Search results : 477

As of 14 February 2007 an Act amending the Mediawet (Dutch Media Act) has entered into force. The new provisions introduce budget cuts, tougher administrative requirements, a name change and a number of corrections of existing legislation. The text contains an annual budget cut of EUR 11 million (and an additional retroactive EUR 10 million cut for 2006) where the public broadcasters are concerned. Public broadcasters are required to send their annual accounting statements to the Commissariaat voor de Media (Media Authority) at anearlier point in the year than previously. The existing Bedrijfsfonds...

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation under the EC state aid provisions into the investment by the city of Amsterdam in an undertaking that will construct an optic fibre telecommunications network. The network will connect 37,000 households in Amsterdam - with the longer-term aim of bringing fibre to the home (FTTH) all over the city - and will allow retail operators to provide TV broadcasting and telephony services via this system. Such services will compete with existing offers by cable and telecommunication companies, some of whom (UPC and the association of cable operators...

As of 6 October 2006, the rules concerning side tasks and sideline activities in the Media Act and the Media Decree have changed. Side tasks, such as internet sites and thematic channels, have to be in service of the public broadcasting mission. According to the Media Act, public broadcasting programme services shall provide a balanced picture of society and of people’s current interests and reflect views pertaining to society, culture, religion and belief. The old regime for side tasks, in particular, had to be adapted because it did not comply with European regulation and did not provide adequate...

In an explanatory letter to Parliament, the minister of Education, Culture and Science has responded to the findings of three different studies that have recently been completed. The first of these studies is a report by TNO (an independent research organisation) about the future of commercials in a digital television landscape. This report concludes that in order to retain their current position and influence, commercial and public broadcasters should expand their activities toward digital services such as on-demand video and search machines. TNO predicts that traditional television commercials...

Two private equity companies operating in various economic sectors, Cinven and Warburg Pincus, were given the Commission’s go-ahead to proceed with the joint acquisition of two Dutch cable operators. The two Dutch cable operators in question are Casema and Multikabel which provide radio and television, internet access and telephony services. The Commission approved the joint acquisition after it found that the cable operators have few overlapping activities in the markets for broadband internet access, retail distribution of fixed telephony services, leased lines and in the market for multiple...