Information for Them Who Wishes Starting Business in Georgian Broadcasting

TaTa Toria

Broadcasting license may be received by Georgian resident individual or corporate client. It can be owned by administrative branch, administrative branch official or staffer, as well as administrative branch interdependent juridical person, political party and political party official.

Broadcasting sphere is regulated by Commission. That is juridical person of public law, constantly active, independent regulatory branch, not submitting to any state instance. Functions of the commission are following:
a) Proposals of state policy main directions preparation on broadcasting, while determining social opinion, broadcasting market research results. Supervise and control over the issues for the goals realization.
b) License conditions determining, giving out license, modification, license activity interrupt and update; annul of license.
c) Frequency determination and separation according to law. Confirming on the frequency.
d) Supervise and control over license condition and law fulfilling by license owner. Correspondence sanctions providing in the case of their breaching.
e) Exact environment creation and maintain its development, under own right.
f) License and regulatory prices establishment and payment issues definition.
g) Teenagers`, authorize and contiguous rights protection from unhealthy influence, legislative acts preparation and supervision over advertisement.
h) Enforce of legislative acts, including behave code.
License payment means payment of broadcasting license applicant for frequency specter temporarily use. The amount and payment rules should be established by Commission. License payment completely transferred into the budget of Georgia.
Regulatory payment is the only source of commission budget, not being economy business profit. Commission budget expenses covered with regulatory payments. Regulatory payers are license owners. Payment amount calculated according to provided works by license owner and supplement of material to its regulatory, 1 % of entire works fulfilling, in addition with increased total of license owner calendar year profit. License owners are obliged monthly putting into Commission` s account for regulation no later then date 20 of each month.
There are several sorts of broadcasting licenses. To say exactly, commission gives out community and private broadcasting licenses.
Private broadcasting license given out for common and specialized broadcasting.
Common and specialized broadcasting is provided via TV or radio stations satellites, cable network or broadcasting programs with the use of frequency specter. Broadcasting transit with use of frequency specter is forbidden, except TV or radio channel unchanged quality broadcasting on the background of law, according to Georgian legislature.
Broadcasting license duration is 10 years. After the deadline finishing, it renews automatically once again. But the license owner makes license and starting amount payment for license repeatedly activation in the case of several circumstances, according to legislature. In the other case, the license owner should appeal with statement to the commission, 6 month before license duration completing, after the competition is being announced. Competition is provided by Commission before the duration ending.
The territory of Georgia is separated into broadcasting service zones, by commission resolution.
Broadcasting license owner should provide TV and radio stations quality accessibility for no less then to its 90 % of users.
Commission makes resolutions concerning TV or radios stations satellites, ground stations or cable networks using, in 30 working days after correspondence statement presenting to the commission. Broadcasting license is given out following competition results, with use of frequency specter.
Broadcasting license applicant should appeal to the Commission with statement, including:
a) Individual client –name, surname, place and date of birth, registration dates, address, citizenship;
b) Corporate clients –firm entitle, organization –juridical form, juridical address, dates on registration at enterprise register, representative plenipotentiary name
c) and surname, information on partners and auctioneers having 5 or more per cents of shares;
d) Sort of broadcasting license demanded by an applicant;
e) Propose zone of broadcasting;
f) Propose duration of broadcasting per 24 hours.
The statement should be attached with:
a) Copies of state registration documents, and copies of IDs for individuals;
b) License payment document.
Common broadcasting license applicant in addition with the named documents, should present:
1. Financing project of scheduled dealing;
2. Documentation on scheduled techniques use for programs realization;
3. Scheduled broadcasting conception;
4. Document of the license 10 % initial payment.
Broadcasting licenses are just given out by Commission. Other license and permitting establishment is prohibited.
Rules of common broadcasting license giving out:
Before announcing the competition Commission resolution should include:
a) Exact entitle of given license;
b) Sort of broadcasting, minimal duration and geographical zone of spreading;
c) Minimal demand on programs, being met by broadcasting applicant, presenting broadcasting conception;
d) Requirements of technical parameters, being met by broadcasting license applicant project;
e) License payment amount and rule;
f) Dates of preparation session and competition.
Commission provides preparation session no later then 20 days before competition, discussing statements concerning participating in competition and opening of attached sealed up documentation while license applicants attendance. The documentations should be publicly presented.
If the documentation incompletely presented, commission should prevent license applicants and give them additional no less 5 an no more 15 working days, for improving realized requirements.
In the case of incomplete documents, minimally meeting requirements concerning programs and investitions, commission makes resolution on statement not considering and rejecting participation of applicant in competition.
Commission provides competition on public session.
Community broadcasting license owner, should:
a) Serve community interest;
b) Provide participation of society representatives in broadcasting process, he (she) serves;
c) Maintain its minority clients opinion broadcasting;
Community broadcasting frequency aspect is separated by Commission.
Community broadcasting license is received via competition, when Commission determines correspondence of the proposed service with current and future interests of the community and opportunities of license applicant; sort of community and variety.
It should be noted, that license alienation or assignation in according to any form of Georgia civil code, will be bailed out.
Common and specialized broadcasting license owner, also social and community broadcasters should create archive no late then in a month period and keep programs. They also obliged:
a) Provide separating time for European production broadcasting;
b) Take every measures for exact information focusing and timely correcting the mistakes;
c) Announce TV guide of up- coming week including brief annotation. Provide classification of programs and movies, confirming on the categories and correspondence signs;
d) Maintain exact and justifiability reporting facts, clearly dissociate facts and views and identification of the view author.
Any form of war propaganda is prohibited, including focusing on programs which will maintain race, ethnic, religious or other conflict, directly encouraging for any group discrimination or violence.
Obscenity sort of programs concerning pornography, human and citizen costs humiliating programs or advartiasmetn focusing is prohibited; also non correspondence, non conscientious, unreliable, un –ethic advertisement or TV shopping broadcasting.
License owner bears obligatory presenting recent year dealing report to the Commission concerning Georgian legislature, license conditions and behave code requirements meeting, working project and financing sources of the current year. The report should be presented no later then May 1st of each year. The report should be attached with auditory concussion. The report form is prepared by Commission.
License owner should present the information to the Commission no later then in 15 days after its requiring.