The Independent Media Commission (IMC), on November 16, 2021, under the chairmanship of the Chairman of the IMC, Mr. Xhevat Latifi, has held the seventeenth regular meeting for this year.

After the approval of the agenda and the minutes from the last meeting, according to the agenda, the Commission discussed the work process of the IMC in monitoring the Audiovisual Media Service Providers (OSHMA), during the coverage of the election campaign in the second round of local elections. for mayor, held on 14 November 2021.

The IMC monitored the Audiovisual Media Service Providers during the election campaign, in order to assess the compliance of the media with the Guideline for the implementation of Chapter VIII of the Election Law no. 03 / L-073. According to the findings of the monitoring process, the IMC has assessed that there have been no violations of the legislation of the Independent Media Commission and in general the media have covered the election process in accordance with the IMC legislation.

According to the agenda, the Commission has also addressed some requests in licensing cases. The cases reviewed concerned requests for change of ownership, termination of license and change of license category. After reviewing the recommendations of the Executive Office for each of the licensing cases, the Commission decided as follows:

• VGN - Decision on rejection of the license application;
• Radio Plus - Decision for change of ownership;
• Radio Dardania - Decision for change of ownership;
• Radio CAMPUS - Decision to change the license category from local to regional
• Radio Kent FM - Decision on change of ownership and transfer of license, change of name and program scheme; AND
• Radio Kent FM 2 - Rejection of the request for change of ownership and transfer of license, change of name, program scheme, broadcast language and license category;
• Top Iliria Radio - Decision for change of ownership and transfer of license, change of name and program scheme

The Commission has also discussed the issue of exempting the digital dividend from terrestrial broadcasting, which is currently being used by some televisions for terrestrial broadcasting. After reviewing this point, the Commission decided to release the digital dividend and the television channels on these frequencies will be transferred to other frequencies.

In this meeting, the Commission also discussed the work process that is being developed by the Working Group for drafting the IMC Work Strategy. The Committee discussed the objectives and priorities to be set out in the IMC Work Strategy. After the discussions, the Commission agreed to continue the work on finalizing this document as soon as possible.

Independent Media Commission