The owners of the four new TV licences met separately with Minister of State Nikos Pappas, Monday afternoon and discussed matters pertaining to the next stages in the ratification of the new licences and the operation of the media landscape. Earlier Monday, the representatives of the four new TV license owners had met with the General Secretary of Information and Communication, requesting that the payment be delayed until the pending legal disputes by other bidders during the tender are settled by the Council of State. According to the terms provided in the tender, the four new licence holders must pay 30% of the total sum by the end of September, after the tax office has cleared their financial statements by September 15 and the parliament has passed a ratifying law. During Monday’s meeting with the Secretary, the representatives of the licence holders (ANTENNA, SKAI, ALTER EGO and KALOGRISTAS S.A) claimed that no ratifying law can be submitted unless the Council of State rules on the appeals by other bidders who were eliminated from the tender. ‘We can’t pay huge sums of money for the CoS to come along and repeal the result of one of the winners turning everything upside down’, said the representative of KALOGRITSAS. The fours licence holders called on the government to clarify its stance on how it plans to enact the new TV ad law, which has passed under state control and provides for a 10% rate payable by TV stations on their turnovers. They argue the TV ad law framework in conjunction with the huge amounts paid for the licences will effectively make it impossible for the stations to remain sustainable businesses. The four also called on the state to make it clear on whether it intends to issue more national or regional TV licences in the future, and how it planned to ensure a level playing field for the winners of the recent tender against practices of unfair competition. Meanwhile, the stations’ representatives lead by ANTENNA and SKAI proposed that each winner enter into a separate contract with the state outlining not only the responsibilities of the businesses towards the state but vice versa.