Television, radio and on-demand media services in Estonia

Broadcasting a television or radio programme from Estonia requires an activity licence from the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority¹²¹⁵. An on-demand audiovisual media service or a video-sharing platform requires a notice of economic activities, filed before the activity starts²⁰⁴¹. This page covers both routes, the filings, state fees and statutory time limits.

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

The Media Services Act (meediateenuste seadus, MeeTS) regulates audiovisual media services and radio services, together called media services, and the operation of video-sharing platforms¹. An audiovisual media service is a service provided under the editorial responsibility of the provider whose main purpose is to offer the public informative, educational or entertaining programmes over an electronic communications network². The Act distinguishes:

• Television service – programmes watched at the same time as they are shown, on the basis of a schedule³.
• On-demand audiovisual media service – programmes watched at a time chosen by the user and at the user's request, from a catalogue of programmes⁴.
• Radio service – programmes listened to at the same time as they are broadcast, on the basis of a schedule⁵.
• Video-sharing platform – an information society service offering the public programmes or user-generated videos over which the operator has no editorial responsibility, but whose organisation (display, tagging, sequencing, also by algorithms) the operator decides⁶.

A media service provider is the person with editorial responsibility for choosing the content who decides how it is sequenced and transmitted⁷; editorial responsibility means control over the selection, content and structure of programmes and their placement in a programme or catalogue⁸. An electronic communications undertaking that retransmits media services is subject to §§ 51, 55 and 56 of the Act⁹.

The legal act and the authority

• Act: the Media Services Act, in the wording in force from 1 October 2026. It transposes Directive 2010/13/EU on audiovisual media services as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/1808¹⁰.
• General rules: the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (majandustegevuse seadustiku üldosa seadus, MSÜS) applies to notices and applications alongside the Media Services Act¹¹.
• Authority: the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet, TTJA) decides licence applications and supervises the Act as the directive's independent regulatory body¹²; licences are issued by its Director General¹³.
• Register: licences and notices appear in the Register of Economic Activities (majandustegevuse register, MTR), kept by TTJA and free to search online¹⁴.

Who must apply

Activity licence. Television or radio service may be provided only on the basis of a television or radio licence¹⁵. The Act lists these licences:

Notice of economic activities. Providing an on-demand audiovisual media service and operating a video-sharing platform require a notice of economic activities²⁰.

Estonian jurisdiction. The Act applies to a provider whose management body is in Estonia and whose editorial decisions are taken there, and in the other cases of MeeTS § 2(1)–(2)²¹. A video-sharing platform is covered if the operator, its parent or, in the cases listed, a group company is established in Estonia²².

Exemptions named in the Act. The national broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling is subject to the Act only insofar as its own act does not provide otherwise; other journalistic publishers are subject only to MeeTS § 15⁹. An undertaking that already holds a licence in a field has no separate notice obligation in that field²³.

Requirements for the applicant

The Act lists the following requirements, which concern the programme and the provider:

• Conditions for a licence: the programme meets the requirements of the Act; a proper application has been filed; the applicant has submitted data proving its sustainability in providing the service (not required for a temporary licence); the activity does not breach Estonia's international obligations; and the applicant is not linked through dominant influence to another licence holder where the licence could significantly harm competition¹⁵.
• Radio licences by competition: a radio licence goes to the best offer in a public competition announced by TTJA, whose terms are published on the websites of the Ministry of Culture and TTJA²⁴. Television and temporary licences are granted on application, without a competition¹³.
• Responsible editor: the provider appoints a responsible editor for each programme or catalogue²⁵.
• Programme rules: for example, at least 2% of the daily programme volume on at least five days a week goes to own-produced news²⁶, and recordings are kept for at least 30 days (90 days under an international licence)²⁷.
• Accessibility: an audiovisual media service provider (other than the holder of a temporary television licence) keeps an accessibility action plan for the current and next three years and files it with TTJA by 15 February each year²⁸.
• Public information: an audiovisual media service provider makes public its ownership structure, including the beneficial owner, and that it falls under Estonian jurisdiction²⁹.

Documents filed with the application

Licence application – data (in addition to the general data of MSÜS)³⁰:

• the type of licence sought, the description of the programme and its coverage area;
• the name and contact details of the responsible editor;
• for a television licence, the jurisdiction ground in MeeTS § 2 and the technical form of transmission (terrestrial, cable, satellite or other)³¹;
• other data needed to confirm compliance with the licence conditions.

Programme description³²: structure, name and start date; for television also the shares of film, children's, social and entertainment programmes.

Annexes³³:

• investment programme and business plan;
• for a television licence (not a temporary one), the accessibility action plan;
• a document proving the representative's authority, if it does not follow from the law or the articles;
• the previous financial year's annual report, if the applicant is a legal person not required to file it with the commercial register.

Notice for an on-demand service³⁴: website address, name and description of the service, and the accessibility action plan as an annex.

Notice for a video-sharing platform³⁵: a contact person and the jurisdiction ground under MeeTS § 2(6). Both notices are filed only through the Estonian state portal (Eesti teabevärav) or a notary³⁶.

State fee and processing time

State fees under the State Fees Act (riigilõivuseadus) § 216³⁷:

• radio licence application: EUR 640;
• regional or nationwide television licence application: EUR 510;
• international television licence application: EUR 960;
• temporary television or radio licence application: EUR 75;
• application to change licence conditions: EUR 75.

Whether a state fee applies to the notices of an on-demand service or a video-sharing platform is specified for the client's situation.

Time limits for TTJA's decision³⁸:

• regional or nationwide television licence and temporary licence: one month from receipt of the application;
• international television licence: six months from receipt;
• radio licence: three months from the deadline for applications in the competition.

The authority may ask for additional information and set a time limit for it³⁹. These are the law's time limits, not a promised date. A notice is entered in the register no later than the working day after it is filed⁴⁰, and the notice must be filed before the activity starts⁴¹.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does and how to order

Under the service "Activity licence application documentation", LexorCorp Global OÜ prepares the licence application or notice for your company: the Media Services Act requirements for your service from the official text, the submission through the Register of Economic Activities, and written follow-up of the authority's questions. The client pays state fees. LexorCorp gives no legal or tax advice, does not audit the programme or business plan, and does not promise a licence, a date or any decision; TTJA decides.

The price is given on request, by email. To request it, open the guide Licensed and notifiable activities in Estonia and choose "Request a price" under Media services for the licence you need.

Sources

1. MeeTS § 1 p 1, 1¹ — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
2. MeeTS § 4 lg 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
3. MeeTS § 4 lg 1 p 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
4. MeeTS § 4 lg 1 p 2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
5. MeeTS § 4 lg 2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
6. MeeTS § 4¹ — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
7. MeeTS § 5 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
8. MeeTS § 6 lg 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
9. MeeTS § 2 lg 4 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
10. MeeTS header and footnote 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
11. MeeTS § 39 lg 2, § 47 lg 2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
12. MeeTS § 39 lg 1, § 54 lg 1–2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
13. MeeTS § 40 lg 6 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
14. MSÜS § 8 lg 4, § 51 lg 1–2, § 58 lg 1 and 4 — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)
15. MeeTS § 32 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
16. MeeTS § 33 lg 1 p 1–2, lg 2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
17. MeeTS § 33 lg 1 p 3, lg 3 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
18. MeeTS § 35 lg 1–2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
19. MeeTS § 37 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
20. MeeTS § 47 lg 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
21. MeeTS § 2 lg 1–2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
22. MeeTS § 2 lg 6 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
23. MSÜS § 14 lg 3 p 1 — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)
24. MeeTS § 40 lg 1, § 43 lg 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
25. MeeTS § 17 lg 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
26. MeeTS § 8 lg 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
27. MeeTS § 21 lg 2, 2¹ — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
28. MeeTS § 23 lg 2, 3, 5 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
29. MeeTS § 16 lg 1 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
30. MeeTS § 39 lg 2 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
31. MeeTS § 39 lg 2 p 5, lg 7 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
32. MeeTS § 39 lg 3–4 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
33. MeeTS § 39 lg 6, 6¹ — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
34. MeeTS § 47 lg 2, 2¹ — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
35. MeeTS § 47 lg 2² — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
36. MeeTS § 47 lg 3 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
37. RLS § 216 (8. jaotis) — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 21.10.2026, 10; this wording valid until 31.12.2026)
38. MeeTS § 40 lg 5, 7, 8 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (RT I, 30.06.2026, 97)
39. MSÜS § 19 lg 6 — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)
40. MSÜS § 59 lg 2 — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)
41. MSÜS § 14 lg 1 — text in force from 01.09.2025 (RT I, 02.01.2025, 26)

Official sources

The laws this article names, each linked to its official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

• State Fees Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

Sources in the text are named without links; the official texts are linked under Official sources. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.