On May 15 the premises of the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine hosted quite a significant event: the representatives of industry associations (Association of Right Holders and Content Providers, Telecommunications Chamber of Ukraine, Ukrainian Television Network, Internet Association of Ukraine, and others.), the largest operators and content distributors (VOLIA, Viasat, IP Media Group and others) signed the Memorandum of Protecting Children and Young People in Providing Content Services.
First, the Memorandum opens up to the adult channels a legal way to Ukraine, and second, it is a good example of the industry’s selfregulation, the first of its kind. Not waiting for the necessary legislative instruments from the State, which would allow taking the erotic channels out of the shadows, the key market players under the auspices of the National Council worked out the broadcasting rules, protecting children from harmful content.
The Memorandum extends to any programs that may be inappropriate for young viewers (containing scenes of violence, erotics, etc.). Under the terms of the document, the service providers must adjust the access to specific content: to restrict the broadcasting time (24: 00-4: 00) and /or ensure channels’ encoding, to warn users that the channels are forbidden for children, to avoid images and video with elements of violence and erotics while informing about the channel. The full text of the Memorandum will be published on the National Council’s website.
Distributors will be required to obtain a permit from the National Council for broadcasting certain content.
Vyacheslav Vasilevskiy (IP Media Group) told about its plans to officially present the Playboy and Russian Night TV channels in Ukraine.
Without going to debates on the benefits or harm of erotic channels to the public, though none of the TV industry’s professionals could see any harm, we shall pay attention to the fact, that the Ukrainian grey market remains filled with adult content anyway and out of both financial and access control by the government.
Sergey Boyko (VOLIA) noted that the lack of erotic channels in the legal environment, resulted in financial losses for the legal players and the State amounting to millions hryvnias annually, though the exact amount was difficult to estimate in view of the market’s illegality. By coming out of the shadows, according to Mr. Boyko, it’s expected to increase revenues from Pay TV by 2.5-5% 2.5-5%.
European countries, and even our neighbor to the east, legalized the presence of erotic channels long ago.
Natalia Klitnaya (ARHCP) noted that the Ukrainian legislation delayed in implementing the European standards, but fortunately, some topical issues were subject to address by selfregulation.
Constantine Gritsak (TCU) drew attention to the laws of the Netherlands in this context.
