The New Turkish Regulation For Foreign Satellite Broadcasters

The new Law on Principles of Radio and Television Broadcasts (the "RTUK Law") entered into force in March 03, 2011 in Turkey and has been issued in accordance with the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. Some important changes in terms of broadcasting principles as well as broadcasting licenses are brought with the new RTUK Law.

Namely, RTUK (the Supreme Council of Radio and Television) is now on the process of a new development affecting the foreign based broadcasters that make or will make broadcasts in Turkey. RTUK imposes an obligation on foreign based satellite broadcasters that broadcast via Turkish satellite platforms or cable systems to obtain a local satellite license for a television, radio or on demand broadcast service channels. This obligation was already in place for terrestrial broadcasters, who, by nature, were Turkish companies incorporated and operating under Turkish Commercial Code (the "TCC"). The criterion for RTUK's requirement