Minister Van Bijsterveldt of EDUCATION, culture and science will providers tv packages require a minimum of thirty channels in the digital basic package. The minister applies the law to do so. The fifty local programme councils are going to disappear.
The media act 2008, providers are free to switch from analog tv to digital distribution, but as long as a cable company’s analog television broadcast, the basic package at least 15 channels. The minister of Education, Culture and Science is the media law, however, so that the digital legal minimum set is increased to 30. KPN’s Digitenne gets a privileged position because of the limited bandwidth; to 2017 is the minimum for this service to 25 channels.
The providers may channels above that minimum bundle in paid pluspacks. The parties are free in the choice of the stations, apart from the seven must-carry channels. Those are the three public channels, two channels of the Flemish public service broadcaster, by province, one regional, public television station and each municipality one local, public television station.
Although most of the digital packages are now 50 to 60 channels contain, the minister wants to with the change in the law to ensure that viewers without any additional cost to have access to a varied minimum set. “Pakketaanbieders will additionally make a selection from smaller and foreign public service and commercial broadcasters, and thereby to meet different preferences of larger and smaller target groups within the public,” said the minister.
The proposal is after the summer of 2012 to the Second Room sent. Once the amended Law comes into force, disappear the 50 local programme councils, which now advise on the analog cable dress out package.