The license for TVN7 will expire in February. If KRRIT does not extend it, it will organize a competition for the place on the multiplex taken by the TVN channel of the Discovery Group. Experts in an interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl suspect that a company close to power may win: associated with Fr Tadeusz Rydzyk, Tomasz Sakiewicz or the Karnowski brothers.

Adrian Gąbka | Wirtualnemedia.pl

The TVN7 license ends on February 25, 2022. TVN Discovery Group applied for its extension 11 months ago. So far, no decision has been made on this matter at the meetings of the National Broadcasting Council. It took the KRRiT over a year and a half to extend the license for TVN24. For many months, members of the council suggested that it could not be extended because the station did not meet the criteria set out in the Broadcasting Act.

They show that the Polish license can only be obtained by a company based in the European Economic Area. TVN controls the Amsterdam-based Polish Television Holding, but the company is controlled by the American Discovery concern. Law and Justice deputies submitted to the Sejm a bill that would prohibit such indirect control. It would force Discovery to resell the majority of its shares within 6 months. However, after the announcement of the presidential veto, the project got stuck in the parliamentary freezer.

The Dutch TVN7 license will not help

TVN24 obtained a Dutch license, which is allowed by EU regulations. The chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Witold Kołodziejski, persuaded most of the other members of the council to grant the Polish station license as well. The condition, however, was the adoption of a special resolution by the National Broadcasting Council. She calls on Kołodziejski to take a few steps. This includes call to broadcasters to ensure that their ownership structure complies with the Act. So far, the head of the National Broadcasting Council has called on TV and radio stations licensed in Poland to present their ownership structure. KRRiT recently announced that 113 broadcasters responded to 168 calls, including TVN Grupa Discovery.Now the council will analyze the senders’ responses. Including on this basis, it will decide whether or not to extend the license for TVN7. Already during the dispute over TVN24, it was heard in the council that “TVN7 will not be so easy, because it is a terrestrial channel, not a satellite”. Therefore, he cannot apply for a license to a regulator of another European Union country.

Can TVN7 lose its license as in the previous year from ATM Entertainment? – Neither the legal nor ownership status of TVN has changed since we were granted a license for other channels – recently TVN24, and previously TTV or TVN24 Bis. The application for the extension of the license for TVN7 was submitted almost a year ago and there are no formal obstacles for a positive decision on this matter at the next KRRiT meeting – Katarzyna Issat, head of TVN’s corporate communications, tells Wirtualnemedia.pl.

“Insane people rule in Poland”

Prof. Janusz Kawecki, a member of the National Broadcasting Council close to Radio Maryja, proposed to make it difficult to register TVN24 in cable networks under the Dutch license. In the case of a terrestrial channel such as TVN7, the advice may be even more determined.

The station may lose its license? – Poland is ruled by the insane, so everything is possible. Although it seems unlikely to me, for example due to international conditions. After yesterday’s hearing of the candidate for the US ambassador to Poland by the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, there is no doubt what the significance of this matter is for Poland’s most powerful ally. And from the legal point of view, it would be completely absurd. How was it possible to extend the license for TVN24 and refuse TVN7? Both channels have the same ownership structure. Besides, KRRiT extended its licenses for TVN several times, now they have extended their licenses for TVN24. There was also no change in the regulations. How, then, could they refuse to extend their license to another channel? This is absurd – argues Krzysztof Luft, a member of the National Broadcasting Council in 2010-2016, in an interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl.

Can KRRiT distinguish between satellite TVN24 and terrestrial TVN7? – The rules for extending a license are the same. There is no difference here. Blocking the extension of the license for TVN24 was additionally unwise that the station could broadcast with a license in another country anyway. But the extension of the terrestrial license for TVN7 is subject to exactly the same provisions as the extension of the satellite license for TVN24, says Luft.

The concession for TVN7 is about to end?

Jakub Bierzyński, head of the OMD media house, also sees a “very real” threat of losing the license by TVN7. – The National Broadcasting Council and the current government do not like TVN and the Discovery group. They do everything possible to make their lives difficult. Previously, there were huge problems with obtaining a license for TVN24. This license was only issued when TVN24 received the Dutch license. The consent of the National Broadcasting Council was pure pro-form, because it no longer mattered. Let me remind you that KRRiT approached the so-called Constitutional Tribunal with a question about the interpretation of the Broadcasting Act with regard to ownership. I suppose that this judgment will be in line with the expectations of the National Broadcasting Council – assesses in an interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl.

TVN7 is a channel that broadcasts entertainment programs, movies, series and paradocuments. Problems with the TVN24 license were perceived as an attack on freedom of speech. Also outside Poland.

Will the National Broadcasting Council be able to afford more this time? – If the current PiS power, through the fully submissive KRRiT, will be able to tease the hated TVN, it will do so. The withdrawal of the TVN7 license could be such a “preliminary” kick. No substantive or legal criteria will be relevant here. Only the political will of the PiS president, Deputy Prime Minister for security Jarosław Kaczyński, will count. It can only be stopped by harsh opposition from the US embassy. It was already effective when the National Broadcasting Council imposed a high fine on TVN, and then when the fate of TVN24 was at stake – says Jan Ordyński, vice president of the Journalism Society.

The new US ambassador will make it difficult to withdraw the license

A few days ago in the United States, the candidates for ambassadors were interviewed before the Senate’s foreign affairs committee. Mark Brzezinski, who is to become the ambassador in Warsaw, mentioned TVN’s problems and announced that he would look at the activities of the National Broadcasting Council regarding the station.

A horse with a row of who can predict what will happen. However, the experience of recent years shows that everything is possible under the current regime. And despite the fact that the statements of the American in spe ambassador to Poland, Marek Brzeziński, during the hearing in the US Senate, it is clear that the issue of media freedom is particularly close to him and to all Americans, the current Polish authorities have already opened so many fronts that even this one, American, they are able to take a risk – comments in an interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl Janusz Daszczyński, former president of TVP, currently a member of the Polish Television programming board. There are voices from the ruling camp that PiS president Jarosław Kaczyński does not believe in good relations with Joe Biden’s administration and wrote off Poland’s relations with the United States.

What stations can replace TVN7?

The TVN7 channel is available on the second multiplex of digital terrestrial television. It reaches 98.8 percent. the country’s population. The location on the MUX-2 can therefore be a “tasty morsel” for broadcasters. ATM Entertainment, which lost its license after, according to the National Broadcasting Council, failed to provide the necessary documentation on time, used MUX-1 with a similar range. Together with ATM Grupa, applications for the development of free space on MUX-1 were submitted by: Telewizja Polsat (Polsat Edu channel), Wirtualna Polska (H! TV), Red Carpet Media Group (Red Carpet TV), Green Content (DMAX), Gaming Tech Esports Media (CD Action TV) and Michał Winnicki, who made an offer for three different channels: Silver TV, TVC Nostalgia or Tele Entertainment. Ultimately, the competition was won by the Silver TV channel for seniors, which it broadcasts as Antena TV.

Which station could replace TVN7? – If, however, the recession for TVN7 is not granted, there will be plenty of amateurs for the vacated seat. And although in the longer term – but certainly not before the parliamentary elections of 2023 – specialists from the EBU, the organization associating European public broadcasters, predict a slow decline of digital terrestrial television and the donation of frequencies to mobile telephony, the terrestrial television channel is still a tasty morsel both in the business sphere, as well as a tool for influencing public opinion. This is due to the huge technical range of terrestrial television, significantly greater than that of only satellite or cable. Knowing the political preferences of the members of the National Broadcasting Council, it can therefore be predicted with high probability that this place will be shared by one of the pro-government, future applicants: Telewizja Polska or Polsat, or – more likely – one of the companies associated with Tadeusz Rydzyk, Tomasz Sakiewicz or the Karnowski brothers – says Daszczyński.

A few years ago, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk’s entourage announced the TVM1 music and youth station (M for youth, Mary, music). It was supposed to be the twin channel of TV Trwam. The Radio Maryja community also wanted to launch an information channel. This investment has also failed. However, there are TV Republika, associated with Tomasz Sakiewicz, and the TV wPolsce24.pl of the Karnowski brothers. The first of the stations is even available on the test multiplex in DVB-T2 / HEVC BCAST, a company owned by Cyfrowy Polsat. Both channels are part of the Polsat Box (formerly Cyfrowy Polsat) offer.

Although once large foreign companies such as RTL or News Corporation invested in the Polish television market, the latest trend is the departure from linear television in favor of streaming. Would any serious company be interested in a multiplex after TVN7? – I think everyone might be interested. The terrestrial license is very valuable because it guarantees coverage and presence in most Polish households. Willing people will find themselves. It’s all about teasing Discovery, which would lose financially. The TVN7 license would probably be obtained by those who have the greatest power in power and those who represent the propaganda line – argues Bierzyński.

The terrestrial license and the costs of terrestrial broadcasting amount to at least several million zlotys of investment. Would companies close to power be able to afford such investments? – There would be volunteers. Some entity related to the current power would be found. What’s more, he would probably get money from this authority to carry out such an investment . But all of this seems unbelievable to me. In any case, from a legal point of view, it would be completely absurd. You cannot extend the license for the same broadcaster once, and not extend it once without changing the regulations within a few months. It would be a total lack of seriousness – says Luft, who sat on KRRIT.

TVN7 had 3.458 percent in 2020. TV market share.

Source: Wirtualnemedia.pl