The story
Mega Channel (1989–2018)
Mega is the first private television station to launch in Greece on the 20th of November in 1989 and was the trade name of Teletypos S.A. (Τηλέτυπος A.E.)
The channel regularly achieved the top ratings spot in Greece through its varied programming including comedies, dramas, news, current affairs and entertainment shows. Examples include the popular Greek comedies Sto Para Pente, Savatogenimmenes and Maria, i Aschimi.
The channel was also granted the rights to Victoria Hislop's novel The Island. This became a 26 episode drama series called To Nisi. The show was the most expensive show in Greek television history with a budget of €4 million.
Financial problems and subsequent closure
Since 2012, the parent company had been experiencing financial issues due to poor borrowing practises. In 2016, the channels debts were reported to be approximately €116 million. At the same time, reports of staff being unpaid began to emerge.
In 2016, it was reported that the company was restructuring loans in order to continue operations. This was despite the fact the company didn't proceed with a share capital increase of 15 million euros that was agreed in exchange for the banks agreeing to extend their return to 2021.
The staff of Mega Channel continued to keep the channel on air despite not being paid and being ignored by the parent company. The decision was taken to cease all news and live programming and instead focus on rebroadcasting content from their extensive program library without commercial breaks.
Mega continued broadcasting until it was removed from the platforms. The channel was removed by Digea (the company responsible for digital over-the-air broadcasting in Greece) at 02:08:36 on the morning of 28 October 2018. The channel was then also removed from pay-TV platforms on 20 November 2018. The channel did continue to broadcast via online streaming from its webpage.
Sale of assets
On 1 November 2019, the Mega Channel branding, logo and vast program library were put up for auction.
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The winning bid of €33,999,999 belonged to Alter Ego Media S.A.
Mega Channel (2020–present)
Following the auction, plans were put in place to re-launch Mega.
On 17 February 2020, the channel relaunched with a variety of live programming, news, movies and selected programs from its program library.
The channel was using the familiar 'Mega Mou' (My Mega) on-screen branding that was originally used between 2010 and 2014 as well as the new tag line of Mega όπως πάντα! (Mega as always!).
However, on June 27, 2021, the channel retired the 'Mega Mou' branding and began to use a new ident package in which objects form the logo.
Broadcasting licences and regulation
Like other private television broadcasters in Greece, MEGA Channel operated for many years under temporary broadcasting arrangements while the national licensing framework for private television was being finalised. During the 1990s and 2000s, the channel continued nationwide broadcasting alongside other major networks while participating in successive licensing procedures.
In the late 2010s, the introduction of a revised licensing process for nationwide television channels resulted in significant changes to the broadcasting landscape. MEGA did not secure a nationwide licence during the 2018 tender, which contributed to the cessation of its terrestrial broadcasting later that year. Following its acquisition by Alter Ego Media, the channel returned to air under a new licensing framework.
From Wikipedia’s article on Mega Channel, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4