The media market in Moldova is marked by unfair competition because the financial resources possessed by national media producers are much lower than those of foreign producers whose programs are broadcast on the country’s territory and have larger audience, Cristina Pohilenko, director of the TV Programs Department of Jurnal TV channel, said an international conference entitled “How to attract foreign investment to the media space of the Republic of Moldova” that was organized by the Association for Development and Cooperation of Moldova, IPN reports.
According to Cristina Pohilenko, unfair competition is also witnessed in the audience determination mechanism, which is the same for Moldovan TV channels and for the retransmitted ones. The consumer preferences in Moldova have been lately topped by TV channels that retransmit foreign content. These are channels that do not comply with the changes made to the Broadcasting Code.
Cristina Pohilenko also said that if the state institutions do not protect the national content, the local TV channels will never start to broadcast serials produced in Moldova. The local producers see no use in investing in a national soap when it is cheaper to broadcast serials bought from Russia. The same reasons prevent the attraction of foreign investment to the media market and the improvement of the quality of national products.
Film director Gheorghe Agadjean said Moldova witnesses a shortage of film scripts and ideas and there are practically no institutions that would train film directors, sketchers, scriptwriters and other necessary staff. A solution is to stimulate the commercial interest of investors and legislative support is needed for the purpose.
Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) member Nicolae Damaschin said the problems faced in broadcasting are universal. “This market has developed enormously after 2010. Tens of TV channels were founded and we now have 67 such channels, but this does not mean that these TV companies can survive with the current advertising market. There is unfair competition when TV channels are retransmitted and when the advertising market is of only €14 million as this is insufficient and the resources permanently decrease,” he stated.
Nicolae Damaschin also said that they do not know how to help the national TV channels to survive alongside the retransmitted channels. “If the BCC insists on increasing the percentage of national content, a number of broadcasters will disappear. We should decide what we want – to reduce the number of broadcasters or not to reduce it and to have diversity in products,” he stated.
Attending the event, U.S. Ambassador to Moldova James Pettit said the mass media is one of the key factors for a democratic society and the appearance of the Internet revolutionized this area, offering access to more information sources. This area necessitates foreign investment, especially in the Republic of Moldova.
Association for Development and Cooperation executive director DumitruTira reiterated the importance of attracting investment and increasing audiovisual and film production, which are two interdependent elements.
The event was held with the assistance of the U.S. Embassy in Moldova, USAID, Freedom House, Internews Moldova, the joint EU and Council of Europe project “Promoting Media Freedom and Pluralism in the Republic of Moldova” and of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.
