New OSI monitoring report

TELEVISION ACROSS EUROPE

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The full text of the report is available at:
http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe

To request paper copies please use the publication order form at
http://www.eumap.org/puborder
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Today in Brussels, OSI launched the monitoring report
"Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence".
The report, produced by the Open Society Institute, Budapest,
covers 20 European countries - EU members, candidates and
potential candidates — from the UK to Turkey, and from Romania
to France. At 1662 pages, it is the largest ever comparative
survey of its kind. The report analyses broadcasting across the
continent and addresses policy recommendations to national and
international authorities and groups.

MAIN FINDINGS

Television remains the primary source of information for most
people in Europe, despite the dynamic progress of new
information technologies. But the pivotal role of television in
supporting democracy in Europe is under threat. Public service
broadcasters are compromising quality to compete with commercial
channels, and many of them depend on Governments or political
parties. Meanwhile, ever-larger concentrations are developing in
the commercial sector, often with clear political affiliations.
These developments jeopardize broadcasting pluralism and
diversity, with the new democracies of Central and Eastern
Europe most at risk.

While there are nearly 4,000 television channels in Europe, the
report reveals that the television market is in reality highly
concentrated in terms of both ownership and audience shares. In
most countries, a handful of channels attract the vast majority
of viewers. Ownership structures are controlled by a few
companies and often shrouded in secrecy. Political pressure on
regulators and public service broadcasters is widespread.

In Europe, universally available high quality programmes are
scarce. Investigative journalism and minority programming are
hard to find in both public service and commercial broadcasting.
Newscasts are often tabloid, particularly on commercial
channels. As a result, viewers often do not receive the
information necessary to make informed democratic choices.

Whether the switchover to digital broadcasting will benefit the
public remains to be seen. Digitalisation may instead enable
leading commercial players to further erode public service
broadcasting, undermining pluralism and diversity, as well as
high quality content.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The report contains a series of recommendations for national
governments, the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe
(CoE), the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe
(OSCE), and other interested parties. These include:

On media policy:
• National governments and international organizations should
live up to their commitments to the dual system of public and
private broadcasters as an essential element of democracy.
Market forces alone must not determine broadcasting policy.
• Governments and parliaments should ensure the political and
operational independence of broadcasting regulators. 
• The regulators must have the resources and powers to monitor
broadcasters, and their compliance with legislation and licence
conditions.
• The European Union should establish an independent agency to
monitor media markets and media concentration in the EU and on
global markets.

On public service broadcasting:
• Broadcasting regulators should ensure that the public service
broadcasters’ programming complies with a clear public service
remit.
• Governments and parliaments must ensure that the funding of
public service broadcasters is transparent.
• National media policy should include strategies for the
development of local television stations and community media.

On commercial broadcasting:
• Governments and parliaments should adopt legislation ensuring
transparency of ownership of all media outlets, including
external investors.
• The EU should introduce legislation to ensure transparency of
media ownership.
• Commercial broadcasters should be encouraged or obliged to
broadcast public service programmes.

On digitalisation:
• Public service broadcasters should automatically receive
licences for digital broadcasting.
• Regulators should allocate digital licences to a diverse range
of operators to ensure that dominant positions in analogue
broadcasting are not extended.
• Parliaments should adopt legislation to prevent the emergence
of monopolies of operators involved in the digital chain – such
as digital multiplex operators, television stations, programme
packagers and software providers.

BACKGROUND

The report "Television across Europe: regulation, policy and
independence" was prepared and published by EUMAP, the Open
Society Institute’s EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program, in
cooperation with OSI’s Network Media Program.

The report includes a regional overview and twenty individual
country reports covering: Albania; Bosnia and Herzegovina;
Bulgaria; Croatia; Czech Republic; Estonia; France; Germany;
Hungary; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Poland; Republic of
Macedonia; Romania; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Turkey; the
United Kingdom.

The report is in English. Country reports and the general
overview are also available in the national language of the
monitored country. Each country report contains specific policy
recommendations. All are available on www.eumap.org. For more
information on the Open Society Institute see www.soros.org.

The report was presented on 11 October at a public event in
Brussels, at the Residence Palace, starting at 10.00. The event
was organised jointly with the European Policy Centre. 

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Joost van Beek
home e-mail address
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EUMAP
www.eumap.org


	
	
		
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