A1 Television, Macedonia's oldest and most popular broadcaster and a strong critic of the conservative government, has stopped broadcasting.
The State Agency for Electronic Communications said Sunday it has decided to revoke the 18-year-old station's license after a court declared A1 TV bankrupt.
Earlier this year, a court froze A1's accounts following a tax fraud probe by Macedonia's financial police, who arrested the station's owner. Opposition parties accused the government of trying to muzzle the media and staged a boycott of parliament that led to early elections last month — which the government won.
A1 TV has accumulated debts of euro30 million ($43 million). It currently employs 234 people, all of whom stand to lose their jobs.
Macedonia has five other national private broadcasters nationwide and dozens of local ones.