It looks like the mother of all scandals has just broken out in Romania’s TV industry.
What makes it different, and arguably more worrying than would normally be the case, is that involves the National Audiovisual Council (CNA), the sole regulator of the audiovisual sector.
Specifically, its president Laura Corina Georgescu has been accused by three fellow members of no less than a criminal act: forging documents related to changes in audiovisual legislation.
Indeed, one of those members – Valentin-Alexandru Jucan – has said he will press charges against her.
Without going too much into the specifics, the accusations relate to a decision to amend the audiovisual content code. It was approved unanimously by the CNA on March 28, but when the details were subsequently published in the Official Gazette two amendments were missing.
There was apparently pressure by some (unnamed) broadcasters to not have the two amendments included – one was the prohibition of gambling on TV and the other of lewd images after midnight – but this point now looks like being lost in the general argument between the two parties.
Fighting back, Georgescu has accused her three critics of acting in “bad faith” towards her, as president of the CNA.
What is clear is that the dispute is now likely to take on a wider and political dimension, drawing in not only Romanian but also European authorities.
This is all so unfortunate as it comes at time when the Romanian audiovisual market is really starting to mature on many levels.
Always one of the most dynamic in the Balkan region, it has just officially welcomed Mediaset Italia and its content will now be made available on some of the country’s leading platforms.
Hopefully the CNA scandal will soon be resolved, as it is doing the Romanian TV industry absolutely no favours.
