The NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia said on November 26 that it was preparing to shut down a Bosnian Croat television station if negotiations with the body overseeing the peace process failed.

A spokesman for the Office of the High Representative said it had requested SFOR help to close down the Erotel station for failing to comply with new registration procedures set down by Bosnia’s Independent Media Commission (IMC). However, negotiations between the IMC and Erotel were continuing, and any SFOR action depended on the outcome of these talks. The IMC ordered the Erotel station, which officials suspect is controlled from Croatia, to shut down on November 15 after it refused to accept a ruling on the allocation of frequencies and number of transmitters it can use. The conflict came to a head at the beginning of November, when the IMC issued a temporary broadcast licence lasting six months. According to the terms of the licence, Erotel was allowed to use only 11 out of 47 transmitters for which it asked for approval. However, the management of Erotel, unhappy with IMC’s decision, decided to continue using the 47 transmitters as before. Erotel hinted that if it was prevented from broadcasting its programmes via terrestrial transmitters, it would switch to satellite-only delivery.

The IMC’s response has been that Erotel can go ahead with satellite broadcasts "if they can financially manage it." According to reports in the Croatian press, Erotel is reporting a booming interest in the sale of satellite kits needed to receive its satellite broadcasts via the 13 degrees East orbital position. The price of DM600 (Euro307) (for equipment which can also receive HRT’s three TV channels) is apparently not seen as a major obstacle, with the first shipment of dishes and decoders being sold out. Erotel estimates that there is a potential audience of 120,000 Croatian households in Bosnia, out of which 50,000 already own DTH systems. Erotel’s owners include Croatian public broadcaster HRT with 24 per cent and a Bosnian Croat association (Hrvatska Zajednica Herceg-Bosna) which owns a majority 51 per cent stake in the venture. In reality, the station is backed by Croatia’s ruling party, the HDZ, and produces only a small proportion of its programmes, while the majority of its schedule is made up of programmes produced by HRT. The case of Erotel, based in the southern town of Mostar, is part of wider western-sponsored efforts to launch a new television station in Bosnia’s Moslem-Croat federation offering Bosnian Croats more programming in exchange for one of the frequencies Erotel now uses.