28. 02. 2014

TV KOPERNIKUS AND TV NOVA DO NOT DESERVE FREQUENCY

28. 02. 2014 (Informer; By M.Mandic ) - TV Nova and TV Kopernikus will likely remain without a national frequency that was left vacant after the closing down of TV Avala! Deputy Chairman of the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RBA) Council Goran Karadzic claims that after two unsuccessful competitions for the use of the frequency, it makes no sense to call a third competition because neither of the two interested television stations meet conditions to be a national broadcaster. On the other hand, TV Nova and TV Kopernikus say that they will not accept this decision and will appeal.

Goran Karadzic points out that for the only remaining national frequency only two TV stations are persistently applying, and that they, judging by the votes of the Council members, do not meet the conditions for the license

Subjective Attitudes

- Neither candidate at the repeated competition received five votes, necessary for a license to broadcast on the national frequency. Both received four votes, while the ninth council member abstained from voting. Simply, members of the Council are guided by subjective criteria. All come from different professions, so someone finds important the number of employees, someone the equipment, or the programming scheme ... - explains Karadzic.

He said that his personal opinion is "that this frequency should be withdrawn from the distribution plan."

- Every competition is costing us (money) and it is becoming pointless to constantly call new competitions. We will wait for the elections to pass, and we will then consult with representatives of the Republic Agency for Electronic Communications (RATEL) and the Ministry of Telecommunications to see what to do - says Karadzic.

RATEL Director Milan Jankovic said that the decision depends on whether RBA will announce the third competition, but his view is that it should not be done.

- I think it is meaningless to announce a new competition because digitization is planned for 2015, meaning that the frequencies will not be assign in this way - Jankovic said.

Both TV Kopernikus and TV Nova find this explanation not acceptable and have announced appeals. Kopernikus director Srdjan Milovanovic said that he does not know what criteria has guided the Council members.

- We have a good programming scheme, more than 100 employees, and we announced to members of RBA that we additionally plan to hire at least 200 people. We have invested six million Euros in equipment alone and as TV Nova said that it yet plans to invest in equipment, we were sure that we would get the frequency - said Milovanovic.

Expensive and Illegal

Milovanovic points out that no one has the right to "withdraw frequencies from distribution" because it is not in anyone's interest.

- It would be illegal, and the state would lose 500,000 Euros, which is the cost for the use of the frequencies - said Milovanovic.

TV Nova yesterday declined to comment on the announcement by Goran Karadzic, but promised to comment today.

- All we can say is that we will appeal to the RBA Council - we were told unofficially at TV Nova.

Ministry: RBA and RATEL Decide

State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Telecommunications Stefan Lazarevic said that the competition for the allocation of available frequencies depends solely on the decision of RBA and RATEL.

- We always follow the advice and opinions of experts, and if they decide that another national television is not needed in Serbia, we will accept this - Lazarevic said.