CNN will receive a license for broadcasts in Russia within "days or weeks," the country's media watchdog chief said, allowing the U.S. network to return to a market it left last year over the introduction of a tough new media advertising law.
"The [CNN's] application for a universal license is being processed," Roskomnadzor media watchdog chief Alexander Zharov said, news agency RIA Novosti reported. "I think it's a question of days or weeks." The "universal" license would allow CNN to sign broadcasting deals with Russian cable and satellite providers, he was quoted as saying. CNN announced last November that it would stop broadcasting in Russia from Jan. 1, when a law banning commercials on pay television was set to come into effect. But the law, which was widely criticized by cable media, was amended in January to allow cable channels with 75 percent Russian content to air commercials. Russian content is defined as any content commissioned by companies based in Russia and presented in Russian. CNN applied for a new broadcast license in February.A Message from The Moscow Times:
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