Feature: Greece opens first TV license tender in three decades

For the first time in three decades Greece has opened a controversial tender for four nationwide broadcasting licenses.

Eight contenders are vying for the first round of TV licenses which will be valid for four years.

Representatives of the eight media companies participating in the auction arrived at the premises of the General Secretariat of Information and Communications on Tuesday where they will spend hours in the coming days under strict supervision.

The building has been sealed and participants are not allowed to carry mobile phones, tablet PCs or other electronic devices to communicate with the outside world. During the tender they will be staying in separate rooms.

It is estimated that it will take about 12 hours for the auction of each license which has a starting price of 3 million euros (3.35 million U.S. dollars).

Bidders will submit their offers through an electronic system. A five- member special committee comprised of academics and senior public administration officers will examine the bids.

A few hours before the tender a candidate was excluded, as the document he submitted was found faulty.

Five companies of the former media system who own some of the existing TV channels are taking part in the auction. Newcomers are two prominent businessmen who own popular football clubs, and the owner of a construction firm who has friendly ties with Cabinet ministers, according to local media.

Since the end of state monopoly on TV broadcasting in 1989, owners of private media stations have been operating with temporary licenses without paying fees for the use of frequencies.

When the Leftist Syriza party came to power in January 2015, the government decided to cancel all temporary licenses and start auctions on government-granted formal broadcasting licenses.

Critics accuse the government of undermining press freedom and trying to establish a new media landscape that will be more government-friendly.

State Minister Nikos Pappas responded that the government is determined to put order to a landscape that has been operating unregulatedly for three decades and make media barons pay their share.

Responding to criticism over the number of licenses auctioned, which is only half of the number of the private TV channels currently on air, the government explained that by limiting the number of broadcasters, the government ensures the viability of the private broadcasters which will no longer be heavily dependent on the banking system and under-the-table deals with politicians. Endi