Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) has maintained its position of July 30,2013 regarding the obligation of operators and broadcasters in relation to the principle of must carry and must offer.
In a statement, the regulator has also said that taking into account doubts related to the need to respect the rights of broadcasters, any distribution requires the consent of broadcasters, such as through a signed contract.
Must carry in Poland currently applies to the channels TVP1, TVP2, TVP Info, Polsat, TVN, TV Puls and TV4, while must offer means the broadcasters of these channels cannot deny operators the right to distribute them.
Broadband TV News notes that the KRRiT has restated its position on must carry and must offer following last week’s Polish Chamber of Electronic Communications (PIKE) national conference in Torun.
Wirtualne Polska (WP) was criticised at the conference for carrying content from TVP and TVN on its channel WP Pilot without the broadcasters’ permission.
WP has since met with the broadcasters but is understood to have failed to reach an agreement with TVP.