The Prague Post
http://www.aaaradiotaxi.cz/index.php?xSET=lang&xLANG=2
October 8th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague accommodation
Prague Art & Antiques Prague Art Prague Antiques
Prague Real Estate
Shuttle Bus to/from Prague Airport

Home » Archives » Business

Blocked signal

Facing an uncertain future, digital TV broadcasters threaten suit against state

By František Bouc
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
April 11th, 2007 issue

Jan Přerovský/THE PRAGUE POST
The Association of Digital Television's Jiří Balvín says stations will appeal to the European Commission if the government fails to return the licenses it suspended last fall.
Digital television is said to bring greater clarity and definition to the viewer. But, for the television stations that have been the earliest adopters of digital broadcasting in the Czech Republic, the future couldn’t look fuzzier.
Since winning the first batch of digital broadcast licenses released by the government last year, a group of small television stations has faced repeated impediments and delays in getting their broadcasts live.
Going digital
  • While it forces consumers to buy new televisions or set-top boxes, digital broadcasting should benefit viewers, the media and telecom companies, experts say
  • Viewers will gain clear, ghost-free reception of high-definition content
  • Broadcasters will be able to transmit multiple channels over the airwaves, allowing them to target audiences and advertisers
  • Telecoms will pounce on the several hundred megahertz of the radio spectrum that will open up once analog broadcasts cease. These spectrums could be licensed for new mobile applications, among other possibilities
They are growing increasingly frustrated with the state and its failure to address a six-month-old court ruling that suspended their licenses — licenses they had won from the state just half a year before.
Tired of waiting to capitalize on the 1.4 billion Kč ($66.8 million) they have collectively invested into their digital broadcasting infrastructure, the six stations, which have banded together as the Association of Digital Television, are threatening to file a complaint against the government with the European authorities that originally mandated the digital switch.
“We’ll appeal to the European Commission if the government fails to sort out the situation quickly,” said Jiří Balvín, chairman of the Association of Digital Television and general director of the music channel TV Óčko, one of the six complaining stations.
The group has also threatened to demand compensation from the government for the infrastructure investments its members have made over the past year unless the licenses are soon confirmed.
Should the government fail to act promptly, the launch of digital television could be delayed by many years, said Martin Mrnka, director of news channel Z1.
Last April, the Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (RRTV) awarded digital licenses to six stations: Óčko, Z1, kids’ channel TV Pohoda, regional television RTA and general interest channels TV Febio and TV Barrandov. Notably absent from the winners were TV Nova and Prima TV, the country’s two largest private broadcasters.
CET 21, the holder of Nova’s broadcasting license, challenged the tender process in court, resulting in the Prague Municipal Court’s ruling last September that the RRTV’s tenders were invalid due to shortcomings in its decision-making process, which favored a plurality of small broadcasters over Prima and Nova.
Zdeněk Duspiva, the government’s coordinator for the launch of digital broadcasting, said a new media law should do away with the stalemate situation, adding that he hoped such a law would pass Parliament within a few weeks.
Along with state-owned Czech Television, Nova and Prima will have their spots in the digital broadcasting spectrum guaranteed by the new law, which will force the stations to swap their existing analog licenses for digital.
The government’s moves are part of the Europe-wide adoption of digital broadcasting, encouraged by the EU to give viewers access to improved picture quality and greater choice in broadcasts, the latter enabled by digital broadcasting’s more efficient use of the radio spectrum. The move is also expected to boost the consumer equipment market, encouraging the purchase of new televisions and set-top converters.
The country’s projected switch to digital television by 2010 is still attainable, Duspiva said.
Olympic speed
While private companies squabble over broadcasting rights, Czech Television (ČTV), capitalizing on its public status, which grants it access to digital broadcasting rights without participating in tenders, has moved forward with its digital broadcast plans. The station announced April 5 that it would start digital broadcasting next year, with its signal expected to reach about three-fourths of the country.
ČTV plans to use digital signals for broadcasting the 2008 Summer Olympics and, by the end of 2008, hopes to offer digital broadcasts to some 80 percent of Czech TV viewers, said Pavel Hanuš, head of the station’s digital broadcasting project.
Balvín, chairman of the Association of Digital Television, said that ČTV’s announcement could help speed up the launch of digital broadcasting.
“It should be a strong incentive for the government to come up with a law that will give us back the licenses,” he said.
There was bafflement last year when the RRTV did not award licenses to Nova and Prima, and it soon became apparent that the stations would not allow digital broadcasting to start without their approval.
The RRTV insisted that the main criteria for granting the first licenses were ensuring a plurality of TV broadcasts, the stations’ appeal to viewers and the financial backing of particular projects.
While both Nova and Prima easily met the viewership and financial criteria, it was the RRTV’s effort to ensure a plurality of broadcast voices that shut the two stations out of the first wave of licenses.
“[The RRTV] decided to prefer certain program portfolios during the tender, and it disqualified other bidders,” Nova General Director Petr Dvořák argued at the time.
It was natural for Nova to push for a delay in the launching of digital television, with or without winning the tenders, observers say — anything to keep competition away from the country’s 10 billion Kč television advertising market.

František Bouc can be reached at fbouc@praguepost.com


Other articles in Business (11/04/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.