Radio and media funding – A new working paper

In order to answer this question, Patricia Schiess analyzes the current Media Promotion Act (Medienförderungsgesetz; MFG) and the amendments to the MFG proposed by the government in BuA No. 46/2024. However, these proposed revisions are not aimed at placing Radio Liechtenstein, which may be privatized (if the DpL’s popular initiative to repeal the public broadcasting act (Gesetz über den Liechtensteinischen Rundfunk; LRFG) will be adopted), under the MFG. Rather, they are primarily intended to provide better support for smaller media companies. The aim is to achieve greater media diversity.

The political debate has so far paid little attention to the fact that the MFG is designed to treat all private media equally and that it must be submitted to the EFTA Surveillance Authority ESA before any changes are made.

In recent weeks, it has also been suggested that a performance agreement be concluded with the possibly privatized radio station. However, it should be noted that the MFG does not provide for performance agreements and that this form of state support may also constitute state aid under EEA law. In addition, the constitution sets limits to the unequal treatment of private media. Unequal treatment would arise if a media company were to receive support via a performance agreement concluded for several years, while all other media were supported in accordance with the provisions of the MFG.

Little consideration has been given to the fact that the new, private owner of the privatized radio station would need a broadcasting licence. Article 60 of the Media Act restricts the circle of possible interested parties in order to counteract media concentration. Media companies that already hold a dominant market position in Liechtenstein with a medium (such as a daily newspaper or a television station) are not granted a licence.

The explanations in the working paper show: Financial support for the privatized Radio Liechtenstein in excess of the amounts stipulated in the MFG for all private media companies would raise sensitive legal questions. If the privatized radio received only the sums provided for in the MFG, it would hardly be able to provide the same services as it does today. According to the government’s proposal, the MFG also stipulates that the amount of funding a private media company receives may not exceed its total revenue. If Parliament were to increase the permissible proportion of state funding, this would help small media companies, for which the new basic contribution of CHF 100,000 covers a larger proportion of the costs. But it would not provide any relief for media companies with a larger number of journalists.

Weder Medienhaus noch 1FL TV dürften Radio Liechtenstein übernehmen. Article by David Sele, Liechtensteiner Vaterland, 31 July 2024