Six commercial TV stations in Albania, two of which operate on a national level, are seeking a share of the tax used to fund the public broadcaster RTSH.
According to Balkan Insight, they would like to see the law changed in order for them to be allocated 50% of the €9.2 million RTSH obtains each year from the TV tax, collected through utility bills. RTSH, on the other hand, proposed earlier this year that the tax should be increased by 50%.
The six TV stations say they would use the additional funding to boost investigative journalism and counter fake news.
They would also like to see RTSH stop carrying commercials, which last year provided the public broadcaster with €500,000 in revenue.
Albania’s FTA broadcasters had combined revenues of €32 million in 2017, most of which came from advertising.
However, the market was dominated by the stations Top Channel and TV Klan, which together claimed a share of 67%.
