ZAGREB, July 13 (Hina) - The Croatian Radio-Television (HRT) Management on Tuesday welcomed a Telecommunications Council decision granting concession for national broadcasting to NOVA TV, the first privately-owned national television.
The HRT Management believes the decision will help the further development of Croatian media, which it says is inconceivable without privately-owned national televisions. Viewers themselves will benefit the most, the HRT Management said in a statement, by being given "an entirely better programme, whereas success (...) will more than ever depend exclusively on professional criteria." In view of the impending market competition, the HRT Management expressed puzzlement at the additional conditions set by NOVA TV. These conditions, the statement said, "are not and cannot make a component part of the granted concession." NOVA TV's conditions include the HRT's transf
ZAGREB, July 13 (Hina) - The Croatian Radio-Television (HRT)
Management on Tuesday welcomed a Telecommunications Council
decision granting concession for national broadcasting to NOVA TV,
the first privately-owned national television.
The HRT Management believes the decision will help the further
development of Croatian media, which it says is inconceivable
without privately-owned national televisions.
Viewers themselves will benefit the most, the HRT Management said
in a statement, by being given "an entirely better programme,
whereas success (...) will more than ever depend exclusively on
professional criteria."
In view of the impending market competition, the HRT Management
expressed puzzlement at the additional conditions set by NOVA TV.
These conditions, the statement said, "are not and cannot make a
component part of the granted concession."
NOVA TV's conditions include the HRT's transformation into a public
television, free and equal access to transmitters for both the HRT
and NOVA TV, and to enable bringing in foreign partners.
The HRT believes market competition will help accelerate its
transformation into a public television, but added a modern public
television, with increasingly limited earnings from subscribers'
fees, cannot function without marketing earnings, a trend, the
statement says, in use in Europe.
"To condition accepting the concession by further limiting
marketing earnings can only point to some other intentions on the
part of the concessionaire, which apparently does not want to or is
financially incapable of taking part in an open market competition
with the HRT," the HRT statement said.
As regards equal access to transmitters, the HRT reminds that
transmitters and links are a component part of and property
belonging to the HRT, in line with the Law on the HRT.
The HRT Management said, "the new concessionaire, without any kuna
invested, has neither moral nor legal rights to claim the rights to
HRT's transmitters and links, which were reconstructed almost
completely after the Homeland War with money from subscribers and
HRT's employees."
(hina) ha