ARGENTINA

On December 7, the ruling party deputy Gustavo López presented a bill for the promotion of diversity in pay TV. For the time being, its legislative treatment is not foreseen. Besides, it should be taken into account that the deputy ended his term of office on December 10 and will return to occupy the vice-presidency of the National Communications Entity (Enacom).

The initiative presented seeks to organize the regulation of subscription television services and to recover the “spirit imbued by Law 26.522“.  Among other points, it obliges pay TV companies to upload national news signals to the grid and provides for the arrangement of channels by thematic axis. It also obliges the signals to introduce 0.5% of their turnover to national production. 

In the first article, the bill determines that the obligations of Law 26522 on Media regarding the inclusion of mandatory signals and the ordering of grids (art. 65 paragraph 3); accessibility of contents (art. 66); cinema screen quota (art. 65 paragraph 3); and the accessibility of contents (art. 66) are applicable to the subscription broadcasting service. 66); screen quota for national movies and audiovisual arts (Section 67, third paragraph); exception to the timetable suitable for all audiences of encoded broadcasts (Section 69); conducts punishable exclusively for the own generation signal (Sections 70 and 71); broadcasting of advertising (Sections 81 and 82) and Title V on taxes. On the other hand, the initiative seeks to “reinstate the liability of subscription broadcasting services when the broadcast signal is not registered in the Public Registry of Signals and Producers”.

In addition, Lopez’s proposal contemplates the obligation of fixed and/or radio subscription pay TV services to generate their own local signal, making it possible that in those cases where the services are located in cities with less than ten thousand inhabitants, a regional signal may be created. Finally, it establishes a mechanism with the intervention of the National Communications Agency (Enacom in Spanish) for the solution of disputes arising in connection with the commercialization of contents when a “fair, equitable and reasonable price” is not reached.