According to the director of the Media Department, Eugénio Martins, all of the companies bidding presented projects for television channels with nation-wide coverage, one of the “main criteria” for the selection of candidates.

The other criteria to be considered by the jury in deciding on the quality of the proposals have to do with “proposed investments, the sustainability of the projects, the quality of program content and the preference for Cape Verdean productions,” according to Martins.

After it announces the results of its deliberations, in which the six proposals will be classified according to their quality and fulfillment of the criteria defined in the bid, the jury will present a report to the government, which will decide, in a meeting of the Council of Ministers, the number of open frequency television licenses to attribute at this stage.

The director of the Media Department did not provide concrete data on the contenders, and limited himself to stating that all of them are corporations registered in Cape Verde.

It is known, however, that TIVER is a project promoted and financed by Cape Verdean and Portuguese investors, with Cape Verde’s Rui Pereira as its main mentor and promoter. Record Cabo Verde, meanwhile, belongs to Brazilian network Rede Record, which itself belongs to Brazilian evangelical Universal Church of the Reign of God.

Nôs TV is connected to a group of Cape Verdean émigrés who reside in the United States, while TV Lacacan belongs to GC Comunicações, one of the main shareholders of which is Giordano Custódio, the owner of radio stations Praia FM and Rádio Morabeza. Media Press, for its part, is connected to the parent company of the on-line Cape Verdean newspaper Liberal.

Source A semana