The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry plans to authorize private TV broadcasters to set up holding firms that would then control a number of broadcasters via equity stakes, ministry officials said Wednesday.
Such authorization would involve relaxing the current rule under which a TV broadcaster with a stake of 20 percent or more in another TV broadcaster is barred from getting a stake of 20 percent or more in yet another, the officials said.
The envisioned decontrol is designed to enable major broadcasters to effectively enhance their control over smaller and regional stations by setting up holding firms and putting the smaller firms under their wing, they said.