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Global
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www.ardcg.org
THE CHANNEL
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ISSUE 2 2015
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51
Looking at the radio sector, there
are currently 38 commercial, two
national and 14 local public radio
stations, and a state aid fund,
operated by the independent
regulatory authority – the Agency
for Electronic Media. The financial
support in the form of annual and
programme grants can go a long
way for the small commercial
stations that produce local content,
and make a great difference for the
local population in the remote rural
areas of Montenegro.
In terms of television, after the
digital switchover (DSO),
Montenegro has only three
commercial TV channels in the first
national multiplex, in addition to
two channels of the national public
service broadcaster. These five
channels are available free-to-air to
92% of the Montenegrin
population, which leaves us with
some remote villages still waiting
to receive the digital signal. All
things considered, this is not bad
for the initial phase of the
expansion of the digital network.
It is sometimes rather difficult to
explain the advantages of the
digital switchover to someone
asking for a cost/benefit rationale
behind this process. Yes, the picture
is better and there are some
additional services, all of which are
nice but could be too expensive for
an elderly household, whose
members had been quite happy
with the conventional remote
control.
HELPING STAKEHOLDERS
The logical answer is that you
cannot stop progress. In the same
way that it was impossible to stop
colour TV back in the 1960s, it is
impossible to cut the costs now and
cling to the old technology. What
one can do, however, is help the
stakeholders with their transition,
small media and viewers alike,
enabling them to come out of this
process stronger and more optimistic.
The commercial channels in
Montenegro’s first national
multiplex are mainly owned by
foreign companies that are not
always keen on tailoring their
regional content to local viewers.
Their policy of ‘This should be close
enough, and it certainly costs less’
will hopefully not remain in place
forever. But what if it does? How
far can the state, or a regulator, go
to protect local content from the –
negative – impact that reality
shows and other programmes have
on the culture of a small country
without interfering with the
editorial independence of broad-
casters? Is it possible to do
something, without resorting to
stringent regulation and state aid
measures?
CONTENT FOR THEREGION
Montenegro does have the legal
means to support the commercial
broadcasters financially, but it
doesn’t have enough money to help
them compete with the
international media companies that
produce content for the region and
sell advertising time for the whole
Balkans. The regulatory authority
needs to create a level playing field,
for the “poor” and “rich”
broadcasters alike, regardless of
where they come from.
The European Commission
recognises this problem which also
exists in some smaller EU
economies, such as Ireland, but
there are no easy solutions.
Montenegro is currently going
through the EU accession process
and negotiating with the EC, so
when you are knocking on the
European door, you need to meet
all the standards and observe all the
rules – even those other EU
members might work around or
bend a little.
Faced with the two options of
either sitting back and watching as
our cultural heritage is being
eroded by such low-quality
content, or actively relying on
technological developments to give
our citizens more options and
provide more (internet-based and
other) AVM services, the choice was
not difficult.
With six more multiplexes
available, Montenegro hopes to
attract more TV broadcasters
willing to produce local content
and raise the quality of
programming. The legislation is in
place and there is enough room for
both MUX operators and TV
channels to find the right business
model for Montenegro, for both
pay- and free-to-air TV. With the
digital dividend pending, the telcos
also hope to expand their services
from early 2016.
In parallel, the already well-
developed cable market (including
CDS, MMDS, FTTH, mobile and
IPTV) offers a wide selection of
foreign and regional TV channels,
with the basic tier subscription
ranging between €6 and €11.
PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES
There are plenty of opportunities in
the sector. However, one area we
need to focus on is the support for
high-quality local TV production.
The AVMS directive doesn’t help
much in that respect, as it gives on-
demand service providers an
opportunity to choose between
promotion and financial support,
and we all know how useful such
weak mechanisms can be in
competition with powerful
international players.
Of course, the situation can
change quickly. With the modern
cinematography legislation in the
pipeline, and plans to offer its
beautiful scenery (and incentives)
to international filmmakers,
Montenegro could soon have
enough local production and co-
production to make it attractive for
international companies and
viewers. That could in turn boost
its broadcasting sector and bring
more high-quality competition to
this small market, given that the
language is shared with (at least)
three neighbouring countries with
much larger populations.
So the outlook is promising.
Post-DSO, what we can hope for in
Montenegro is that the local
population will be asking for – or at
least watching – more local content,
supporting small independent
producers. In combination with the
legislative measures, fair regulation
and sound business strategies, we
are then on the right track.
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From top one of
the challenging
locations of a
transmitter in
Montenegro; a
meeting of
Europeanmedia
regulators in
Budva; the
spectacular
scenery of
Montenegro
Djordje
Vujnovic
MEDIA IN TRANSITIoN
|
THE CHANNEL
