CNN broadcasts to end in Russia before year's end

Moscow, Nov 11 (IANS/EFE) US television network CNN will end its transmissions in Russia by the end of the year and it has notified its local cable distributor of the move, Russian media reported Tuesday.

A representative of Turner Broadcasting System Europe Limited, a division of Time Warner, the owner of CNN, told the Russian newspaper Vedomosti that the company was confident it would one day return to the market.

He said the decision to suspend the distribution of CNN was due to new Russian legislation regulating the activity of the media.

In 2009, Roskomnadzor, the Russian state telecoms regulator, began requiring foreign television channels distributed by Russian cable or satellite networks to acquire a local licence, which CNN has so far not obtained.

Roskomnadzor had nothing to do with the decision on CNN, said an agency spokesman quoted by a Russian news agency.

He added that the US channel can freely license transmission in Russia if it meets the requirements provided by law.

In 2010, Russia restricted to 50 percent the amount of foreign equity participation in radio and television companies, and then decreased the amount again this year to 20 percent.

--IANS/EFE

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