Only one topic in Greece: The auction for the four TV licenses

The controversial TV licenses auction is unfolding in full speed and one or two out of four licenses in total have apparently been already secured by the competitors. However, at the same time the wall of the building where the auction is taking place under strict secrecy and strong security measures, has been almost covered with a series of legal challenges: “injuctive measures” the TV channel owners submitted against each other and/or against the auction procedure.

Eleven times “injuctive measures” have been submitted so far.

Mega TV and ANT1 TV submitted measures against the procedure.

Star TV was the first to submit the injuctive measures on Wednesday.

Alpha submitted measures against other bidders, old broadcasters like Skai TV and Epsilon TV, and against aspirating broadcasters Kalogritsas, Savvidis, Marinakis. Epsilon TV has been excluded form the auction in the last moment due to a guarantee letter by a bank in Hong Kong.

The bidders have been in the building since Tuesday morning, they are not allowed to use lap tops or mobile phones or “to communicate with each other.”

A catering company cares to supply them with food and drinks, while …field beds with pillows and bed sheets are available like in a reality TV show….

30 hours isolated from the world: Greece’s powerful TV channels owners spent the night on field beds.

Government spokeswoman Olga Gerosvasili told reporters that “those broadcasters who will fail to secure one of the four TV licenses will have to stop broadcasting in a period of maximum 90 days.”

One of the owners of once No 1 Greek broadcaster Mega TV said that the TV channel will change name and will continue broadcasting via pay tv networks like OTE TV or Nova. Mega TV has been excluded from the auction due to its financial problems.

According to media, the auction procedure is expected to conclude later on Wednesday, most probably in late evening . Then we will know how many journalists, technicians and administrative staff will soon be without work.

Critics claim that the whole process of the TV licenses is an attempt by the SYRIZA government to reshape the Greek TV landscape for its own favor.

PS I have to make clear one thing with regards to the title: “Only one topic” in Greek media, today.

The people, the average Greeks, the audience simply do not care who will secure one license and who will win the other.

Greek private TV broadcasting has been greatly ‘degraded’ in the eyes of the audience in the years of loan agreements, as owners and journalists firefly supported the austerity measures forgetting that their audience cannot cope with the new economic realities.