Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has approved amendments to the country’s Law on Television and Radio Broadcasting. Adopted by parliament (Verkhovna Rada) on December 20, they relate to the size of licence fees paid by broadcasters and programme providers.
According to AKTR and Korrespondent, the current formula for calculating licence fees was adopted in June 2009 and takes into account such factors as number of viewers, number of programmes distributed by providers and own productions.
The new method, developed by the National Council for Radio and Television, is designed to harmonise the process, employing what is termed a ‘product ratio’.
This takes into account coverage area, the minimum wage and average number of daily broadcasting hours divided by 24.
Fees would be calculated on a different basis for on the one hand cable and IPTV service providers and on the other satellite and mobile TV services.