Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 29 /Trend, M.Aliyev/
The National Television and Radio Council of Azerbaijan (NTRC) intends to appeal to the relevant structures in order to obtain authority for full or partial suspension of some telecasts on the private TV channels, the NTRC chairman Nushirevan Maharramli said in an interview with Trend.
"The powers may be given on the basis of amendments to the legislation," Maharramli said.
According to him, work is also conducted on the allocation of state aid to regional and private TV channels.
According to him, licenses began to be provided to new television channels and radio stations, considerable work has been conducted on strengthening the material-technical base of television channels and radio stations in the transition to digital broadcasting in Azerbaijan.
"But in 2010 a very worrying tendency affecting the national and spiritual values of Azerbaijan has been recorded in the private TV channels. The number of show programs has increased, but the number of programs about the history and literature of Azerbaijan has decreased. This is a very disturbing fact for us," said Maharramli .
According to him, the licenses of most TV channels expire in 2011 and renewing the license of these channels will be considered.
Eight republican, 14 regional and 13 cable TV channels operate in Azerbaijan.