Appeals rained down almost everywhere
Whether in German-speaking Switzerland or French-speaking Switzerland—almost all concession decisions made in the fall are being challenged.
The Federal Administrative Court has its work cut out for it, as hardly any of the decisions made by the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) regarding the awarding of radio and TV licenses in the 15 areas with more than one applicant are accepted by the unsuccessful parties. There are at least three exceptions: Firstly, there is Tamedia, which swallows the award of the TV license to Tele Top and waives an appeal, but allows Tele Züri to continue broadcasting and roughly doubles its broadcasting area. The same applies to the Valais Wallis TV project: the Uvek decision is also welcomed there, but the existing Tele Oberwallis will continue - in the hope of still being included in the project for the licensed Canal 9. The TV license that the Uvek awarded to Edipresse and La Liberté in the cantons of Vaud and Fribourg is also undisputed. "We accept the decision," says Frédéric Piancastelli from the losing company Unicast SA. As his company recently took over the TV music channel TVM3 and launched Rouge TV on the digital Cablecom network in mid-November, it will concentrate on these activities and on operating the licensed radio stations Rouge FM and Lac, said Piancastelli.
However, all other TV areas with more than one applicant remain in question. Günter Heuberger, head of Tele Top and the Tele Säntis project, lodged an appeal against the award of the license to Tele Ostschweiz (St. Galler Tagblatt). AZ Medien, operator of Tele M1 and Tele Tell, is contesting the award of the license to Tele 1, the LZ Medien project, in Central Switzerland. Tele Alf, in turn, is questioning the license for Tele M1, as confirmed by initiator Werner Baumann on request. And in the Jura, Arc TV believes that the concession awarded to Canal Alpha was not legal.
The decisions regarding radio licenses are at least equally contested - or the situation remains uncertain because the appeal period is still running here and there, such as with the ZüriLive project, which had applied for the Zurich city area (smaller license). In any case, its initiator Oliver Flückiger left it open when asked whether he will lodge an appeal against the award of the license to Giuseppe Scaglione's Radio Monte Carlo "in the next few days". However, one thing is clear: Roger Schawinski's Radio 1, which also lost out there, will not dispute RMC's license. Conversely, Scaglione accepts that his 105züri was left empty-handed in the larger Zurich-Glarus area. This means that only Ringier's Radio Energy Zürich will contest the Uvek decision.
It is also known that Schawinski has contested the award of the license to Radios Grischa and Argovia. In Basel, Christian Heeb's Radio RBB is disputing that it was rightly left empty-handed. And in the Jura, Radio LuNe is taking legal action against the licensed Arc FM. No statement was available from the radio projects Meyrin and Léman Local in Geneva. It is therefore possible that an appeal will also be lodged from this side.
Markus Knöpfli
However, all other TV areas with more than one applicant remain in question. Günter Heuberger, head of Tele Top and the Tele Säntis project, lodged an appeal against the award of the license to Tele Ostschweiz (St. Galler Tagblatt). AZ Medien, operator of Tele M1 and Tele Tell, is contesting the award of the license to Tele 1, the LZ Medien project, in Central Switzerland. Tele Alf, in turn, is questioning the license for Tele M1, as confirmed by initiator Werner Baumann on request. And in the Jura, Arc TV believes that the concession awarded to Canal Alpha was not legal.
The decisions regarding radio licenses are at least equally contested - or the situation remains uncertain because the appeal period is still running here and there, such as with the ZüriLive project, which had applied for the Zurich city area (smaller license). In any case, its initiator Oliver Flückiger left it open when asked whether he will lodge an appeal against the award of the license to Giuseppe Scaglione's Radio Monte Carlo "in the next few days". However, one thing is clear: Roger Schawinski's Radio 1, which also lost out there, will not dispute RMC's license. Conversely, Scaglione accepts that his 105züri was left empty-handed in the larger Zurich-Glarus area. This means that only Ringier's Radio Energy Zürich will contest the Uvek decision.
It is also known that Schawinski has contested the award of the license to Radios Grischa and Argovia. In Basel, Christian Heeb's Radio RBB is disputing that it was rightly left empty-handed. And in the Jura, Radio LuNe is taking legal action against the licensed Arc FM. No statement was available from the radio projects Meyrin and Léman Local in Geneva. It is therefore possible that an appeal will also be lodged from this side.
Markus Knöpfli
