State TV and radio merge

TALLINN - The Estonian state TV channel ETV and Estonian Radio will present a merger plan by Dec. 1 in accordance with a governmental decision to create a single broadcasting structure to ease debt burdens.

The government offered to pay 6 million kroons ($310,000) to cover ETV's lay-off compensations and call off a bankruptcy warning if the TV channel starts paying its debt of 5.5 million kroons to the Broadcasting Transmission Center. Total ETV debts amount to 29.4 million kroons. Its creditors are the center, the state revenue office and the European Broadcasting Union.

As a single economic entity, ETV and Estonian Radio would work more efficiently as a national public broadcasting organization, the government stated on Oct. 24.

The merger idea came from ETV Board Chairman Aare Urm, who is concerned about the equal state funds planned for ETV and Estonian Radio. ETV's broadcasting expenses alone are about 18 million kroons, which cannot be compared to those of the radio, according to Urm.

Up to now, the budget has foreseen almost equal sums for ETV and Estonian Radio funding. The 2000 budget assigned 84 million kroons to ETV and 71 million kroons to Estonian Radio. International experience shows that state television uses up twice as much money as radio.

According to Estonian Radio's public relations service, that is not true, because Estonian Radio has four stations (Raadio 2, Klassikaradio, Vikkerraadio and Raadio 4) and ETV only one channel. In next year's state budget 155 million kroons have been earmarked for both Estonian Radio and ETV.

The merger would reduce the number of employees, as there would probably be only one advertising and one management department for both institutions.

Estonian Radio director Ain Saarna is less excited about the merger. In an interview to the Eesti Paevaleht daily he said he would be more grateful if each institution's problems were managed independently, stressing Estonian Radio is not the reason for ETV's financial malaise.

Estonian Radio spokeswoman Anneli Milistver said that although the company faces some financial problems, it doesn't have millions' worth of debt like ETV does.

"For example, ER employees' wages have remained at the same level for several years," said Milistver.

The officials see the merger as a clever deal that will solve the problems of public broadcasting in Estonia.