Licensing dispute. Slovak television is trying to exclude Czech stations from broadcasting, they are losing viewers because of them | iRADIO

The problem is that Czech television buys foreign programs, films and series only with a license for broadcasting in the Czech Republic. At the same time, they also broadcast in Slovakia via local operators.

This bothers Slovak private stations, Markíza and JOJ draw attention to it in particular. They lose viewers and therefore also income from advertising. For example, when they buy an expected American film, it happens that Slovaks have already seen it on a Czech channel.

That is why Slovak television is trying to pressure operators to remove programs without licenses for Slovakia, which would mean shutting down entire Czech stations.

The operator Orange already did this in February, turning off stations such as Prima COOL, Prima ZOOM or ČT sport, ČT Art, even the news channel CNN Prima News. Anyone who now has a TV from Orange in Slovakia no longer has Czech channels.

Solving the situation

The solution would be for Czech television stations to buy licenses for broadcasting in Slovakia, which would most likely not be profitable for them.

Then there is the option that the broadcast would continue, but during the time of foreign programs, the screens would simply be black or with an explanatory inscription that the program cannot be broadcast in the country. According to the experts contacted by the Slovak Denník N, this would be technically complex, if at all feasible.

There is also a model used in Slovakia, for example, by TV Nova or, conversely, TV Markíza in the Czech Republic, which, due to earlier disputes over licenses, broadcast special international channels Nova International and Markíza International in the other country. Only their own creations are played on them, there are no questionable foreign programs on them.

In general, the problem should not concern news stations such as ČT24 or CNN Prima News, which mainly broadcast their own content.

Impact on Slovakia

It would be another big blow to the excellence of Czech-Slovak relations. Free broadcasting of Czech stations is highly appreciated. Televisions help to spread awareness of events in the Czech Republic, they contribute to knowledge of the Czech language among Slovaks.

A number of Slovaks understand the Czech language precisely because they consume Czech media. On the contrary, we do not have that tradition and the Czechs lag behind in language understanding.

For Slovaks, this would mean that they would lose quality news, cultural or documentary programs that Slovak television probably could not and would not need to replace.

The possibilities of the state are limited, states should not interfere in favor of broadcasting that is not in accordance with Slovak law. Negotiations between television stations and Slovak operators are still ongoing. We are looking for a way that could also be used in the Czech Republic for the benefit of Slovak television stations.

At the moment, it looks like either the operators will give in to the pressure from the televisions, or the Slovak televisions will resort to legal action against the operators. The Slovak court would then probably find them right due to copyright.

Ladislav Novák, ava

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