Skopje, March 07, 2012 – Overcoming of the actual legal problems related to the re-broadcasting of the public program services from Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia in Macedonia was the topic on today’s meeting, hosted by the Broadcasting Council (BC), which was attended by the representatives of the operators of the public communication networks and representatives from the embassies of these countries.
The participants concluded that it is necessary for all the stakeholders to proactively engage in the process, including the Association for Copyright protection (ZAMP), in order to further enhance the program packages that the operators offer to their subscribers.
During the meeting the financial and legal issues regarding the translation in Macedonian (or localization) of the foreign TV channels were also discussed, which are re-transmitted in the country. In this respect bigger commitment was announced by both operators and by the foreign holders of re-transmission rights.
Currently, the operators offer 13 foreign TV channels to the Macedonian viewers, including 12 with subtitles in Macedonian, and one with voice dubbing. The given value of the localization of foreign channels is safeguarding of the Macedonian cultural identity.