NTRC Temporarily Suspends Its Own Ban on ANS TV Program Hesabat (updated)

The National Television and Radio Council (NTRC) temporarily suspended its decision on the ban on the broadcasting of Hesabat (Report) on the TV channel ANS. This was announced at today's press conference by the head of NTRC Nushiravan Maharramli.

Recall that the ban was introduced a day earlier and was justified by violations of journalistic ethics and law by the program in December and January.

According to Maharramli, the cancellation is temporary due to the fact that the vice-president of ANS Mirshahin Agayev suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized today.

At the same time the head of NTRC confirmed that the earlier decision to ban the transmission of Hesabat is grounded in nature and completely legal.

 As for the essence of the conflict between NTRC and ANS, Maharramli said the channel breached its obligations regarding the filming of the television series Absheron.

"The shooting had to be completed in July 2015. For this purpose, NTRC paid the TV channel 160 thousand manats. However, in August, we were informed that ANS changed the name and content of the show, calling it Sevgi - Love. This is a serious violation, so NTRC refused to pay the last tranche of 40 thousand mantas for the shooting, Maharramli said.

Then the head of NTRC sharply criticized the level of all TV channels of the country, describing their level of production as "the fourth grade."

Asked by Turan whether anybody put pressure on NTRC to make it ban the transmission of ANS, Maharramli said no. "We act within the law and our decision is justified. Therefore, the accusations are groundless and absurd," concluded the head of NTRC.

In turn, the ANS representative confirmed for Turan that the health of Mirshahin Agayev deteriorated early this morning and he had to be taken to hospital after a heart attack. -0B-