programs in Romanian, and the fines applied by the BC totaled 47000 lei. In December 2022, Real Radio company, the founder of the MEGA TV service, was sanctioned 42000 lei for similar breaches.

The Familia channel produced over 8 hours less local programs, approximately 48 hours in total, over 11 hours of which were self-promotion. The channel also had about three hours less programs in prime time. According to the BC, the fines totaled 90000 lei.