The extraordinary political events in Ukraine in recent days have been accompanied by an unusual one related specifically to the TV industry.
Amid all the confusion, some members of the parliament (Verkovna Rada) proposed the banning of TV and radio programmes from countries that had not signed the European Convention on Transfrontier Television.
In practice, this would have meant the withdrawal of the numerous Russian TV channels, many of which are highly popular, currently available to viewers via cable.
It would probably have also seen channels from countries such as the US, for instance, taken off the air.
The proposal, contained in a draft decree numbered 4200, drew a strong response from many sections of the industry.
It was also not confined to Ukraine, or indeed Russia, with Dunja Milatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom, expressing his concerns and calling for its withdrawal ahead of a visit to Kiev, scheduled for the beginning of March.
Following developments in Ukraine is difficult in the light of the current situation. However, Broadband TV News noted a report in the local media, dated February 26, that said the draft decree had now been withdrawn.
The difficulty of limiting the reception of TV services in this day and age is that they can be received in many ways over which the authorities have little if any control. They include via DTH, OTT and internet TV.
In the case of Ukraine, the cable market, according to local reports, served 5.9 million households as of last year, while 4.7 million homes watched DTH services. OTT services are also growing in popularity.
In an unrelated development, Ivan Omelyanuk, a member of DigiTAG, has just put forward a series of far-reaching proposals to get the transition to digital broadcasting in Ukraine back on track. Although DTT services are up and running in the country, they are failing to establish a foothold in what is already a competitive market for a number of reasons.
Omelyanuk’s proposals, if adopted, would include changes in both the multiplex operator – the licence is currently held by a company named Zeonbud – and the channel composition of the first multiplex, as well as an end to the encryption of DTT signals.
