The Russian broadcaster RT DE is not allowed to broadcast or broadcast any television programs in Germany. This was decided by the Commission for Admission and Supervision (ZAK) of the media authorities. RT DE does not have the media license required for the television programme. Since it is a nationwide radio program, the ZAK had to decide. The responsible company RT DE Production has already announced a lawsuit against it.
“The RT DE program is a broadcast program that requires a license for which, according to Section 52 of the State Media Treaty, no license has been granted or applied for,” the ZAK said. RT DE must therefore stop broadcasting its TV programs via live stream on the Internet, via the mobile and smart TV app “RT News” and via satellite.
RT DE has been produced and broadcast in Berlin since December 16th. Just under a week later, the satellite operator Eutelsat stopped broadcasting. To this end, Tobias Schmid, the European representative of the state media authorities, the media regulators in Berlin and the European supervisory authorities had agreed, and Eutelsat was then informed.
Serbian license
RT DE had invoked a Serbian broadcasting license. An earlier attempt by the broadcaster to get a license via Luxembourg had failed. The ZAK is now emphasizing that the organizer of RT DE cannot invoke any other legitimate permission under European law.
In a first reaction to the ZAK’s decision, RT DE once again states that it received a broadcasting license in Serbia on December 6, 2021, which is valid until 2029. This license was lawfully applied for and granted in accordance with the legislation and the provisions of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television.
RT DE: “We are not the broadcaster”
RT DE wants to take legal action against the decision, which also costs 5,000 euros in fees. “We have presented the information about our production activities to the regulatory authority and have clearly shown that we are not the responsible broadcaster of RT DE,” the statement said. The program will be broadcast from studios in Moscow.
In principle, Russian state television can apply for a license for the linear distribution of the program, says Wolfgang Kreissig, chairman of the supervisory authority and the directors’ conference of the state media authorities (DLM). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. However, according to the media state treaty, no licenses can be granted “to legal entities under public law, with the exception of churches and universities, to their legal representatives and senior officials, as well as to political parties and voter associations”. This also applies to foreign public or state bodies.
(app)