Acknowledgements p. 5
Preface p. 15
The European Level
Our Policies Keep on Reinventing the Past: An Overview of EU Policy-Making in the Audiovisual Domain p. 25
Introduction p. 25
A European Regulatory Framework: The Television Without Frontiers Directive p. 27
Producing European Content to Circulate in the Audiovisual Market without Frontiers: The EU's Industrial Policies p. 37
EU Competition Policy p. 43
Mergers and Acquisitions p. 44
The Direct Application of the Competition Articles p. 47
The Merger Regulation (1989, revised in 1997 & 2004) p. 48
The Green Paper on Pluralism and Media Concentration (1992) p. 50
State Support for National Movie Industries and PSB p. 52
Public Service Broadcasting p. 52
National Aid to the Film and Audiovisual Industries p. 55
An Indication of Future Developments p. 57
Conclusions p. 58
Broadcasting Policy and Regulatory Choices p. 61
Models of Broadcasting Systems p. 61
Why Regulate At All? p. 64
What To Regulate? p. 67
How To Regulate? p. 68
Statutory Media Regulation p. 69
Horizontal Extension: Self- and Co-Regulation p. 74
Vertical Extension: European and Global Regulation p. 75
Conclusions p. 78
European Public Service Broadcasting: A Concept, an Institution, and a Practice p. 79
PSB: Subject of Co-Regulation p. 79
From a Concept to a Mission: Arguments for Public Provision p. 81
From Culture to Commerce: Forced Changes of Course p. 83
Digitization: PSB as Broadcast Core and a Strong Brand p. 87
What About the Institution to Carry Out this Mission? p. 90
De-institutionalizing PSB: The New Zealand Case p. 91
Conclusions p. 92
Consequences of Policy on Digital Terrestrial Television Development p. 95
Digital Television: A Neglected Policy Area at EU Level p. 95
Digital Television Development p. 97
Implementation of Digital Terrestrial Television p. 100
Policy Analysis: Concluding Remarks p. 103
The National Level
Belgium p. 105
Introduction p. 105
The Unitary History of Belgian Broadcasting p. 106
Flanders p. 108
From a Monopoly to a Dual System p. 108
Evolution of Commercial Broadcasting in a European Context p. 110
Commercial Television for the Whole Flemish Community p. 111
Smaller Players in the Market p. 113
Radio: The Last Monopoly Comes to an End p. 114
Programming in a Competitive Environment p. 114
Financing the Public Broadcasting System p. 117
Structural Reforms of the Public Broadcasting Company p. 119
First Cautious Attempts p. 119
Less Politicization, More Management p. 120
The Public-Service Contract p. 121
Relation Government/Public Broadcaster/Private Broadcaster Remains Precarious p. 122
French-Speaking Belgium p. 124
A Public Service Subject to Competition p. 125
Competition from Outside p. 125
Competition from Inside p. 126
Official Deregulation p. 126
The Advertising Question p. 127
The Advertising Agreement p. 127
Compensation p. 128
The Players on the Media Scene p. 129
A Public Service Desperately Looking for a New Lease of Life p. 129
An Independent Company Under Contract p. 131
A Less and Less Belgian Private Sector p. 134
A Mixed Pay-TV system p. 136
Content: The Cultural Identity Struggle p. 137
Fiction p. 138
Americanization p. 139
Production and Cultural Protection p. 140
Anti-Concentration Measures p. 142
New Controls p. 142
A Desire to Control and to Sanction p. 142
The Return of Exaggerated Competition p. 143
Denmark p. 145
Some Basic Features p. 145
The Monopoly Phase p. 147
Deregulation p. 149
The Present Situation p. 152
Radio p. 152
Use of Radio p. 155
Television p. 156
Programs on Offer p. 160
Market Share and Reach p. 161
Economic Conditions p. 162
Media Concentration and Anti-Trust Legislation p. 163
Danish Attitude Towards European Media Policy p. 164
Future Developments p. 165
France p. 169
A Series of Distinctive Features Rooted in History p. 169
Diversity and Concentration: Legal Framework and Economic Positions p. 172
Single Medium Restrictions p. 172
"Multimedia" Restrictions p. 173
Foreign Ownership Restrictions p. 174
Major Groups p. 174
Public/Private Competition: Program Supply and Funding p. 179
"Audimat" and Regulations p. 180
Weaknesses and Strengths of the Public Sector p. 181
Program Supply in the Private and Public Sectors p. 183
Public and Private Financing p. 186
New Perspectives: Technological Development and Institutional Changes p. 187
Expanding Penetration of Digital Reception Modes of Television p. 187
New Modes of Digital TV consumption: Digital Terrestrial Television and the Internet p. 188
The Decline of Cable and Satellite Supply p. 189
Restructuring and Growth Plans p. 190
Conclusions p. 192
The Federal Republic of Germany p. 193
Introduction p. 193
A Public Corporation Monopoly p. 193
The Land-Based Corporations and ARD p. 193
ZDF p. 198
From Public-Sector Monopoly to a Dual System p. 199
The Rulings of the Federal Constitutional Court p. 199
The Lander-Treaties of 1987, 1991 and 1996 p. 200
The Lander-Treaties of 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004 p. 204
Organization and Development of Private Broadcasting p. 205
Organization p. 205
Development p. 207
Free Access Television p. 207
Pay TV p. 209
The Present Situation p. 209
Revenue and Expenditure p. 209
Programming p. 213
Audience Shares p. 215
Public Service Under Fire p. 217
The Future p. 220
Conclusions p. 227
Italy p. 229
Historical Background p. 229
Current Situation p. 233
Media Laws in Italy: Cross-Media Ownership and Anti-Trust Provisions p. 235
Audience p. 239
Financing p. 242
Media Content p. 244
Tomorrow's Television p. 247
Conclusions p. 248
Luxembourg p. 251
Historical and Political Context p. 251
The CLT-UFA and RTL-Group p. 254
Legal Framework p. 258
Radio and Television Broadcasting for Luxembourg Citizens p. 260
Television from Abroad and Audience Figures p. 262
New Media p. 263
The Netherlands p. 265
Broadcasting in the Netherlands: the Rise and Decline of Segmentation p. 265
The Early Years - When Radio Was King p. 265
The Advent of Television p. 267
The Broadcasting Act p. 268
Competition and "Vertrossing" p. 269
A New Act p. 270
The Rise of Commercial Broadcasting p. 272
Current Stations p. 272
Analysis p. 275
The Strategy of Public Service Broadcasting p. 276
McKinsey's Advice p. 276
"Structure Follows Strategy" - Does It? p. 277
Philosophy of Public Broadcasting p. 278
Maintaining Program Quality p. 279
Radio Broadcasting p. 282
Public Radio p. 282
Commercial Radio p. 283
Why Public Radio? p. 284
Cable and Pay-TV p. 285
Cable: From Community Antenna to Program Provider p. 285
Pay-TV for Spoilt Viewers p. 286
Finance, Concentration and Production p. 287
Who Pays the Piper? p. 287
Concentration - Something to Worry About? p. 288
Where Do TV Programs Come From? p. 289
New Media p. 290
From Broadcasting to Multimedia p. 290
Focus on Functions p. 290
Poland p. 293
Roots of Broadcasting in Poland p. 293
Radio: Captured by Two Totalitarianisms p. 293
Television Lies p. 294
PSB and Regulatory Change p. 295
New Regulatory Arrangements p. 295
Normative Expectations and Practical Difficulties p. 297
"Super-Regulatory" Make-Up? p. 298
PSB: Diversity in a Nutshell? p. 299
PSB Audience Shares p. 301
Entry of Private Commercial TV Broadcasters p. 303
TV Landscape in a New Shape p. 303
Principal Private TV Operators p. 305
Cable, Satellite and Digital Broadcasting p. 307
The Radio Scene p. 309
Principal Players p. 309
Local Radio Networks p. 310
Troubles With Concentration p. 311
Ownership Regulation p. 311
Rywingate and "New" Media Law p. 312
Measures Safeguarding Media Pluralism p. 313
Content Regulation and Programming p. 313
Programming Requirements and Quota p. 313
Implementation of the Television Without Frontiers Directive p. 314
Conclusions p. 316
The United Kingdom p. 319
Introduction p. 319
A History of British Broadcasting (1922-1996) p. 319
Current Situation p. 322
The BBC p. 322
ITV p. 324
Digital TV p. 325
Radio p. 326
Broadcast Economics p. 327
The BBC p. 327
ITV p. 327
Other Terrestrial TV p. 328
Future Funding: BBC p. 329
Future Funding: Commercial TV p. 330
Regulators and Regulation: 2003 Communications Act p. 331
Office of Communication p. 332
Television Production p. 332
Independent TV Production p. 333
Channel Content p. 334
The Future of British Broadcasting p. 338
Conclusions p. 339
Russia p. 341
Media History: From the Soviet Union to the Russian Federation p. 341
The Soviet Model p. 341
The Glasnost Model p. 343
Media Policy and Regulation in Russia p. 345
Overview of the Russian Broadcasting Landscape p. 347
State Broadcasters p. 348
Private Broadcasters p. 351
Financing of Broadcasting Organizations p. 354
Media Economics p. 355
Media Content p. 357
New Perspectives p. 357
Conclusions p. 358
Canada p. 361
Introduction p. 361
The CBC and the History of the Canadian Broadcasting System p. 366
Private Broadcasting and the Americanization of Canadian Television p. 373
Conclusions: The Canadian Dilemma p. 378
United States p. 381
History p. 381
New Developments in Radio Broadcasting p. 384
New Players in the Field p. 386
The Radio Act p. 386
The Communication Act p. 387
The Rise of Television p. 388
Commercial Broadcasting p. 389
Diversity in the Broadcasting System p. 390
Public Broadcasting p. 391
Cable Television p. 393
Cable Regulation p. 394
The New Cable Industry p. 395
The "Franchise Wars" p. 396
The Cable Act p. 397
Satellite Television p. 397
Broadcasting Since the 1990s p. 398
Audience Share and Fragmentation p. 399
Media Economics p. 401
The Future of US Broadcasting p. 404
Concluding Remarks: Diverging Efforts by Western Broadcasters to Manage Technological and Demographic Changes p. 409
References p. 415
About the Authors p. 447