Spain

[ES] The Government Approves Several Measures Relating to Terrestrial TV

IRIS 2005-9:1/15

Alberto Pérez Gómez

Entidad publica empresarial RED.ES

At the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 29 July 2005, the Spanish Government approved a package of measures that redefines the landscape of Terrestrial TV in Spain, and, in particular, of Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV).

Spain was one of the first countries in Europe to launch DTTV (1999), but the commercial failure of Quiero TV (the pay-TV company that managed three and-a-half of the five available national DTTV multiplexes) paralyzed this process.

Now the Government has redistributed the available spectrum, by means of a new Decree on the National Technical Plan on DTTV, which abrogates the one approved in 1998 (see IRIS 1998-10: 11).

According to this new Plan, the analogue switch-off will take place in 2010. In the meantime, the national public broadcaster RTVE, which only had two DTTV programmes, will now manage two full multiplexes, each of them being able to broadcast at least four DTTV programmes. The existing national terrestrial TV broadcasters (the analogue private TV broadcasters Antena Tres, Telecinco and Sogecable, and the DTTV broadcasters Veo TV and Net TV) will have one DTTV programme each, but could get up to three DTTV programmes if they accept certain commitments relating to the promotion of DTTV. The Government could also put in place an additional national multiplex for mobile DTTV (DVB-H standard).

As regards the Autonomous Communities, they will have at least a regional DTTV multiplex each (or, if the spectrum allows for it, two), and they will decide whether the service will be provided by public and/or private broadcasters. Local DTTV is regulated by some Decrees which had previously been approved, and which have now been slightly amended.

Once the switch-over takes place, RTVE will have two national multiplexes; the national private terrestrial TV broadcasters, one national multiplex each; and the Autonomous Communities, two regional multiplexes each.

The Government has also decided to create a new national analogue terrestrial TV broadcaster, which might also manage two DTTV programmes. This decision has been quite controversial, as some opposition parties and broadcasters argued that creating a new national analogue TV broadcaster was detrimental to the development of DTTV. The Government considers that the creation of this new broadcaster will enhance media pluralism.

Competition in the free-to-air TV market will also stiffen because at the same meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Government decided to allow Sogecable, which managed a national terrestrial TV concession of a pay-TV channel (Canal Plus), to use that spectrum to broadcast a free-to-air channel, which will be called Cuatro. The premium channel Canal Plus will now only be available via satellite through Sogecable's digital platform, Digital Plus.


References



  • Real Decreto 946/2005, de 29 de julio, por el que se aprueba la incorporación de un nuevo canal analógico de televisión en el Plan técnico nacional de la televisión privada, aprobado por el Real Decreto 1362/1988, de 11 de noviembre.
  • http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2005-07-30/pdfs/A27016-27020.pdf


  • Resolución de 29 de julio de 2005, de la Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información, por la que se dispone la publicación del Acuerdo del Consejo de Ministros, de 29 de julio de 2005, de modificación del contrato concesional con Sogecable, S.A., para la prestación del servicio público de televisión
  • http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2005-07-30/pdfs/A27095-27102.pdf

  • Resolución de 29 de julio de 2005, de la Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información por la que se dispone la publicación del Acuerdo del Consejo de Ministros, de 29 de julio, por el que se aprueba el pliego de bases administrativas particulares y de prescripciones técnicas por el que ha de regirse el concurso público para la adjudicación de una concesión para la explotación del servicio público de la televisión en régimen de emisión en abierto y se convoca el correspondiente concurso.
  • http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2005-07-30/pdfs/A27102-27113.pdf

This article has been published in IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory.