KINK suffered a defeat on Tuesday in the lawsuit regarding the distribution of FM frequencies. The court in Rotterdam rejected the radio station’s objections in a case against the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The station had filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs out of dissatisfaction with the course of the FM frequency auction in 2023. KINK felt that the process had been unfair and argued, among other things, that there was an “unlawful connection” between competitors Talpa Radio and Mediahuis.
Both companies are affiliated with One Media Sales, which handles advertising sales for the six channels of Talpa and Mediahuis. According to KINK, they would thus function as one radio company and own more frequencies than the permitted three. The Ministry and the Media Authority had previously stated that there was no connection.
KINK director Jan Hoogesteijn is not giving a substantive response for the time being. “We are studying the judgment and will decide within the set deadline whether to appeal,” he says. KINK can appeal within six weeks.
KINK itself missed out during the auction in 2023. In the meantime, the radio station has managed to obtain an FM frequency in the Randstad through a collaboration with Decibel, but not in the rest of the Netherlands. The Administrative High Court for Trade and Industry ruled at the end of 2021 that the national FM frequencies had to be redistributed after KINK filed a case.
Radio station KINK, which mainly plays alternative rock, employs DJs such as Michiel Veenstra (photo), Eric Corton and Stefan Koren.