KRRiTV can do no right with concessions
Since early February when media watchdog the Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV) said it would force existing radio operators to reapply for their concessions when license periods are up, the market has been flooded with speculation as to how the procedure would be handled.
The KRRiTV said it would officially invite broadcasters, many of whose concessions expire next year, to apply for new licenses in early spring. With March already underway, the council still has not provided broadcasters with any information on how they are to apply for new licenses. That lack of information, combined with the prospect of existing radio stations losing their licenses, has sparked outrage in the industry.
Marek Michalski, deputy director for local radio stations at media conglomerate Agora, said he had been told that the council was thinking of renewing all licenses in one fell swoop. The problem with that, he said, is that the move would wipe out the years left that some radio stations have on their existing concession. "We are very much concerned because it would mean that some holders could lose even several years of their old concessions," Michalski said.
Such a decision would hit Agora particularly hard. The company operates 12 local radio stations and recently won a concession for the city of Rzeszow in southeastern Poland. Some of those stations were acquired as recently as two years ago and only one license held by Agora's 12 stations is set to expire next year, Michalski said.
"There are radio stations that still have four to five years until their licenses expire," Wanda Rapaczynski, president of Agora's managing board said in a recent interview. "We heard the council wants to deal with this problem in a collective way. Over my dead body!"
Joanna Stepien, press spokeswoman for KRRiTV Chairman Juliusz Braun, said she had not heard that the council was going to renew all licenses at once. "I cannot comment on gossip and there is no official standing of the council about the way the concession process will be conducted," she said.
She pointed out that the council is trying to solve the issue in the absence of any legislation that would provide guidelines for license renewals. Part of the problem is that the media law does not stipulate what should happen when a radio license expires.
But broadcasters said the council could try to mitigate any harm done by informing companies as to how the renewal process will be handled. They said the council also could have foreseen the issue and pushed for the media law to be amended before many of the seven-year licenses expire.
"It's outrageous that the law hasn't been amended yet to indicate how to renew concessions," Rapaczynski said.
Tomasz Welnicki, an MP with Solidarity Election Action (AWS) and a member of Parliament's media committee, agreed that the council should have been more proactive. "The council should have submitted a project amending the media law in this respect two years ago," he said. "The KRRiTV did nothing or almost nothing about this matter despite the fact that it's responsible for keeping the media market in order."
But Stepien defended her organization, saying that the council has been trying to push through several changes to the media bill, which is lacking in many respects. "Chairman (Juliusz Braun) has been trying to convince the government that appropriate changes in the law are necessary," she said.
Despite that, she said that amendments to the media law currently in Parliament make no mention of how the concessions should be reissued.
Meanwhile, the council will act on the basis of its 1993 regulation, which described the first concession process, amended at the beginning of February. Jan Sek, KRRiTV's deputy chairman said that broadcasters shouldn't be afraid. "The council will see that their (broadcasters') rights are observed," he said.
Linda on line
HBO Polska, which is run by the U.S.-based pay TV channel, and Onet.pl, Optimus's internet portal, are gearing up for future cooperation, although neither firm would disclose what exactly they intend to do or how close they are to hammering out a deal.
Grzegorz Samborski, PR specialist at Onet.pl, said that any cooperation with HBO would be ideal for Onet. "HBO exists in cable televisions, and that is what the internet's future is," Samborski said.
The first example of the two entities' teaming came last Monday when HBO and Onet combined forces to present a virtual chat with Polish movie star Boguslaw Linda. The virtual meeting was linked with the promotion of the actor's latest movie, "Sezon na leszcza" (Season for Bream), directed by Linda and produced by HBO. The movie will appear in theaters this fall.
More than 300 people talked with the actor on line and almost 1,500 surfers observed the virtual conversation. "People talked to him about everything," said Agnieszka Bajur, HBO's spokeswoman. "Beginning with his movies and ending with his private life."
Onet.pl has run several public chats targeted at internet enthusiasts, although the virtual meetings with well-known celebrities only began last September. The chat with Linda set a precedent, though.
"It was the first time we invited an actor of such caliber," Samborski said.
Sudsy conflict
A small advertising conflict erupted late February when Procter & Gamble, which produces laundry detergent Ariel, ran an ad directly comparing its product with that of laundry detergent Dosia, produced by German firm Benckiser.
Comparative advertising is seldom used in Poland, as legal guidelines are not really clearly set out and no court precedent has been made so far.
"We used comparative advertising as an exception," said Malgorzata Mejer, head of public relations for Proctor & Gamble.
Procter & Gamble responded to an ad campaign that Benckiser had run primarily on television for the past few months. The Benckiser ads asked why consumers should overpay if there is no real difference between Dosia and Ariel, Mejer said.
Procter & Gamble's response ads, which ran in the Feb. 24 editions of Gazeta Wyborcza, Super Express and Zycie, stated that a number of washing tests had proven that Ariel worked better than Dosia. The Industrial Chemistry Institute conducted the tests, which were concluded in February.
In response, Benckiser ran ads in Feb. 26 newspaper editions, asking customers to judge for themselves. The controversy appears to have died down after that. "I think it's finished right now," said Iwona Jaworska, PR director for McCann Erickson and a spokeswoman for Benckiser.
Justyna Wrobel and Chris Rivituso contributed to this report.
