Greece

Greece has well over 1,000 radio stations, most of them on the FM band, the AM band being almost entirely abandoned by everyone but the State-run media. In March, 2001, the Greek government shut down approximately 60 of the 90+ FM radio stations in the Athens area, citing interference to frequencies to be used by the new Athens International Airport. There are some who believe that the government shut down these stations as a political favor to powerful publishing and media groups, whose stations, for the most part, remained on the air, while others argued that the licensing process was legally inconsistent. As a result, the licensing process came under legal scrutiny, and in 2002, 8 of these stations reopened, and in 2004-2005, several more stations reopened following a relevant court order. Since then, more stations have opened, without any legal permission to do so. Many of these stations are the same ones which were shut down in 2001. The Greek government is currently working on new legislation for electronic media and will also have to abide by a European Union directive to convert to digital broadcasting by 2012. It is unknown yet what a new licensing process will look like and what it will require of applicants, which stations and how many stations will be licensed, and what will happen to stations that are unlicensed, considering the current government's inability or lack of will to control the airwaves. Here is a list of some major FM stations in Greece.: