The recent award of four national terrestrial TV licences in Serbia was always going to be a controversial affair.
Indeed, when announcing its decision on July 29 the regulator REM acknowledged as much when it appealed to the public “to avoid any kind of manipulation and politicisation” in connection with the result.
There were in total 14 applicants for the four licences and the fact that the four winners were the current national channels TV Prva, TV Pink, National Happy TV and TV B92 probably came as no surprise. All are supportive of the Serbian government and this was highlighted by United Media, which is part of United Group and the operator of N1 and Nova S, two of the losing bidders.
In a statement released soon after the result was announced, United Media said that it showed “there is no will to regulate the situation in the media and is yet another proof of the dictatorship in Serbia and of the collapse of institutions that should protect professionalism and objectivity”.
It went on to argue that REM’s decision was not unexpected “because it was clearly said at the beginning of the competition that every television station will be pardoned for failing to honour regulations and laws in the past”. The regulator’s decision was “essentially a farce and a deception of the public”, rewarding the four winners “for violating the law and actively supporting the governing establishment and the politics of the Serbian Progressive Party”.
United Media was also dismissive of REM’s plans to hold a tender for a fifth national licence, referring to it as “an attempted manipulation”.
While all this may all look highly predicable, there is an interesting sub plot to the whole matter. It concerns Hungary’s TV2, whose local subsidiary, like N1 and Nova S, was also one of the losing bidders.
Given the close relations between the Hungarian and Serbian governments, some observers believe it is now in a good position to secure the fifth Serbian national terrestrial TV licence when it is awarded later this year.
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