United Media submitted on Tuesday a new offer to the state-owned BH Telecom for the independent distribution of the news television N1, in which the price was reduced from the previous 0.35 euros per user to 0.27 euros, the company said in their statement.

“Considering that it is very important to ensure the continuity of viewers’ access to objective and balanced reporting, especially in the 2022 General Election campaign, we submitted an adjusted offer to BH Telecom and reduced the price for the independent distribution of N1 television by 20 percent.

N1 television in BiH employs over 100 people, media professionals who are winners of numerous domestic and international awards for quality and professional work. They are proven to be the most watched informative television on the platforms on which they are broadcast, and research shows that they are the television that citizens trust.

Bearing in mind all the mentioned facts, as well as the fact that the main source of N1’s funding is the distribution fee, the question arises whether BH Telecom's call to allow them to distribute N1 on a non-commercial basis, practically free of charge, is just a forced move after a stormy reaction from the public, knowing that such an offer would be impossible to accept.

Over the past two days, it has become clear that N1 has enormous support and popularity among our viewers and the general public in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to its objective reporting. We have offered fair conditions to BH Telecom, the same under which the contract was recently concluded with operators in Croatia, and we believe that the new offer will be accepted.

By doing so, BH Telecom will practically show that it supports media pluralism and dispel doubts that there are political reasons behind the decision to drop N1 from their cable TV platform.

Earlier on Tuesday, BH Telecom released a statement saying that N1 is welcome to their Moja TV platform.

In its statement, BH Telecom invited United Media and N1 to enable the distribution of its TV channel on a non-commercial basis.

They noted that the offer they received from United Media for N1 is unacceptable to them, but that they support media pluralism and call on United Media to facilitate the distribution of N1 for free.