Greece tenders four TV licenses for first time in three decades

Greece ended Friday a much-debated marathon auction for four licenses of TV broadcasting nationwide, which were tendered to business moguls and private media companies.

Among the winners who paid a total of 246 million euros (275.4 million U.S. dollars), are two newcomers, businessmen Vangelis Marinakis and Ivan Savvidis, owner of a popular football club, as well as construction mogul Ioannis Vladimiros Kalogritsas, government spokesperson Olga Gerovassilis said.

Besides, ANT1 TV of Kyriakou Group and SKAI of Yannis Alafouzos, two of the existing private TV channels which have been operating since the 1990s with provisional licenses without paying fees, also secured licenses.

The starting price for each license valid for a decade was set at 3 million euros.

Gerovassilis hailed as a new start to clear a dysfunctional TV broadcasting landscape suffering from corruption, stressing that for the first time in three decades Greece is gaining revenues from private television channels.

However, opposition parties, representatives of the so-called old media system and other critics who questioned the legitimacy and transparency of the auction process, warned that the "war of the television landscape" is not over.

They accused the government of attempting to control the media by granting licenses to businessmen who have close ties with the ruling Radical Left party and ousting others.

The auction started under strict rules and security measures on Tuesday morning with the participation of eight contenders. It was supervised by a special committee composed of academics and senior state officials.

The State Council, Greece's supreme administrative court, is expected to rule on the legitimacy of the auction in the second half of September.

In Greece, TV channels which are currently on air without a license face a 90-day grace period before they go off air.

The government has said that more TV licenses will be auctioned off in the future. Endi