The Announcement of the Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council concerning potential award of a licence for distributing radio and television programmes constitutes the basis for applying for a licence for the terrestrial distribution of programmes (from terrestrial broadcasting devices). The Announcement is published in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland "Monitor Polski" after obtaining the opinion of the President of the Office of Electronic Communications.
The announcement notice is posted in two printed national daily newspapers and on the KRRiT’s website (Announcements – click to go to). The above procedure (preceded by the Announcement of the KRRiT’s Chairman) applies also to applications for extending a terrestrial licence by another broadcasting station as well as to applications for extending a licence by the right to distribute a programme by means of terrestrial satellite broadcast in the multiplex standard.
The KRRiT’s Chairman publishes the list of applicants participating in the procedure – it is available on the KRRiT’s website and in the KRRiT’s Office.
Applications submitted in connection with the abovementioned procedures will not be considered in the event that:
· the application is submitted after the deadline specified in the Announcement,
· the application is not in line with the conditions provided in the Announcement in terms of the object of the procedure, specification of the programme nature or the technical conditions.
Applications for the award or extension, by another broadcasting station, of a licence for terrestrial broadcasting of radio or television programmes should be submitted on forms available on the KRRiT’s website (
Forms – click to go to) and in the KRRiT’s offices in Warsaw at Skwer Kardynała Wyszyńskiego 9. The applications may be sent by mail or delivered to the KRRiT’s mail room no. 11. The applications should be in two copies.
In the course of the procedure, the applicant is obliged to notify the KRRiT’s Chairman forthwith of any changes in the actual state of facts or in the legal status pertaining to the application. For procedures concerning the award or extension of a licence for terrestrial broadcasting, one should bear in mind that any modifications of an application in the programming information or economic & financial information provided on the “Economic & Financial Information” form and in the assumptions to the financial plan and the specification of the project financing sources, made during the procedure, shall not be considered if applications have been submitted by more than one applicant. Provision of any supplementary information to the application by submitting documents that were missing on the application submission day, will also be considered a modification.
During the licence awarding procedure (pursuant to Art. 36 section 1 of the Act on radio and television broadcasting), in particular the following is evaluated:
· the degree of conformity of the intended programming activity and the tasks specified in Art. 1 section 1 of the Act (information delivery, making available of the cultural assets and art, facilitating the access to education and scientific achievements, dissemination of citizenship education, providing entertainment, promoting the national audiovisual creation), as well as the extent to which those tasks are covered by other broadcasters operating on the licence concerned area,
· applicant’s capacity to undertake necessary investments and programme funding,
· the estimated proportion in the programming of shows produced by the broadcaster or ordered by it or coproduced with other broadcasters,
· the estimated proportion in the television programming of shows referred to in Art. 15 sections 1 and 3 (shows initially produced in Polish language and European shows), or of works referred to in Art. 15 section 2 (music & lyrical works performed in Polish language) in the radio and television programming,
· history of observing the radio communications and mass media regulations up to the present moment.
From submitting the application to broadcasting
· A submitted application is recorded and entered in the Regulatory Department’s data base.
· The application receives a legal, programming, economic & financial and technical opinion.
· Next, the application is presented at a National Broadcasting Council’s meeting, and the Council adopts a resolution to conclude the procedure.
· The resolution on the licence award or on changing the technical conditions of broadcasting is forwarded to the President of the Office of Electronic Communications, who issues a decision approving the technical aspects of the resolution. Issuance of a decision by the KRRiT’s Chairman finalises the licence procedure.
· Having obtained the licence decision, the broadcaster should apply to the President of the Office of Electronic Communications to book (in a separate decision) the frequency.
A fee is collected for the licence award, irrespective of charges collected for using radio communication devices and for utilising frequencies provided in the Telecommunications Law. The fees and charges calculation method is set out in the KRRiT’s regulation on the fees and charges for awarding licences for radio & television programmes distribution and method of their calculation, dated 4 December 2012 (Journal of Laws item 1370): go to page with legal acts on the licence process (opens in a new window).
The number of inhabitants within the programme signal reception shall be calculated following the KRRiT’s regulation on the technical methods of determining the programme signal reception within the area covered by the terrestrial broadcast distribution, dated 15 November 2012 (Journal of Laws item 1284): go to page with legal acts on the licence process (opens in a new window).
Information on the applications and pending procedures can be obtained under:
+48 22 597 30 89 – Ms. Halina Szymczyk.
Modification of the licence conditions
Applications for modifying licences for terrestrial broadcasting of radio or television programmes may be submitted by mail or delivered to the KRRiT’s mail room no. 11 (at Skwer Kardynała Wyszyńskiego 9 in Warsaw).
Unless the licence modification involves extension of the licence for terrestrial broadcast by a new broadcasting station or extension of the licence by the right to distribute the programme by means of a digital terrestrial multiplex broadcast, the application does not require Announcement by the KRRiT’s Chairman.
The application should describe the requested modification (and specify the section in question plus provide the new suggested wording), and contain justification and the necessary documentation.
From the application to the KRRiT Chairman’s decision
· A submitted application is recorded and entered in the Regulatory Department’s data base.
· Once the KRRiT Office issues its opinion on the contents of the application, the National Broadcasting Council concludes the procedure by adopting a resolution.
· If any modifications of the technical conditions of broadcasting are necessary, the resolution is forwarded to the President of the Office of Electronic Communications, who issues a decision approving the technical aspects of the resolution.
· The KRRiT’s Chairman issues his decision.
A fee is collected in the event of any changes resulting from the increase in the population receiving the signal, in the limit of commercials or any other changes lifting any discounts that pertained to the previously calculated licence fee. The fees and charges calculation method is set out in the KRRiT’s regulation on the fees and charges for awarding licences for radio & television programmes distribution and method of their calculation, dated 4 December 2012 (Journal of Laws item 1370):
go to page with legal acts (opens in a new window).
The number of inhabitants within the programme signal reception shall be calculated following the KRRiT’s regulation on the technical methods of determining the programme signal reception within the area covered by the terrestrial broadcast distribution, dated 15 November 2012 (Journal of Laws item 1284): go to page with legal acts on the licence process (opens in a new window).
Information on the applications and pending procedures can be obtained under:
+48 22 597 30 92 – Ms. Ewa Hernik (technical changes)
+48 22 597 31 03 – Ms. Marzena Sobolewska-Pawelec (transfer of rights)
+48 22 597 31 00 – Ms. Urszula Żebrowska (change in the limit of commercials)
+48 22 597 30 89 – Ms. Halina Szymczyk (other changes)
