Three TV channels case

Back in the second month of the war, espreso.tv, Pryamiy and 5 Channel TV channels appealed to the Business Ombudsman Council regarding forced termination of their broadcasting in T2 multi-channel digital TV network. At the same time, all three TV channels could not join production of Yedyni Novyny (United News) #UArazom 24-hour information telethon that significantly limited their presence on the media market.
 
The BOC found out that of broadcasting   termination occurred without any formalized decision of state bodies.
 
The Council turned to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting first. Subsequently, the Council managed to find out that TV channels couldn’t become participants in a united telethon, as there were no regulations in the legislation that would regulate operation of the telethon and the procedure for adding new participants to it.
 
In a further appeal to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the BOC recommended formalizing basic telethon operation principles at the legislative level. Developing criteria as well as the procedure for adding new participants to the telethon production would fill the legal vacuum, create equal access conditions to the telethon for all media market players and eventually move away from the current format of the exclusive club members.
 
In addition, in a letter to the Office of the President of Ukraine, the BOC drew attention to the long-term lack of a constructive dialogue between all concerned stakeholders of the united telethon.
 
Although one large media group voluntarily left the telethon participants in Q3 2022, and Ukraine, within the framework of the European integration process, undertook to adopt an updated law on media, the problem of forced shutdown of TV channels did not move from a dead point during these months.
 
As of the end of the reporting quarter, the Council did not receive feedback from either the Office of the President of Ukraine or the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to our recurrent appeals regarding the legislative gap regulation and TV channels return to T2 broadcasting network. We continue communicating with the authorized state bodies within the investigation and hope for a gradual progress on the case.