Pappas: Submission of bids in TV licence tender a 'step forward' in meeting key SYRIZA election pledge

"The successful conclusion of the submission of bids in the tender for licencing private channels is a big step forward in the direction of implementing a key pre-election pledge of the SYRIZA government. After 25 years of lawlessness, the television landscape in the country will for the first time operate with terms of legality. We have put an end to the corrupt triangle of television channels, banks and politicians," he said.
The companies submitting bids for one of the four content licences for national television channels on offer included the broadcasters Skai, Star Channel, Antenna TV, Dimera Media Investments Ltd, Alpha, Ioannis Vladimiros Ch. Kalogritsas, Alter Ego, Epsilon TV, Independent Television Content Provider, Mega Channel and City News.
The process of unsealing the bids, carried out by a five-member special committee, will begin one hour after the deadline in the presence of legal representatives of the 11 candidates.
Pappas welcomed the successful solution of the bids-submission phase, saying the 11 bids were "the best reply to those that fought to prevent the tender taking place." The next stage of the process, he added, which will culminate in the selection of the four private channels that will broadcast nationally in Greece from the following season will take place in early August.

However, the process is up for review in terms of constitutionality by the Council of State, while it has also drawn the attention of the European Commission that deems it goes against EU laws and policies on free spech and media access.