Rightist TV station Telewizja Puls to debut this Sunday facing challenges

This Sunday, Polish television viewers can watch the debut broadcast of the new Telewizja Puls, which plans to use the frequencies of religious TV station Telewizja Niepokalanow, while its program will be produced by Telewizja Familijna, co-owned by state companies. Today, the National Radio and Television Council (KRRiT) is to officially grant Niepokalanow permission to be transformed into Puls, but regardless of what the council does, Puls will begin broadcasting on March 18th. There are two key aspects to the KRRiT decision. The first is the name change to TV Puls, which is a problem since a local TV station from Lodz uses the same name and has filed a motion to register it with the patent office. The other key motion by TV Puls is for the council to allow for commercials to comprise 15% of its broadcast. TV Niepokalanow is not a commercial but a religious station, and therefore has permission for ads to take only 2% of its airtime. Telewizja Familijna is owned by private IT company Prokom, along with four companies in which the state holds stakes: the National Grid (PSE), copper company KGHM, oil giant PKN Orlen and insurer PZU Zycie. The president of PZU Zycie, Grzegorz Wieczerzak, admitted in an interview that his company invested in the venture because former Solidarity Election Action (AWS) leader Marian Krzaklewski asked it to do so. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.24) T.J.