Broadcast council says seven permits will be issued

A new competition for private television licenses will award seven permits, the National Broadcasting Council (ESR) decided Thursday.

The new tender follows a ruling by the Council of State last October that deemed as unconstitutional a government-supervised competition in September of last year that awarded just four licenses, leaving several private channels facing an uncertain future.

Having championed the auction for TV licenses as part of its intended crackdown on corruption and vested interests, the government faced an embarrassing climbdown after the court ruling.