The Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (SAMU) has adopted a Decision on the allocations from the Fund for Fostering Media Pluralism and Diversity, intended for commercial and non-profit electronic media in 2024. According to this Decision, a total of €900,053 has been allocated from the Fund to increase the volume, structure, and diversity of content dedicated to topics of public interest (broadcaster grants). In addition, €126,157.65 has been allocated to cover operational costs of self-regulatory bodies.

The awarded grants cover 45 contents of 13 broadcasters: nine radio and five television channels. These include four local, six regional, and four national broadcasters. In response to the public call, 14 timely applications for broadcaster grants and one complete and timely application from a self-regulatory body were submitted.

The average grant per broadcaster amounts to €64,290, with the highest awarded grant being €177,016 and the lowest €8,400. On average, each grant covers 56 segments, or 17 segments per content, with an average duration of 42 minutes. In total, the supported programming amounts to 30,771 minutes, or 513 hours of content. One broadcaster received a maximum of five grants.

The most represented thematic area, addressed through eight contents, is “Children, Sports, and Youth.” Six contents each will focus on “Health Promotion and Healthy Lifestyles” and “Social Integration of Vulnerable Groups.” One content each will be dedicated to: “Civil Society Development and Volunteering,” “Combating Corruption,” “Promoting Entrepreneurship,” “Cultural Diversity, Preservation of Tradition and Montenegrin Identity,” and “Combating Addictions.”

Of the 45 approved grants, 28 support new contents, while 17 pertain to the ones previously funded over the past three years. Fifteen of the supported grants are dedicated to content aimed at vulnerable social groups or produced in the Albanian language.

Contracts will be signed with applicants who qualified for funding. The unallocated amounts, amounting to €310,825.19 for broadcaster grants and €118.73 for self-regulatory grants, will be returned to the state budget of Montenegro.

Complete documentation related to the public call and the adopted Decision on the allocations from the Fund for Fostering Media Pluralism and Diversity for 2024 is available on the Agency’s website: www.amu.me.

Alocations from the Fund for Fostering Media Pluralism and Diversity