CZECH BUSINESS WEEKLY

Digital TV licenses awarded in surprise move
The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) last week issued the first six licenses for digital broadcasting, the first major step in the process of digitalization, which is expected to end the current analog broadcasting by 2012.

Within a year, besides the current public broadcaster Česká televize and commercial stations TV Nova and Prima TV, Czech audiences will be able to watch terrestrially two news channels, children’s programming, two general-interest stations and a music channel.

The licenses were granted April 5 to the stations Z1, TV Pohoda, Regionální televizní agentura (RTA), Febio TV, TV Barrandov and Óčko. Some 30 applicants with 40 projects applied for a license (see “Digital delay,” CBW, Feb. 6, 2006). Representatives of the winning projects told CBW that the decision of the council came unexpectedly. In late February, the RRTV failed to grant the licenses, arguing that it wanted to consult digital multiplex operators on the applicants’ financial health. Industry insiders had thought that the council would make a decision only at the end of this year.

The digital license holders are obliged by law to start broadcasting within 360 days from its issue. All the licenses are valid for 12 years. The new licensees said that they would immediately start work on launching broadcasts, but they likely won’t air before December. Z1 project head Martin Mrnka said a November start date was possible, “but that will happen only if all stations hosted by one multiplex are ready to air.”

Z1, a project put together by the company První zpravodajská, is hosted on multiplex B, which is operated by Czech Digital Group. Pohoda, the children’s TV channel run by the company TP Pohoda and RTA, will operate on the same multiplex. The fourth position in the multiplex B is reserved for Prima TV, which has ownership connections with Czech Digital Group.

The all-news station Z1 has financial backing from the Slovak financial group J&T, which runs the news station TA3 in Slovakia. TV Pohoda is majority-owned by Radim Pařízek, the license holder of the radio station Čas and co-owner of the radio network Hey. The station is planning to air programming for children and teenagers. RTA runs its own network of regional TV stations including TV Gimi, Emurfilm, TV Polar, TV Plus and TV Fatem. The company has produced news for Prima TV and TV Nova.

Multiplex C, run by fixed-line operator Český Telecom, will air general-interest stations TV Barrandov and Febio TV, and the music station Óčko. The fourth position in multiplex C is likely to be granted in a timeshare regime to five regional stations. Febio TV is a project spawned by the founder of the FebioFest film festival, Fero Fenič. The project has a strong financial backer that Fenič wouldn’t disclose. TV Barrandov is financially backed by Barrandov Studios and its owner, steelworks Třinecké železárny. Televize Óčko has been airing via cable and satellite since 2001. The station is owned by the publishing group Mafra.

With the entrance of the digital players, the television market is likely to see fierce competition especially among news stations, industry insiders say.

Marius Dragomir