Teleradio president blames transmitter for bad terrestrial coverage

Valentin Todercan, the president of the national public broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova, is discontented with the transmission services provided by the state-run enterprise Radiocommunication, blaming it for depriving a large part of the country of the possibility to watch Moldova 1 channel, Info-Prim Neo reports. At a recent meeting of Teleradio’s Supervisory Board, Todercan said the issue has reached an impasse, as no solution has been found to this one-year-long problem. “The specialists at Radiocommunication say the signal is fine, the magnetic field is OK, but we know that Chisinau residents do not receive the channel Moldova 1. The same is in many locations of the country. The enterprise Radiocommunication cites different reasons, yet there is no signal, though we have to pay the bill”, said Todercan. According to him, Radiocommunication specialists say 7 to 9 meter tall antennas are needed to receive Moldova 1 properly. “Ordinary people seek comfort. But if we impose all kinds of conditions, the audience will simply stop watching us”. He wondered how it was possible to receive almost all the Chisinau-based channels with the help of a simple set-top indoor antenna and, at the same time, need a 7 meter tall antenna to watch Moldova 1. “Even I, the president of Teleradio-Moldova, sitting in my fifth floor office, can’t receive those terrestrial waves. Many watch television while driving, but they don’t carry 7 meter tall antennas on top of their cars. I myself have a TV set in the car but I can’t watch Moldova 1 even in Chisinau”. The broadcaster conditioned the renewal of the contract with the Radiocommunication on a strictly defined coverage map. “We will sign a new contact with them only when they provide us with a coverage map, and the payment of the debt we owe to the Radiocommunication (some 10 million lei) will be frozen until 2010 or 2011”, Todercan declared. Of Teleradio’s 51 million lei budget for 2008, 48 percent, that is 24 million lei, were destined to the Radiocommunication, he added. In retort, Radiocommunication director Valeriu Elas has told Info-Prim Neo that Todercan’s allegations are unfounded. While admitting that the broadcaster had several complaints, Elas said everything was tried to solve the problems. “We are ready to verify both positions. In concrete buildings it is difficult to receive Moldova 1 with indoor antennas. So, those who want to watch Moldova 1 should acquire big-sized antennas. Soon we will shift to digital television and improve receipt capacities”, explained Valeriu Elas.