Spain Cuts RTVE’s Ads Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has agreed to dramatically reduce advertising on two of pubcaster Radio Television Espanola’s (RTVE) channels, TVE1 and TVE2, over the next year. His promise comes after cries of protest from UTECA, the lobby representing private broadcasters, which insisted that Zapatero’s policy to cut RTVE’s advertising allotment from 11 minutes to 10 minutes per hour last year was not a sufficient measure. Zapatero has not specified just how much advertising he plans to do away with, but UTECA’s Secretary General Jorge Del Corral said that their aim is to eliminate all ads during primetime on the public channels this year and in all dayparts in the next 12 to 13 months. The action will be part of the upcoming Spanish Audiovisual Law, which is pending approval by Spanish parliament. Currently, RTVE uses a mixed financing model that uses a combination of ads and state subsidies, with advertising accounting for 40.6 percent of total revenue. This year it is expected that advertising will account for 447 million euro. The Spanish government plans to compensate for the revenue that will be lost by taxing three percent of commercial (private) TV station and network revenue, which is expected to bring in 140 million euro per year. It will also levy a 0.9 percent tax on fixed and cellular telecoms, providing a projected 240 million euro per year. A portion of the tax on electromagnetic frequencies (TV, radio, cellular, etc.) will furnish another 240 million euro to RTVE. In addition, the state will contribute 550 million euro in order for RTVE meets its yearly balance of 1.2 billion euro. The Century Plaza To Be Torn Down In December 2008, a group led by investor Michael Rosenfeld announced a two billion dollar plan to replace the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles with two skyscrapers filled with condos and stores. The decision came only a few short months after a $36 million revamp had been completed on the hotel, which is nicknamed the “West Coast White House” due to its popularity among Washington politicians. The CP, as it is familiarly called, is also popular among Latin American participants at the L.A. Screenings. Rosenfeld expressed hope that the new structures would attract full-time residents to the area. But preservationists don’t buy the argument, saying they’d rather keep the Century Plaza as it is now. The Century Plaza has hosted all manner of events of historical significance, including Ronald Reagan’s presidential victory party and a welcome home gala for the Apollo 11 astronauts. The National Trust for Historic Preservation views this history as a reason to save the hotel from a wrecking ball that seems to be getting closer each day, and has placed the Century Plaza on its annual list of historic endangered locales. Built in Century City, a high-rise district of Los Angeles on the former site of the 20th Century Fox movie lot, the hotel, which opened its doors in 1966, was designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki, who went on to design the World Trade Center towers. France Now Hangs Pirates Last month, VideoAge reported that the French Parliament had rejected a bill to suspend Internet connections for pirate usage. Now, just over a month after that initial decision, the same National Assembly has voted in favor of a new version of the bill. Under the more recent initiative, a “three strikes” approach would be taken towards repeat copyright violators who ignored warnings to cease their pirating activities. The bill has set off a political maelstrom pitting president Nicolas Sarkozy’s U.M.P. party against the opposition group, the Socialists, and a number of interest groups which complain that the bill is overly intrusive and would be difficult to enforce. It’s thought that the reason the bill didn’t make it through last month was due to the JU N E 2 0 0 9 (Continued on Page 8)
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