The Government says that the end of the telecom rate for RTVE depends on the parliamentary process of the Audiovisual Law

May 23, 2022

MADRID, 23 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Government has assured that the effects of the elimination of the direct contribution of 0.9% of the income of telecommunications companies to the RTVE Corporation depend on the parliamentary processing of the Audiovisual Communication Bill.

Asked about this issue from the VOX Parliamentary Group in Congress, the Executive has indicated in a response dated May 10 that the Audiovisual Communication Bill “is currently undergoing parliamentary processing and, therefore, its content is still susceptible to be modified.”

The Committee on Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of Congress approved last week the opinion of the presentation of the General Law on Audiovisual Communication, with the votes of PSOE, United We Can, PNV and ERC, and the rejection of PP, Vox and Junts , and the abstention of Bildu and Ciudadanos. The Plenary Session of the Lower House will foreseeably see the matter this Thursday.

The Government has given this same response to the party led by Santiago Abascal, which has asked about RTVE’s income through the rate that series and movie platforms must pay and if they will be sufficient for its financing; about the preparation of a report that reveals the possible income that the Corporation will receive with said rate; and on the measures envisaged in the event that this contribution is not sufficient.

To all these questions, the Government of Pedro Sánchez has responded by stating that until the approval and publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of the “final version” of the bill “the measures contained” in it will not apply .

Additionally, he added that the mandatory Regulatory Impact Analysis Report (MAIN) was attached to the bill, which was published on the website of the Transparency Portal. “That MAIN contains a description and legal analysis of the content, as well as a forecast of the main economic impacts of the bill”, he remarked.

Likewise, he highlighted that the bill modifies Law 8/2009 on RTVE financing so that “they are carried out with contributions from all the agents present in the audiovisual market that compete for the same audience: free linear television, linear pay television , video-on-demand providers and video-sharing platforms”.

In this sense, the Government has pointed out that the Law enables new sources of income for RTVE so that the Corporation “will be able to monetize certain forms of advertising”, and “the insertion of advertising in RTVE channels on exchange platforms will also be allowed”. of user-generated videos or digital functionalities that allow access to their content after their linear broadcast”. Contributions from other sectors are also reviewed.