The Serbian broadcaster Nova S has sued the regulator REM for not making a decision on issuing a fifth national TV licence within the legal deadline.
According to N1, which like Nova S is part of United Group, the lawsuit recalls that the decision to call a public tender for the licence was made on July 29. The text for the public competition was subsequently published on August 9 and in the Official Gazette on August 12.
The list of applicants, including Nova S, who submitted complete bids was adopted on October 31 and published in the Official Gazette on November 4. Following the latter date, REM was obliged to award the licence within 30 days but failed to do so, even following an extension on the deadline.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, four TV stations applied for a licence to operate the fifth national TV network in Serbia. This was in contrast to earlier this year, when REM received 14 bids for four national licences and controversially awarded them to four broadcasters supportive of the government.
