Four Greek TV stations cut in southern Albania

TIRANA, May 14 – Four Greek television stations broadcasting in southern Albania had their signals cut Thursday evening for not having a license to broadcast.
The National Council of Radio and Television, or KKRT, said that besides Greek stations Net, Mega, Antena and Alter, they had also cut broadcasts of Top Channel and Vizion +, the same as they did last week in northern Shkodra, for surpassing the area they are allowed to transmit as local channels.
The KKRT says these stations were not licensed to broadcast throughout the country, as they only held a license as local television stations.
What the government did last week in the mountain of Tarabosh in Shkodra they repeated in Kelcyre in Gjirokastra in the south, an act which very likely will have a negative impact on ties with Greece.
KKRT is an institution controlled by the government. It has argued that the decision to cut the broadcast signals was taken on the basis that the affected television companies are not legally national television outlets. This has raised the debate on why KKRT has not provided national licenses since these companies had submitted normal licensing requests three years ago and fulfilled the legal criteria to have received permits to broadcast.
The four stations have protested against the move claiming it is politically motivated, though they have no legal basis for their protest.
Opposition politicians allege that KKRT is favoring the interests of other licensed media. The opposition said that the KKRT has left free only those stations that are pro-government. The opposition has asked for dismissal of the KKRT members.
The Albania media have been in open conflict with the government since a draft law on allowing digital broadcasting was proposed. Further, Top Channel, the largest private media outlet in the country, has been in open opposition to Sali Berisha’s government.
Top Channel transmits to audiences of Albanians abroad in Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece and other countries with large Albanian immigrant communities. The popularity of Top Channel has been a concern to the administration, given the outspoken criticism of the government by Top Channel commentators.