Russian state broadcaster VGTRK has abandoned plans to make its pay-television channel Sport available on a free-to-air basis.
VGTRK had been assigned a place for Sport in Russia’s secondary digital-terrestrial multiplex, which is due to be launched as part of the country’s switch to digital television in 2015.
Sport had been planned to sit alongside the already existing Russia 2 channel on the free-to-air platform, but the Sports.ru website said that VGTRK had changed its stance due to the Ministry of Finance’s decision to cut subsidies to state-run media.
Subsidies are set to drop from 0.6 per cent to 0.3 per cent of total federal spending from 2014 to 2016.
As a result, VGTRK has decided it will not be able to afford the annual $30m (€22.1m) licence fee for free-to-air broadcasts.