In a surprise move, the court ruled Sept. 6 that the RRTV had unlawfully changed license criteria during the tender and that its explanation of the selection process was not sufficient.

The ruling was initiated by a lawsuit filed by CET 21, which holds the broadcasting license for TV Nova, the country's leading station.

Both TV Nova and Prima TV, two commercial stations with countrywide coverage, failed to receive digital licenses for any of their projects.

TV Nova does not want to slow down digitalization, but objects to the way the RRTV granted the licenses, said Petr Dvofiák, the station's general manager.

"The RRTV preferred a certain program portfolio during the tender, and it disqualified other bidders," Dvofiák said.

The RRTV granted licenses to six broadcasters, including news channel Z1, music channel Óčko, children's channel TV Pohoda, regional television RTA, and general interest channels TV Febio and TV Barrandov.

The main criteria for granting licenses, the council said, was diversity in programming, appeal to viewers, and also the projects' financial backing.

While both TV Nova and Prima TV had viewership and financial backing, a perceived lack of diversity caused their applications to be denied.

Alongside the public station Czech Television, TV Nova and Prima TV will have their spots in digital networks guaranteed in 2010 by the new broadcasting law because they'll be forced to give up their analog licenses when the country switches to digital television.

RRTV Chairman Václav Žák said if TV Nova and Prima TV received channels in addition to the ones that they'd gain after passing the law, it would amount to unfair competition.

The verdict left the six winning bidders in a lurch. Tender winners are required to launch their digital channels within one year and had already made major investments in preparation for that.

"Should our license be revoked, we would lose hundreds of millions of crowns," Z1 Director Martin Mrnka said.

Representatives of the license holders agreed that they would request financial compensation from the governmet in that scenario.

Febio TV Director Fero Fenič said current legal challenges will bring about delays in the launch of digital television, but Zdeněk Duspiva, national coordinator for digitalization, said that the current challenge should not result in major delays.