The licensing of foreign channels for distribution on Russian cable networks, which has to be completed by March 1 this year, has hit a snag.
AKTR reports that Roskomnadzor, the body that is awarding the licences, is at the same time having to draw up amendments to existing legislation, which came into force when terrestrial TV was the main method of distributing signals. Roskomnadzor has already awarded licences to Viasat and Animal Planet and is considering an application from the Discovery group.
Separately, the Russian Authors’ Society (RAO) has failed to reach an agreement with AKTR (the Russian cable association) over the payment of royalties for the use of live music. RAO rejected an offer from the association that would have guaranteed 1% of income, though only from operators who hold broadcasting licences.
