The Chamber of Deputies passed Wednesday, November 27, a bill establishing the conditions for foreign ownership of media organizations and allowing institutional investors to acquire equity in TV and radio stations. The bill now goes to the Senate. The lower house struck out article 9 of the original draft sent by the Executive, which would have made the rules laid down in Decree-Law 236/67 more flexible, and so the rules remain as before: no one can have more than five licenses in VHF, five in UHF or two in the same state. Art. 9 had been included in the draft mainly in response to lobbying by RBS, a major network based in the South region and controlled by the Sirotsky family, which owns many licenses in a few states. It wasn?t supported by Globo, and that facilitated negotiations with the opposition for its removal.
Percentages defined
Art. 10 of the bill states that institutional or financial investors can acquire equity in an unlimited number of broadcasting stations but may not own more than 15% of each, cut from 20% in the original draft. Additionally, no institutional investor may ?control? more than one broadcaster. Under Art. 2, paragraph 2, an agency of the Executive branch appointed by the President may demand from any media company documents to prove that foreigners own no more than 30%. The original draft said merely that the Executive may demand such proof. As amended, the article leaves the door open for an agency to regulate broadcasting separately from the Communications Ministry.
