ALGERIA / ARAV approves the government’s specifications for private channels

According to the Algerian press, the country’s broadcasting watchdog, the Autorité de Régulation de l’Audiovisuel (ARAV) has approved three draft laws written by the government to control broadcasting.

The most important and anticipated of them are the specifications for commercial television stations: there are now 89 articles setting out the conditions a private channel has to satisfy in order to qualify for legal status in Algeria.

For example, to be approved by the government a private channel must show that “the capital invested is exclusively of national origin.” That the company’s shareholders, directors and managers are all Algerian nationals. That among these shareholders there are professional journalists.

The owners of a channel must not “hold shares in any other broadcasting service” or “belong to the board or governing body of a political party.” In addition, a single shareholder cannot hold more than 40% of the capital of the same channel.

The licensing procedure for private channels will begin with the Ministry of Communication publishing an application call. Companies applying must send a completed application to ARAV, which will determine “the criteria for rating and classification” of each application. A channel whose application is considered admissible will then be auditioned by ARAV, so the applicant can present his project and the regulator can question him about details.

If ARAV gives a favourable opinion, the dossier will be forwarded to “the licensing authority”, the only establishment authorized to sign the decree enabling transmission.

The specifications forbid private channels from causing any offence to the President of the Republic, to national values or symbols of state, or from showing bias towards “political, ethnic, economic, financial, and religious or ideological interest groups.” It imposes other restrictions as well, including quotas for national programmes and limiting advertising airtime.

The Ministry of Communications will launch the application call this autumn. Currently there are only five state-approved private channels (Ennahar TV, Echorouk TV, Dzair TV, El Djazairia and Hogar TV). Télédiffusion d’Algérie, the national organisation responsible for broadcasting Algerian television and radio, has already prepared 11 bandwidths in case any new commercial stations receive authorization.

Sources: TSA Algérie, El Watan, Liberté, El Moudjahid