bTV and Bulsatcom in fees dispute

Bulgarian commercial broadcaster bTV has pulled its channels from pay TV operator Bulsatcom’s network after the pair failed to strike a carriage deal, according to local reports.

bTV alleged that Bulsatcom has failed to pay fees owed to it and has under-reported the number of subscribers to bTV’s services.

Bulsatcom issued a statement to subscribers earlier this week saying it had failed to reach an agreement with bTV and that the latter’s channels would be withdrawn. The operator said it would charge reduced fees to customers while bTV’s channels were unavailable. Bulsatcom has also been in dispute with commercial broadcaster TV7 over fees.