Putin bans adverts on pay TV

President Vladimir Putin has amended Russia’s advertising law to impose a ban on the broadcast of adverts on paid television channels from 1 January 2015. According to the revised law, which was published today, national public television channels, as well as those broadcast on terrestrial TV for free, will not be affected.

The architect of the new law, Fair Russia party politician Igor Zotov, proposed the bill last month claiming that television channels that are broadcast to viewers for free “are at a disadvantage compared to TV channels whose distribution is based on payments and who show adverts paid for by the consumers’ monthly fee”.

According to a list collated by Russia’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor, around 1,400 subscription channels currently broadcasting commercials will be prohibited from screening adverts from next year.

Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council has spoken out against the law, claiming that the amendment will monopolise the television advertising market and inevitably lead to an increase in subscription fees and the closure of numerous channels.