UPC Romania and Antena Group at loggerheads over broadcasting issues

Telecom TV, internet and fixed telephony carrier UPC Romania has sent a notification to the National Audio-Visual Council (CNA) claiming abusive actions from Antena Group. The operator is accusing the media entity of imposing technical and financial conditions for the broadcast of its stations- Antena 1, Antena 2, Antena 3, Euforia TV and GSP TV- which it claims violates the must-carry principle, according to Mediafax newswire.

According to the must-carry principle in the Romanian audio-visual law, cable operators must broadcast by default certain TV stations while content providers should not impose underlying conditions.

On January 27, UPC set a letter to the CNA saying it was informed that Antena Group will alter the transmission and reception parameters for the five above-mentioned stations, originally on February 4th and afterwards this decision was pushed to March 4th.

“As a result of these modifications, UPC will no longer be able to broadcast the channels unless it does not carry out a series of major investments into equipment that is compatible with the new parameters imposed by Antena Group. On the other hand, these modifications would attract a significant broadcasting cost reduction for the content provider,” claims UPC Romania.

If Antena Group does not cover the cost of this equipment, UPC will no longer be able to broadcast its channels starting March 4, says the memo.

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The notification has not yet been set on the CNA discussion table.

Otilia Haraga