Greece opens TV tender process
May 23, 2016
By Chris Forrester
Greece has confirmed its plan to auction four national private TV broadcast licences. The opening bids start at €3 million.
State Minister Nikos Pappas described the bidding process as “an important moment” because “Greece will no longer holds the embarrassing ‘exclusivity’ of being the only European country that never held a tender for its private television stations.”
“The tender ensures transparency, a level playing field for the participants and the economic viability of the companies that will be licensed,” the minister added. “It also ensures jobs, the high quality of the programme, it maximises the price for the Greek State, and ensures transparency over the ownership structure of the television stations and the providence of the capital that will be invested,” he stated.
Pappas said the publication of the tender followed after an extensive debate both in the stage of its preparation and its drafting and now the tender is opening, “despite some people’s predictions and desire for the opposite”.
The new licences will be good for 10 years.