AMMAN - ATV, Jordan’s first private TV station, will resort to legal channels if efforts to launch its broadcast reach a deadlock, the channel’s managing director Mohannad Khatib said on Wednesday.
Hours before ATV’s planned launch on August 1, the channel’s broadcasts were halted by the Audiovisual Commission, which asked the station to complete technical requirements.
At the time, the channel said it was sure of the completion of its paperwork and the preparedness of its staff and grid in accordance with the high standards it promised viewers.
On August 9, the launch faced a new hurdle after the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTVC) insisted that an agreement between the two establishments only tackles terrestrial transmission.
Last year Jordan Television (JTV) leased its Channel Two, a terrestrial channel, to ATV, which now owes the corporation JD2.5 million under this agreement, according to JRTVC Director General Faisal Shboul.
Shboul said the satellite broadcast was not covered under the April 2006 deal.
Director of the commission’s engineering department Sufian Nabulsi told The Jordan Times yesterday that the broadcast was still on hold.
“The commission sent many official letters to the channel and we are waiting for their response. In addition, there are several technical procedures that still need to be completed before they are allowed to broadcast.”
But Khatib insisted that all procedures were completed, claiming that the commission was delaying their broadcast “deliberately”.
“This is unreasonable. Last Thursday, I received five letters from the commission. The audiovisual commission is delaying us deliberately in order to serve JTV during the high viewership season of Ramadan, when there are lots of commercials, which will be a source of revenue to JTV during the month,” Khatib told The Jordan Times.
“The commission is refusing to allow us to start satellite broadcast until we settle our issue with JTV, which is not their mandate and not under their jurisdiction. The Audiovisual Commission cannot act as a lawyer for JTV or a collection agency for them,” said Khatib.
The ATV managing director said the commission was trying to link the satellite transmission to the terrestrial broadcast and force the channel to pay its dues to JTV.
He added that the channel has two agreements with the commission, one for satellite and the second for terrestrial, which do not specify simultaneous terrestrial and satellite transmission.
“The only body that has the authority to rule on any dispute is a court of law and if all efforts to launch the deal fail, we will take legal action against those who are preventing us from starting the broadcast,” said Khatib.
Shboul told The Jordan Times yesterday, that ATV’s problem was with the commission, not with JTV, but insisted that ATV still owed Jordan Television more than JD2.5 million.
“We want them to go to court, for God’s sake, and end this issue. We beg them to go to court,” Shboul said.
In a statement received by The Jordan Times yesterday, ATV said it was giving its employees a 10-day paid leave until September 1, while waiting to receive official approval from the authorities to begin transmission.
In the statement, Khatib voiced his regret and dismay over the delay, blaming the bureaucratic process for this “unjustified action”.
“The authorities have pushed us to take this unfortunate step at this sensitive juncture, right before the holy month of Ramadan. The channel has been gearing up to offer special Ramadan programmes and drama series at great cost,” Khatib said.
“I think it’s disgraceful that a pioneering media project of this kind is facing artificial hurdles of this sort, and to be at the mercy of a bunch of bureaucrats,” the statement quoted him as saying.
ATV, which has around 330 full-time employees and which has contracted many local producers, incurred financial losses and had to implement fundamental changes in its plans for the launch, especially since Ramadan is around the corner, according to Khatib.
