Greek TV stations licensing Odyssey

It is undeniable that the relation of the Greek state with the television stations has always been turbulent, and the legal status regarding these stations has always been uncertain.

Law 1866/1989 regulated for the first time the grant of a license for the establishment and operation of non-state stations, but without a tender procedure. This Law also established the National Radio and Television Council (NRTC) which was assigned responsibilities such as the supervision of television stations. Thus, the first licenses were granted, but without signing the legally required agreement for the completion of the license and as a result the television stations have never operated with total legitimacy. In the following years new laws provided that for the issuance of licenses of private television stations an invitation to tender is necessary and that the existing licenses would still apply until the tender procedure. Laws followed that set deadlines for the issuance of the invitation to tender and for the grant of licenses, which were constantly extended by subsequent laws, with the latest date set for the grant of licenses being Dec. 31, 2015.

In view of the imminent approach of the last deadline for the completion of the process for granting television licenses and of the country’s commitment to take structural budgetary measures with Law 4335/2015, including publishing an invitation to public international tender for the acquisition of television licenses and the payment of fees for the use of the relevant frequencies, which have been repeatedly declared by the Supreme Administrative Court as a precious public good, Law 4339/2015 was published, which would come into force on Oct. 29, 2015. It was regulated that the licensing of content providers of free-to-air terrestrial digital broadcasting would be allocated after a tender process, through an auction, the invitation for which would be issued by the NRTC. Furthermore, after the reasoned opinion of the NRTC and public consultation the following would be determined: a) the number of licenses per category, by decision of the competent Minister to whom the tasks of General Secretariat of Information and Communication were assigned, and b) the starting price of the auctioned licenses, by joint ministerial decision. In addition, the law set out the positive and negative conditions for the participation of candidates in the licensing process, such as their legal form, the minimum paid-up share capital, the incompatible properties, the manner of acquisition of the financial resources of the candidates and their shareholders, and even the technological equipment, the building infrastructure and the minimum number of employees, requirements which caused several debates in the legal and political world.

Read more: http://www.ilnipinsider.com/2017/07/greek-tv-stations-licensing-odyssey/