Takes a scholarly perspective aimed at creating debate about the role and function of public service broadcasting at a time that it is facing a variety of threats, from governments, and from commercialization of broadcasting. This book gives a global perspective on the state of public service broadcasting in the age of globalization.

Few will deny that public service broadcasting?broadcasting that is controlled neither by the state nor by private media corporations?is an essential ingredient in modern democracy. But, as a number of initiatives in transition economies have shown, the inception and development of a strong public broadcasting system is a Herculean task that is easily sidetracked by politics or ideology, or stalled by lack of funding. Especially when state budgets are stretched, the expense is hard to justify. This collection of documents, comments, and cases brings all the major issues in public service broadcasting policy into focus and sets the problems to be addressed in sharp relief. It draws on white papers from NGOs and broadcasters, legislation from a wide range of countries (and a model law), accounts of public broadcasting efforts in transition states, analyses of evolving policy in established systems, government regulatory guidelines, and a great deal more. Among the matters touched upon are the following: the principles of public service broadcasting and their cultural and economic justification; limiting state interference; the place of public broadcasting in a multi-channel, ?market-driven? world; the appropriate mix of public and private revenues; objectivity and impartiality in broadcasting; how institutional structures can shape programming strategies; the use of competition law to adjust relations between public and private broadcasting; EU accession standards for public service broadcasting; and the impact of digital broadcasting. Broadcast professionals, students and teachers in communications and related fields, government officials interested in strengthening public service broadcasting and keeping pace with rapid developments?all will benefit enormously from this thoughtful and informative book. It will allow them to think well beyond the standard formulae about the function of public service broadcasting and its role in society.

This book investigates public service broadcasting (PSB) models in post-authoritarian regimes, and offers a critical inspection of the development of a Western European-originated PSB system in Asian transitional societies, in particular in Indonesia since the 1990's. Placing the case of Indonesia's PSB within the context of global media liberalization, this book traces the development of public service broadcasting in post-authoritarian societies, including the arrival of neoliberal policy and the growth of media oligarchs that favour free market media systems over public interest media systems. The book argues that Western European PSB models or 'BBC-like' models have travelled to new democracies, and that autocratic legacies embedded in former state-owned radio and television broadcasters have resisted pro-democratic media pressures. As such, similar to new PSBs in other post-colonial, transitional and global south regimes, such as in Arab states or Bangladesh, this book demonstrates that the adoption of PSB in Indonesia has not reflected the ideal PSB project initially envisaged by media advocates but was flawed in both media policy and governance. It explores the history of broadcast governance in authoritarian Indonesia, and considers how Western European PSB or 'British Broadcasting Corporation/BBC-like' models have travelled – somewhat uneasily – to new democracies, but also how autocratic legacies embedded in former state-owned radio and television channels have resisted external parties of pro-democratic media systems.

Contributing to a rethink of Public Service Media, this book combines theoretical insights and legal frameworks with practice, examining theory and policy development in a bottom-up manner. It explores the practices of Public Service Media across Europe, assessing the rules that govern Public Service Media at both the EU and the National Member State level, identifying common trends, initiated by both the European Commission and individual countries, illustrating the context-dependent development of Public Service Media and challenging the theories of Public Service Broadcasting which have developed an ideal-type public broadcaster based on the well-funded BBC in an atypical media market. Seeking to further explore the actual practices of Public Service Media and make recommendations for the development of more sustainable policies, this book offers case studies of rules and practices from across a variety of EU Member States to consider the extent to which public broadcasters are making the transition to public media organisations, and how public broadcasters and governments are shaping Public Service Media together. This book is a must-read for all scholars who take an interest in Public Service Media, media policy and media systems literature at large. It will also be of interest to practitioners working in government, Public Service Media and commercial media.

Public service media (PSM) have been the mainstay of Western European broadcasting for a number of decades. Yet despite a general political consensus in favour of PSM, recent technological, economic and political changes have led to a questioning of their value. This new collection of essays explores the history of PSM in selected European countries, from their early establishment as the main media in many countries to charting their transformation and evolution in recent years. The contributions consider the political, economic and market-integration issues that impact PSM, while also highlighting the importance of the ideology that originally accompanied PSM in its initial years, to see how relevant they are in the contemporary world. The book consists of two complementary parts: Part I: Theoretical Aspects and Global Influences on Public Service Media in Europe Part II: A Comparative Analysis of Public Service Media across Europe With contributions from leading experts, the first part offers a thorough examination of the current concepts and conditions that influence PSM in Europe. The second offers a comparative study of PSM in several European countries including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden. Offering the most comprehensive study of the field to date, Public Service Media in Europe will be useful for students and researchers in public media, political communication, international and comparative media.

The digital media environment is characterized by an abundance and diversity of content, a multiplicity of platforms, new modes of content production, distribution and access, and changed patterns of consumer and business behaviour. This has challenged the traditional model of public service broadcasting (PSB) in diverse ways. This book explores whether and how PSB should adapt to reflect the conditions of the digital media space so that it can effectively and efficiently continue to serve its public mandate. Drawing on literature on media governance in media and communication science, public international law as well as discussions on cyberlaw, Mira Burri maps and critically analyses existing policy and scholarly debates on PSB transformation. She challenges some of conventional rationales for reform, identifies new ones, as well as exposes the limitations placed upon existing and future policy solutions by global media governance arrangements, especially in the fields of trade, copyright and Internet governance. The book goes on to advance a future-oriented model of Public Service Media, which is capable of matching an environment of technological and of governance complexity. As a work that explores how public interest objectives can be pursued efficiently and sustainably in the digital media ecology, this book will be of great interest and use to students and researchers in media law, information technology law, and broadcast media studies, as well as to policy-makers.

This report responds to the current crisis in public service broadcasting, particularly in the advertiser-funded television sector. This has been caused by three factors: (1) the move from analogue to digital broadcasting means that established forms of support are losing value; (2) viewers are increasingly taking advantage of technological developments that provide alternatives to conventional broadcasting, such as the internet and the many commercial channels; (3) the speed and severity of the current economic recession. The Committee believes that the commercially-funded public broadcasters - ITV, Channel Four, Five and BSkyB - should continue to provide an alternative to the BBC, which should not become an even more dominant provider of public service programming. Market forces will not resolve the crisis and intervention is justified to ensure sufficient public service provision that the market will nor provide free for the public. There is a need for financial clarity on the financial position of all the public service broadcasters, and Channel Four's position should be independently reviewed. A partnership between Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide, rather than a full merger, would be a quicker means of making extra resources available to Channel 4. The BBC's other partnership proposals are welcomed. An element of contestable funding should be introduced, such funding to come from: (a) the underspend on the digital switchover; (b) continuance of funding from the licence fee after 2012 when the switchover programme ends; (c) the use of at least part of analogue spectrum revenue after 2012. Ultimately, part of the licence fee could be used to support public service content provision outside the BBC.

An in-depth account of EU policies in the area of public service broadcasting, focusing mainly on the application of the European State aid rules. The book discusses when, how and with what impact the European Commission deals with public service broadcasting.