Insight Into The Turkish Broadcasting Sector And The New Media Law International High-Level Conference Sarajevo, October 2010 Taha YÜCEL Member of Radio and Television Supreme Council RTÜK

Broadcasting Sector Regulator o In 1994, Radio and Television Supreme Council was set-up with the Law number of 3984, 9 members, elected by TBMM o Responsible for the regulation of all radio and television broadcasters all across Turkey in both technical and content aspects, o Frequency allocations o Licensing o Content monitoring o

TV Households 18 million Broadcasting Companies Registered to RTÜK Satellite, Cable, Terrestrial total: 1273 Cable Platform (June 2010) 1,174,000 analog, 120,000 digital subscribers Satellite Platforms (June 2010) 2 platforms with total 2.8 million subscribers Total Ad revenue of national television stations (declared to RTÜK, TL): (8 months) 1,215,135, ,078,268, ,595, Broadcasting Sector in Turkey Source: RTÜK

Broadcasters in Turkey Satellite TV 148 Radio 54 Cable TV 78 Terrestrial TVRadio National Regional Local Total Source: RTÜK

Current Problems of The Broadcasters o Unlicensed terrestrial frequencies. o Scattered terrestrial transmitter towers. o 5 years license period. o 5% + 5% of gross ad revenue payment. o Trust issues in rating measurements. o No deadline for the sanctions. o Ad restrictions – placement, political ads. o Restrictions for foreign capital and IPO. o Content monitoring of the public broadcaster.

o Less restrictions for the broadcaster shareholder companies. o Direct foreign capital share limit will be increased to 50%. o Shares of the media service provider corporations can be traded in the stock market. o Control of monopolization – sectoral income and partnership. o Gross ad revenue RTÜK share will be reduced to 3%. o License period will be extended to 10 years. o Regulation of political ads and product placement. o Less restrictions for ad placements. The New Media Law – Economical Aspect

o Radio and TV frequency planning and allocations will be performed by RTÜK. o Terrestrial transmitter facilities will be installed and operated by a single company. o Analogue TV will be switched off within three years. o Multiplex, platform, cable and satellite broadcast operators will be regulated. The New Media Law – Technological Aspect

o Compliance with EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive. o Self-regulation for broadcasters. o Limiting volume level of commercials. o No effects and music in the news. o Regulation of the public broadcaster. o The gray areas between RTÜK and BTK are clarified. o Legal framework for protective symbol system. What Brings the New Media Law?

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