Proposals for subsciption fees

The Latvian National Radio and Television Council on 3 November supported council chairman Ojars Rubenis's proposal o introduce changes to the way public broadcasting organizations are financed. The council wants to introduce a monthly subscription fee of 0.6 lats ($0.96) per household and 1.5 lats from a legal entity owning a television set. The revenues from subscription fees next year could total 2.7 million lats while direct state financing would be 14 million lats. By 2004, revenues from subscription fee would grow to 15 million lats, while state financing would decline to 1.7 million lats. The parliament had rejected subscription fees in January 2000, arguing that, among other things, the population already had to contend with many other social and economic problems.