The decision was taken under the leadership of Laura Georgescu, the new president of the CNA, and was unanimously approved. OTV’s licence was due to expire on 28 March 2013.
OTV's licence was curtailed twice in 2011 for political advertisements for the party of the channel's star, Dan Diaconescu, outside the electoral campaign. The action was a precedent setting decision for CNA. The Audiovisual Law states that a channel's licence can be reduced by half if the channel has been fined twice.
This is the first time that CNA is withdrawing a channel's licence for nonpayment of penalties but not the first withdrawal ever. CNA has previously withdrew several licences for channels that had not aired for more than 90 days for technical reasons.
