Ukraine’s National Council is currently in a legal dispute with the Inter Media Group, the result of which could have far-reaching consequences for the country’s broadcast market.
Speaking in a press conference, National Council’s Sergiy Kostinsky said that the dispute dated back to 2017, when it monitored the output of the group’s four channels – Inter, NTN, Pixel TV and Enter-Film – and issued a warning after it found that they did not meet the quota for European productions.
Although the channels now meet the quota, their violations remain an open question, with Inter having disagreed with the National Council’s decision and filed an appeal in court.
This was based on Inter’s view that films should not be considered as audiovisual products in TV broadcasts. Although the National Council initially won three of four court cases, on May 15 three decision by the regulator were declared illegal by the court.
Another case involving the channel Enter-Film is still on going and the National Council plans to lodge appeals against the three lost cases. Should the National Council fail to win, then it will probably no longer have the right to licence and regulate channels that show exclusively films.
A further consequence could see the National Council being forced to respond to the sponsorship of films. This would result in TV channels no longer being able to sponsor their films and reduce the profits of all channels that currently use this opportunity.
