Sarajevo, 23 January 2026 – The BH Journalists Association is following with great concern the announcements by the company BH Telecom that it may remove the television channels Hayat (group of channels), OBN, OTV Valentino and Izvorna TV from its offer as of 1 February 2026, should the legal issues regarding exclusive signal distribution rights not be clarified.
BH Journalists emphasize that objective, transparent, and non-discriminatory relations between cable/telecom operators and media outlets are the foundation of a well-functioning media market based on fair and honest principles, with respect for audience choice and citizens’ right to information pluralism. We remind that the aforementioned TV channels have been an integral part of BH Telecom’s platform offerings for years and are available to a significant number of viewers throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. No operator may, directly or indirectly, use its market position to blackmail, favor, or discriminate against media outlets based on their editorial policies or other non-journalistic criteria.
BH Journalists particularly stress that discrimination of media on political, commercial or similar grounds is unacceptable. Such practices undermine public trust in the media landscape and make it more difficult for citizens to access diverse sources of information of general social interest, while additionally financially destabilizing media outlets.
This is not the first time that certain TV stations have been placed at a disadvantage by distributors’ decisions that are not based on audience interests, objective viewership criteria, or transparent contractual relations, nor in compliance with the rules of the Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) governing the operation of cable operators and the distribution of media programs. At the beginning of 2022, the cable operator Telemach unilaterally moved FTV to position 55, only to return it to position 3 in 2025, while N1 TV was removed from the Moja TV platform, operated by BH Telecom, following the termination of their mutual contract on 31 August 2022. Such practices further confirm the need for clearly defined and transparent rules for the distribution of media content, which must be consistently implemented in practice.
We call on BH Telecom and all relevant stakeholders – above all TV broadcasters and the Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) – to communicate openly, clarify legal disputes and reach solutions through dialogue that will not be detrimental to media pluralism and the availability of information from diverse sources to all citizens across the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Any decision regarding the availability of specific media content must be made in accordance with the law, ethical business standards and the public interest, without pressure, favoritism, or violations of the principles of media freedom and media content distribution.
The BH Journalists Association remains committed to the protection of media freedoms, professional standards and pluralism in the media landscape of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Steering Committee of BH Journalists
