Within the scope of the amendments made to the RTÜK Cable Broadcasting Regulation and the Satellite Broadcasting Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 31 March 2026 and numbered 33210, significant updates have been introduced regarding switching between broadcasting techniques and license renewal processes.
Radio, television and on-demand broadcasting services provided by media service providers in Türkiye are subject to the condition of obtaining a broadcasting license granted by RTÜK. This license authorizes media service providers to broadcast for a specified period through terrestrial, cable, satellite and other transmission media, solely in the broadcasting technique specified in the license.
The existing licensing system is an authorization mechanism that determines not only the right to broadcast but also the broadcasting technique under which the broadcasting activity is to be carried out. In this context, licenses are differentiated according to the transmission medium, broadcasting technique and content type.
Among these transmission media, cable broadcasting refers to the transmission of radio, television and on-demand broadcasting services to subscribers through all types of cable infrastructure, while satellite broadcasting refers to the transmission of broadcasting services to receivers, whether encrypted or unencrypted, via satellite capacity.
Broadcasting technique refers to the image quality at which a broadcast reaches the viewer and encompasses different resolution levels such as SD, HD, 4K and 8K. However, in practice, since no transition between broadcasting techniques was envisaged during the term of the existing broadcasting license or at the license renewal stage, media service providers were required to submit a new license application in order to change the broadcasting technique under which they were licensed. This process also necessitated a new technical inspection, and such administrative and technical obligations were capable of slowing down broadcasters’ transition to new technologies.
In this context, with the two separate amendments published in the Official Gazette dated 31 March 2026 and numbered 33210, introducing changes to the Cable Broadcasting Regulation and the Satellite Broadcasting Regulation, significant innovations have been introduced enabling media service providers to switch between broadcasting techniques (SD, HD, 4K, 8K) both during their existing license periods and at the license renewal stage.
Firstly, where media service providers apply to the Supreme Council in order to switch between the aforementioned broadcasting techniques (SD, HD, 4K, 8K), they have been granted the opportunity to change their broadcasting techniques without changing the transmission medium and without being subject to technical inspection, provided that such changes remain limited to the remaining duration of their existing broadcasting licenses. This regulation enables broadcasting technique changes to be implemented more swiftly and independently from administrative procedures.
The second aspect of the amendments concerns the changes introduced to the license renewal process. Accordingly, where media service providers submit a license renewal request based on their current or a different broadcasting technique (SD, HD, 4K, 8K), provided that their technical adequacy is verified through an on-site inspection, the information and documents requested by the Supreme Council are submitted, and the obligations relating to the license fee and guarantee letter are fulfilled, the broadcasting license may be renewed by the Supreme Council for a period of ten (10) years based on the requested broadcasting technique. In other words, this regulation has introduced the possibility of changing the broadcasting technique at the license renewal stage.
The fundamental distinction between these two regulations pertains to the technical inspection process. While no technical inspection is envisaged for transitions between broadcasting techniques during the existing license period, in cases where a transition to a different broadcasting technique is requested at the license renewal stage, it is required that the media service provider’s technical adequacy be verified through an on-site inspection.
Within the scope of the introduced amendments, the facilitation of media service providers’ ability to switch between broadcasting techniques also lays the groundwork for the more effective and seamless transmission of high-resolution broadcasting formats such as 4K and 8K, by leveraging the high bandwidth and low latency offered by next-generation communication infrastructures such as 5G.
In this regard, it is considered that these regulations will contribute to the evolution of the broadcasting sector in Türkiye towards a higher-resolution, innovative and technology-oriented structure, through the simplification of licensing processes and the facilitation of broadcasting technique transitions.
You can access the full text of the Regulations through this link and this link (Only available in Turkish).
