Spain’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a funding model for the public broadcaster RTVE that includes the collection of fees from private TV stations and telcos.
In doing so, reports El Pais, it dismissed appeals filed by the Spanish Telecommunications Operators Association (Redtel), DTS, Telefónica de España, Cable Europa, SAU and Tenaria against a 2009 royal decree that developed the law on financing of TV and radio services.
El Pais adds that the Supreme Court’s ruling is in line with one by the EU’s Court of Justice last year.
This found that the funding model did not infringe EC legislation and could not be considered state aid. Following the withdrawal of advertising on RTVE, the government made it a requirement for private TV stations to contribute 3% of their gross income – 1.5% in the case of pay-TV services – and telcos 0.9% to help fund the pubcaster.
However, it applied only to those offering audiovisual services or those covering more than an autonomous community.
