Romania is one of the least advanced Balkan countries when it comes to digital television despite it and Bulgaria must pass completely to this kind of broadcast by 2012, due to their accession to the EU. The conclusion was drawn at a recent reunion of digital television experts organized in Tirana by the Albanian Media Institute.

according to which Romanian viewers have little to no access to the benefits of dtv such as multi-language channels, multiple subtitling and split screens, tryplay and HDTV.

The only public debate that occurred in Romania in this regard is related to the clash of various authorities involved in the digitalization process last year.

In September 2005, the National Audiovisual Council and the Romanian Association of Audiovisual Communications protested against an attempt by the public television TVR to control the third national network dedicated to private radio broadcasters.

At the time, TVR was supported by the IT&C Ministry in Bucharest, and the situation brought the digital effort to a halt.

Now, after an experiment on the same frequency that included private channels, Romanian authorities have decided to use the third national network for analog broadcasts – a step back in the digitalization process.

That happened despite Romania should have produced a strategy to implement DTV nationally, with specific terms, scenarios and legislative projects.

In a country that is considerably behind most Balkan countries, including Croatia and Albania, the only good news come from private sector. Satellite digital television reported a boom in the first part of 2006 as the number of DTV operators rose to four – three of which reported 250,000 clients.