Radio Energy: Zurich government rejects SP postulate
Radio Energy, a Zurich-based station owned by Ringier Publishing that came away empty-handed in the fall’s license award process, cannot count on the support of the Zurich government. The government has rejected an urgent motion in favor of the station.
Ringier's Zurich-based Radio Energy, which came away empty-handed when the license was awarded in the fall, cannot count on the Zurich government.
This rejects an urgent postulate in favor of the broadcaster, as reported by the SDA on Thursday.
In its motion, the SP demanded that the government should lobby the federal government for a fourth private radio frequency in the Zurich area. The greater area has sufficient economic potential for a fourth private radio station. A well-functioning radio station with 60 jobs should not be forced to close.
However, the Government Council considers a subsequent direct allocation of a fourth frequency to an unsuccessful applicant in the licensing procedure to be ruled out for legal reasons alone. And a repetition of the invitation to tender for the correctly conducted allocation procedure should be rejected, according to the postulate response published on Thursday.
The selection procedure came about because, according to the federal government, only three VHF transmitters are available for private broadcasters in the greater Zurich area. The cantonal government sees no reason to doubt this assessment by the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM). In any case, the Zurich government is not the right point of contact to examine whether there are further technical possibilities for a fourth frequency, the reply continues.
A week ago, Radio Energy lodged an appeal against the licensing decision of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) for the Zurich-Glarus broadcasting region. Energy will therefore remain on air until at least the end of 2009. In its appeal to the Federal Administrative Court, the broadcaster criticizes the Uvek for having "arbitrarily disregarded" its long-standing track record when assessing the applications. The three licenses were awarded to competitors Radio 24, Radio Zürisee and Radio 1 at the end of October.
This rejects an urgent postulate in favor of the broadcaster, as reported by the SDA on Thursday.
In its motion, the SP demanded that the government should lobby the federal government for a fourth private radio frequency in the Zurich area. The greater area has sufficient economic potential for a fourth private radio station. A well-functioning radio station with 60 jobs should not be forced to close.
However, the Government Council considers a subsequent direct allocation of a fourth frequency to an unsuccessful applicant in the licensing procedure to be ruled out for legal reasons alone. And a repetition of the invitation to tender for the correctly conducted allocation procedure should be rejected, according to the postulate response published on Thursday.
The selection procedure came about because, according to the federal government, only three VHF transmitters are available for private broadcasters in the greater Zurich area. The cantonal government sees no reason to doubt this assessment by the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM). In any case, the Zurich government is not the right point of contact to examine whether there are further technical possibilities for a fourth frequency, the reply continues.
A week ago, Radio Energy lodged an appeal against the licensing decision of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) for the Zurich-Glarus broadcasting region. Energy will therefore remain on air until at least the end of 2009. In its appeal to the Federal Administrative Court, the broadcaster criticizes the Uvek for having "arbitrarily disregarded" its long-standing track record when assessing the applications. The three licenses were awarded to competitors Radio 24, Radio Zürisee and Radio 1 at the end of October.
