Exiting Hungary is not an option being considered by RTL, according to Dirk Gerkens, the chairman and CEO of its subsidiary RTL Klub, the country’s leading broadcaster.
Speaking to journalists and quoted by Portfolio, he added that it still working on a legal strategy but it remains confidential.
Gerkens said he was perplexed by the government’s concerns that commercial broadcasters will pass on the distribution fee for its services, due to come into effect at the beginning of 2015, as it was an integral part of negotiations with the regulator NMHH about the termination of analogue broadcasting.
Gerkens also said that he did not understand the dispute about the fee as most TV viewers in Hungary already pay a subscription fee.
In his view, there should be a correlation between the size of the distribution fee charged to cable operators and the size of TV channels’ viewership.
RTL is currently involved in a dispute with the Hungarian government over an advertising tax introduced this summer in which it is required a maximum rate of 40%.
It says it is the only broadcaster to voice opposition to the ruling Fidesz party, which in turn is trying to force it to leave the country.
