15. 07. 2005

REGULATED CONDITIONS FOR ELECTRONIC MEDIA

BELGRADE, July 15, 2005 – Chairman of the Broadcast Agency Council Nenad Cekic said that the conditions and obligations for the future broadcasters, based on the Draft Broadcast Development Strategy, would be known by the end of the month. The Broadcast Development Strategy should be adopted by the Government after the public discussion. According to Cekic, there would be five commercial TV networks in Serbia that could get national frequency, beside the first and second channel of Radio Television Serbia. The frequency competition should be concluded by the end of the year and the number of local RTV stations, currently 585 of them, would be “cut down by more than a half”. Cekic also said that the Council, which would forward the Draft Broadcast Development Strategy to the professional organizations on review, would organize the meeting for establishing the conditions for license issuing. Cekic reminded that the Council supported the Culture Ministry’s Bylaw on privatization of local and regional stations, but noted that it was impossible to conclude the process before July 2006, as it was previously proposed.