The Spanish regulator CNMC has published a new report on the Draft General Law on Audiovisual Communication.
In a statement, it says the most relevant modification of the draft is the change in the RTVE Finance Law, which establishes that the public broadcaster’s financing be carried out “with contributions from all the agents present in the audiovisual market that compete for the same audience”. Although CNMC is supportive of this change, which lists the “agents” as VOD providers and video exchange platforms, along with linear FTA and pay-TV, be they based in Spain or the EU, it is critical of the fact that telcos will no longer be required to contribute to the public broadcaster’s finances.
Commenting on the flexibility of the draft law in relation to advertising on RTVE (product placement, sponsorship and teleshopping, CNMC says the modifications could be contradictory with the objectives declared in the preamble of the law.
Although CNMC says it very positively values the incorporation of some of the observations made in its report of December 18, 2020, it also highlights those that were not, including the inclusion of the definition of “audiovisual communication service providers that are supported by video exchange platforms”.
It concludes by saying: “It should be remembered that the modification of the (law) occurs in very specific and highly changing market conditions, and of access and consumption of audiovisual content. New types of content, such as short videos or user-generated content, are becoming increasingly important. In addition, new forms of audiovisual services have emerged, such as certain audiovisual communication service providers that are supported on video exchange platforms (influencers or opinion prescribers) whose content is accessed through platforms such as YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram TV or Twitch. The eruption or consolidation of these new agents that operate on the internet requires an updated legal framework that reflects the progress of the market and that allows a balance to be achieved between access to online content services, consumer protection and competition”.
