Advanced Television

Greece to auction 3 new national TV licences

July 7, 2017

By Chris Forrester

Greece’s Syriza-led government is keen to limit the number of national terrestrial broadcasters to four. The country’s National Council of Radio & Television (ESR) disagrees, and wants to permit a total of 7 terrestrial broadcasters. Syriza wanted to shake up Greece’s established broadcasting sector, although faced controversy and allegations of favoritism in its decisions.

ESR, at a meeting July 6th, agreed its new strategy bringing to the next stage a bitter suite of arguments and legal challenges and an expensive and elaborate series of schemes and an auction.

In September last year legal challenges overturned the auction and reduced 8 granted licences to 4, which are now on air. The court ruled the €246 million raised in the auction as null and void.

Back in January 2017 Greece’s Council of State ruled that the auction must be re-run “as soon as possible”.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast