Slovak Republic

Television and radio in the Slovak Republic are regulated by the Broadcasting Law which was passed under the Czecho-Slovak Federation in 1991 and, although Czechoslovakia ceased to exist on 31 December 1992, is still in force. It was simply amended in 1993 when the words "the Czech and Slovak Federation Republic" were replaced by the words "the Slovac Republic".

In order to apply for a cable operator’s licence at the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting, the applicant has to give detailed information about the programmes he intends to transmit and about the planned contents of the channels. Only one of the channels is allowed to be earmarked for commercials. Further on, he has to explain the way in which his broadcasting will serve the interests of the community, town or region. The licence holder has to make an additional channel available for broadcasting for local needs; this channel cannot be used for commercial purposes without the operator’s consent.

The main obligations that a broadcasting licence holder has to fulfil are detailed in the Broadcasting Act. For example, the licence holder is not allowed to broadcast programmes between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. which could endanger the mental and moral development of children and youth and has to respect the provisions of the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. Foreign broadcasters are obliged to a special contribution to the development of the Slovak produced programmes. If the foreign broadcaster no longer fulfils the conditions relating to the original Slovak production, the licence can be revoked.

British BBC World decided in June to broadcast its 24-hour news and information programme in the Slovak Republic. Initially, 126,770 homes will be able to see the channel in the Bratislava cable system operated by Siemens’ subsidiary SKT.

© September 1996 by Jens Barkemeyer