In January, the Executive submitted a draft to broadcasting organizations for a “bill to strengthen community radio stations” and create a “national radio station”.
As the name indicates, the purpose of this bill is twofold. On one hand, it makes amendments to Law N° 20.433 on community and citizen broadcasting and, on the other, it introduces changes to the Telecommunications Law to create a public radio station in Chile.
On this occasion, we will refer specifically to this new figure in the field of sound broadcasting. First of all, it is worth specifying that although some state universities and even municipalities have radio broadcasting concessions, they do not qualify as public media, so their regulation and manner of obtaining concessions is the same as that for commercial radio stations. This bill does not intend to change this status.
As for its content and scope, the bill is tremendously succinct. It does not define the concept of public radio station or establish guidelines regarding its public service mission or financing method. Additionally, no new institutions or bodies are created for the public radio station; it is created based on what is already there.
The bill only establishes that public radio concessions shall be granted to public bodies with competence and content at a national level and that they must meet the “proper functioning” requirements that apply to television stations in accordance with Article 1 of the CNTV Law (respect for democracy, pluralism and people’s rights).
Furthermore, the granting of sound broadcasting concessions directly is included for both Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) and Carabineros de Chile, and both may access an experimental broadcasting permit in the short term on the recently released 86 to 88 MHz frequency modulation band.
It has also been provided that other public bodies with competence and content at a national level be able to access public radio concessions, but in this case through public tenders. Frequencies for their operation in the short or medium term have not been considered.
In summary, a public radio station is defined as one that is loaned by a nationwide public body and subject to compliance with proper functioning requirements, an obligation that applies to television concessionaires. The difference is that a body that oversees compliance by public radio stations and has a sanctioning capacity, such as the National Television Council, has not been set out. The existence of public radio stations in regional or local terms has also not been provided as in other countries.
The implementation of this public radio model is carried out based on already existing institutions. The state-owned company TVN is allowed to have an additional content broadcasting platform, but no guidelines regarding the media model to be developed are established. Therefore, it is unknown whether one that competes with major commercial channels will be chosen, as in the case of TVN’s main signal, or whether a public service radio station aimed at improving the diversity and quality of the existing supply will be preferred.
The other component of the public system will be a radio station operated by a police institution, Carabineros de Chile, which is unusual in the international experience.
Radio Carabineros operates since 1997 in the Metropolitan Region, providing public service information such as traffic events and various alerts, as well as musical content. To date, it does not have broadcasting concessions of its own, so it broadcasts its content both online and by means of agreements with privates on the 98.1 frequency modulation (FM) and 820 amplitude modulation (AM) frequencies, though the latter does not appear among those authorized for broadcasting. This bill will allow Carabineros to consolidate its radio project, obtaining concessions and increasing its FM reach.
In addition to being based on the existing regulatory and institutional framework, another striking aspect of the bill is its bet on analog FM broadcasting, a technology that despite being essential in the past 50 years is currently declining, particularly regarding younger audiences more interested in the new formats of digital platforms.
The bill enables a public radio system whose conception is neither ambitious nor innovative, and it runs the risk of being born obsolete if not accompanied by other promotion measures beyond the granting of concessions for FM radio broadcasting.
By Javier García, January 2025.
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