Greece’s National Council for Radio & Television (NCRT) has granted 5 permanent national transmission licences for the nation. A sixth licence will be awarded to TV Greece once terms for the broadcaster have been agreed.

The decision means that Greece’s current eight national stations will be reduced to five (and a possible sixth). This has proven to be an acceptable compromise given that seven licences were originally on offer while the Greek government wanted just four broadcasters to be available.

The five agreed broadcasters are:

• SKAI TV
• STAR TV
• E.TV
• Alpha Satellite TV
• Antenna TV

Communications Minister Nikos Pappas hailed the decision, saying it was about time the sector was regulated and broadcasters paid a price for the right to transmit. He added: “After 27 years of lawlessness and illicit exploitation of a public good of the spectrum, after three years of persistent attempts to put a legal framework into an unarguable – by the way, unfortunately, of the previous governments – space, Greece finally acquires television stations with legitimate [rights]. The contest, which some political sites did not want to complete, protecting specific interests, was completed.”

The sixth licence is likely to go to media entrepreneur F Vryonis (A-Orizon Media) once certain bank guarantees have been received.

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