Serbian Broadcasters Successfully Lobby for Lower Licensing Fees

Faced with some of the region’s highest licensing fees, Serbia’s Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) recently successfully lobbied the country’s Republic Broadcasting Agency (RBA) to lower its charges based on a sliding scale. The lobbying efforts were augmented with help from IREX and USAID.

Broadcasters in Serbia have been hit hard by the recent global economic problems. Once solvent outlets now have trouble meeting costs. One of the biggest costs broadcasters face is the RBA’s annual license fee. The RBA listened to the broadcasters’ concerns and, on June 3, recommended a reduction of fees, which the Serbian government approved June 25. The RBA proposed to reduce the fees based on a sliding scale depending on the reach of each outlet’s frequency. For national broadcasters, which have the largest reach, fees will be reduced by only 5 percent. However, local and regional broadcasters will receive a 20 percent to 50 percent reduction depending on their coverage zone.

Reactions amongst media practitioners were mixed. “This is a good example of how synchronized action can achieve desired goals,” Sasa Mirkovic, president of ANEM’s managing board, said. However, Radoman Irić, owner of TV 017 from the southern Serbian town of Vranje said: “The 10 percent reduction TV17 will receive doesn’t mean much to us. For the lowered costs to be significant, the reduction has to be at least 40 percent. If I had known that we would have to pay so many fees to broadcasting and telecommunication agencies and for authorship rights, we would have never started the television (station). We cannot do business with these costs. And while we pay these fees, the RBA is doing nothing to protect us from illegal (pirated) television stations.”    

For Aneta Radivojevic of TV5 in southern Serbia, the reduction is significant. “According to the newly adopted fee reduction TV5 will pay 40 percent less to the RBA annually than we are currently paying, but we hope to get an additional fee reduction based on criteria that our programming consists mainly of quality news programs,” she said. However, she said, other fees also make up a heavy burden for the station. For example, the reduced RBA fee combined with the telecommunication agency and authorship rights fees now make up 15 percent of the station’s fixed expenses. Before the RBA reduction, they made up as much as 25 percent of expenses.

Serif Marukic, owner of Jedinstvo TV station in western Serbia, said he is satisfied with the lower rates. In fact the reduced rates saved the station an amount equal to the salary of one executive staff member and two lower staff members. “I am personally satisfied with this decision because I have been writing many requests to the RBA to help us with lowering the fees but this proves that nothing can be done without systematic action,” he said.

Media practitioners and advocates said they still have a ways to go before stations can easily afford all these fees, however many see the change as a very positive step forward. Mirkovic, president of ANEM’s managing board, said it will be effective if the government continues to support media and more aggressively addresses pirate stations.

ANEM and IREX have long worked together to improve the media environment in Serbia. IREX worked with ANEM as part of IREX’s USAID-funded Serbia Media Assistance Program to lobby the RBA, other regulatory bodies, and the Serbian government for the lower broadcasting fees on behalf of its members to alleviate the financial burden and create a more competitive market for private media.

RBA fees are not the only financial obstacle Serbia’s broadcasters face. The global financial crisis has had wide-ranging impact on revenue and advertising losses. Even where fee reductions might seem low -- as with the 5 percent discount for national broadcasters – that can represent a savings of 35,000 euros. Consequently, it will enable stations to better meet other obligations, such as salary payments.