ANEM: Public Service Leads the Way in Violations of the Law

ANEM - Asocijacija nezavisnih elektronskih medija

Provoked by the advertisement in Politika daily, paid by the National Broadcasting Agency (RRA) to introduce the public with its Analysis of Adherence to the Law on Advertising on National Television Broadcasters, the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) insists that the authorities should take appropriate measures to bring order in the television advertising market in Serbia.

ANEM demands from RRA to adopt, in accordance with Broadcasting Law and the Law on Advertising, precise rules on advertising and sponsorship in broadcast media. Such precise rules are evidently needed to reduce the number of violations of the Law to the smallest possible level, but also to the Agency itself, to justify its role of regulatory body the Law entrusts in it.

Of special concern is the fact that RTS, financed as a public service from the broadcasting fee, leads the way in terms of violations of the Law. Most violations refer to provisions that regulate the interruption of programming services with advertising blocks, especially in RTS, which emphasizes the necessity to review the legal solutions for financing of the public service.

The right given to RTS to be able to interrupt, just like the commercial broadcasters, programmes with advertisement and not restrict its advertising only to breaks between programming services, causes damages to the position of the commercial sector and doesn�t contribute significantly to a more stable financing of RTS. Therefore, ANEM demands urgent changes in the Law on Advertising which would revoke that right for RTS.