COMMERCIAL TELEVISION STATIONS CLAIM THEY ARE NOT EQUAL WITH HRT

ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - Following the adoption of Amendments to the Law on Croatian Radio Television, the Commercial Televisions Association issued a statement on Thursday, stressing that, despite awarded concessions, the match between the HRT and commercial televisions is unequal in the present circumstances, so commercial televisions do not have a chance to survive. Stating that the way in which the HRT carries out its business does not exist in any other country in the world, the Commercial Televisions Association stressed on Thursday that the HRT was the only television collecting subscriptions and transmitting advertisements without any limits and at prices it itself sets, without public control. The Association also warned that in certain programme segments (such as sports programmes, foreign films and series), the HRT is exclusively a commercial television, and acts inappropriately, by broadcasting the logo of sponsors in the screen corner, and transmits 15-minute blocks of advertisements before series and films, while the Law only allows up to nine minutes of advertisements. Every television must broadcast its programme - commercial televisions commercial programme, and the HRT public programme, the Association stressed, suggesting that clear rules of the game be established. The HRT must organise itself according to one of two models - the German, which broadcasts ten minute advertisement blocks between 18.00 and 20.00 hours during the week, except for weekends, or the Czech, which broadcasts two minutes of advertisements per hour. It is necessary, the commercial televisions stressed, to establish a sub-commission of the HRT Council, which will carry out an inquiry about the illegal commercialisation, and prevent it in the future. The Association called on political parties, the Council for Telecommunications, and the public, to voice their opinions on the above mentioned comments. (Hina) lml