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Alert

Network licence fees threaten commercial broadcasting, warns ANEM

(ANEM/IFEX) - The following is a 24 January 2006 ANEM press release:

NETWORK LICENCE FEES THREATEN COMMERCIAL BROADCASTING

BELGRADE, January 24, 2006 - The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) is seriously concerned for the fate of commercial broadcasting in Serbia following the announcement of a public competition for the issue of broadcast licenses.

ANEM notes that it has put years of effort into seeking the resolution of the chaotic situation in Serbia's broadcasting sector through an objective, non-discriminatory and public procedure for issuing licenses, conducted by a genuinely independent and credible body.

The Association now points out that the competition for the allocation of licenses has been inadequately prepared, despite the fact that there has been more than adequate time. Of particular concern is the level of fees approved by the Serbian Government. These are far higher than fees in other countries in the region. Information obtained by ANEM indicates that they are as much as ten times the fees for commercial networks with national coverage in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania and Croatia.

Setting broadcasting fees at such a high level, together with the large number of channels planned, will result in a scramble for ratings at the expense of quality, problems maintaining professional standards already achieved or, at best, stagnation and the collapse of independent positions even of those broadcasters which have managed to preserve their independence in the past.

ANEM urges the Government and the Broadcast Council to reconsider the decisions and acts adopted in recent days. Inappropriate fees suppress private broadcasting and limit freedom of expression in Serbia. ANEM urges the democratic public to fight for improvement of the quality of media and expression, for better quality of radio and television programs, and for the educational and cultural role of the media.

ANEM will, as it has always done, insist on consistent respect for the rule of law and the principles of objectivity, non-discrimination and public procedure in the allocation of licenses.