Estonia's Language Law Changes Could Reduce ETV+ Viewership, Warns Editor
The editor-in-chief of ETV+ warns that new restrictions on dubbing foreign content could lead to a loss of viewers, especially among older Russian-speaking audiences. The law bans dubbing of non-Estonian content into other foreign languages, except for children's programming.
Ekaterina Taklaja, editor-in-chief of ERR's Russian-language channel ETV+, has warned that recent amendments to Estonia's Language Act could significantly reduce the channel's viewership. The Riigikogu-approved changes ban the public screening of any content dubbed into a foreign language, with the exception of children's programming. In practice, most of ETV+'s dubbed content will have to switch to subtitles.
Kairi Kaldoja, deputy secretary general for language policy at the Ministry of Education and Research, explained that the provision was always intended to cover both movie theaters and other audiovisual media. Taklaja noted that the channel heavily relies on imported programming and can no longer source content from Russia or Ukraine, leaving most of its lineup dubbed material.
“I predict we're going to lose a lot of viewers,” said Taklaja. “Scheduled TV programming is mostly watched by older audiences. They aren't used to subtitles because so much Russian-language content is produced around the world.” ETV+ reaches about 120,000 weekly viewers, more than 60 percent of whom are over 65.
Estonian-language content is exempt from the restrictions. After talks with ministries, officials clarified that dubbing foreign-language content into another foreign language is banned, but dubbing from Estonian into foreign languages remains allowed. “We can still dub Estonian-language content into foreign languages to ensure that those who only speak a foreign language still remain within the necessary information space in Estonia,” Kaldoja said.
MP Margit Sutrop (Reform), a member of the Riigikogu's Cultural Affairs Committee, questioned continued funding for ETV+, suggesting that the debate should focus on whether the channel should continue subsidizing Russian-language versions of Estonian content. Taklaja defended the channel's role in keeping the large Russian-speaking community, which accounts for a quarter to a third of the population, informed. She added that reducing dubbing could be a blow to viewership, as audiences have many Russian-language alternatives to turn to.
