Consolidation process on the radio market – new publication by KRRiT
09.01.2019
The National Broadcasting Council has published an analysis entitled “The consolidation process on the radio market. The actions undertaken by KRRiT to prevent local broadcasting companies from being taken over by radio groups.”
The publication outlines in detail the consolidation trend, describing the history of the process along with the main conclusions arising from the case law of the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) and Voivodeship Administrative Courts (WSA) in matters of dispute between KRRiT and broadcasters regarding the authority of the Council to restrict ownership changes in licence-holding companies. It also indicates that there is a lack of necessary tools to control the local radio market effectively.
“Since 1993, i.e. almost from the moment the National Broadcasting Council began to function, there has been an unresolved regulatory dilemma which can be expressed by the following question: how to protect local radio stations whose activity is an integral part of pluralism? Programmes covering local events, reporting on specific problems in different regions of Poland, and a forum for social debate in the local areas: these are the elements which form bonds and reflect the local culture,” the foreword to the publication states.
In the publication’s summary, which contains the conclusions from the conducted analysis, KRRiT once again illustrates the problem of the lack of the appropriate regulatory mechanisms to protect media pluralism and the interests of the audience against excessive consolidation on the market.
In addition to a detailed discussion of the consolidation process, taking into account changes in licencing rules and successive judgements by administrative courts, the publication also includes, among other things, current lists of consolidated radio programmes and the full list of decisions regarding approval for the transfer of licence rights for particular radio groups.
An additional element to the publication is a presentation detailing these above subjects.
The publication entitled “The consolidation process on the radio market.The actions undertaken by KRRiT to prevent local broadcasting companies from being taken over by radio groups”is yet another large-scale document presented within the framework of
Obserwator KRRiT. A brochure on the subject of self- and joint-regulation was published in May 2018 as part of the same series
.
