Media groups in Ukraine will be entitled to charge pay-TV operators for carrying their channels from the beginning of 2017.
This, reports Mediasat, follows amendments to the country’s Radio and TV Broadcasting Law, adopted by the Verkovna Rada (parliament) in October and signed by the president at the beginning of last month, that come into effect on January 1.
The four media groups in question – 1+1 Media, StarLightMedia, Media Group Ukraine and Inter Media Group – have all stated prices for their channel portfolios, which will only be sold in packages. However, the prices come with the proviso that they will ultimately have to be agreed with each service provider, depending on the size of their subscriber base.
Furthermore, representatives of the media groups have also said that the prices could be increased several fold on January 1.
1+1 Media currently has six channels in its portflio, as does StarLightMedia. Media Grouyp Ukraine and Inter Media Group have three and eight respectively.