Working group suggests support for commercial television news broadcasting

A working group appointed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications suggests that support be provided for commercial television news broadcasting.

The group proposes a temporary, three-year support programme that would be used for projects or to cover a certain percentage of the costs accrued by the production of news and current issues. Support could be provided to holders of public interest programming licences, that is public interest channels.

It is the view of the working group that temporary support is justified in order to maintain the pluralism of the media. It would be a way to ensure that television news broadcasting that reaches a wide audience and provides an alternative for YLE would continue to be available at least to the same extent as now. According to the working group, it should also be noted that the audiences for commercial television news and current issues are partly different than those for YLE.

The group submitted its final report to Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner on 1 March 2017.