From digital switchover to austerity measures: A case study of the Cypriot television landscape

In April 2013 Cyprus and the Troika (the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund) reached an agreement aimed at addressing the country’s financial imbalances by leading the Island through a series of austerity measures. This article addresses the Cypriot digital television landscape three years following digital switchover (DSO) and currently in the midst of austerity measures. The article draws on long-term historical analyses combined with discourse analysis of current policy decisions, media coverage and expert interviews with the main stakeholders. It is divided into five sections. The first situates the case study within an appropriate theoretical framework. The second sheds light on Cyprus’ turbulent history and how it has affected the development of the media sectors. Next, it offers an overview of digital television in Cyprus and highlights how the main players had positioned themselves in the market before the country sunk into a deep recession. The fourth section underlines the financial crisis and the resulting austerity measures that have affected Cyprus, especially since 2012/2013. In the fifth and final section, the work focuses on the current situation, paying particular attention to how political and market-driven agendas have collided, with the example of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) platform Velister.