2014 is likely to be remembered as the year of controversial new laws and taxes in Central and Eastern Europe.
Russia and Hungary, in particular, have come down hard on some of the largest players in their respective TV industries. Worryingly, more is likely to follow in the coming months.
In the former, legislation effectively banning advertising on pay-TV channels will come into effect from the beginning of next year. Moreover, an amendment to the Mass Media law, rushed through the Duma (parliament) and signed off by President Putin earlier this autumn, will from the beginning of 2016 see the permitted level of direct foreign ownership in media assets reduced to 20%.
This spells bad news for companies such as Modern Times Group (MTG), which is currently the largest shareholder in the national commercial broadcaster CTC Media and also jointly owns the DTH platform Raduga TV.
The Swedish company is exploring its options and will, of course, stay within the law. However, its presence in the country will almost certainly be reduced in some way by the new legislation.
At the same time, even Russian-owned companies are struggling to come to terms with the legislation and how it will impact on their businesses. The cable and DTH industries are understandably concerned.
Meanwhile, in Hungary we have just learned of yet another planned tax that will impact, on this occasion, ISPs. However, its real victim will probably be the incumbent Magyar Telekom, which has already been stunned by several new taxes.
The very public spat between RTL and Hungarian government also continues, with the former having been strongly impacted by a new ad tax that came into effect this summer.
Elsewhere, the Russian annexation of Crimea, followed by the war in Eastern Ukraine, has resulted in the banning of some Russian channels, deemed to be disseminating propaganda, in Ukraine and some of the Baltic Republics.
This is an interesting development and likely to be seen again in the future in areas affected directly or indirectly by conflict, both in Europe and further afield.
