Digital terrestrial television licensing in Greece: Curiouser and curiouser

Since their launching 25 years ago, private television stations in Greece operated under ‘temporary’ licences on the basis of legal provisions that had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece. A law, which was passed by the Greek Parliament on 24 October 2015, promised to put an end to this state of disorder by finally regulating the licencing of digital terrestrial television (DTT) providers. However, the new legislation proved extremely controversial, dividing government and opposition parties. The general outcry against the new licensing framework did not deter the government from granting only four ten-year licences through an auction procedure held by the Secretariat General of Information and Communication. The main criticisms voiced against this arrangement were the following: first, that it bypassed the independent regulatory authority Ethniko Symvoulio Radiotileorasis (ESR), and second, that the arbitrary limitation of the number of licenses placed commercial television under the tutelage of the state and reduced pluralism. The Greek government, on the other hand, contended that it was solely competent to regulate DTT licensing, that the Greek audio-visual market could not sustain more channels, and that the new regime would put an end to corruption in the sector. This article proposes to examine the validity of these arguments, and to discuss the impact of the new legislation on media freedom in Greece.