A proposed Russian ban on advertising on pay-television broadcasters would have dire consequences for NTV Plus’s coverage of football’s Uefa Champions League, according to the broadcaster’s commentator, Michael Mossakovskii.
“If there is a ban on advertising on pay-television… (NTV Plus) will not be able to fulfil its contract of showing the Champions League,” Mossakovskii said on social networking website Twitter. “Advertising is part of the coverage.”
Mossakovskii did not elaborate on whether the contracts that would be affected would be with existing advertisers or Uefa, football’s European governing body, or both.
NTV Plus, which operates basic-tier and premium pay-television channels as well as a pay-television satellite platform, shows live coverage of at least five matches per week from the Champions League.
The broadcaster is about to enter the final year of a three-year rights deal, from 2012-13 to 2014-15, with sister free-to-air channel NTV also showing coverage.