Comments Regarding Limitations on Programming Available Broadcast on Pay-TV Channels

These comments are directed towards the concern of the Federal Communications Commission over developing rules with respect to subscription television (STV or Pay-TV) that would permit the development of the industry if it offered a net increment to the number of options and the diversity of programming available to viewers, but that would prevent the diversion of programming that is currently available to viewers over the free, over-the-air system to a pay mode. The premise of these comments is that the commission is obviously correct in its conclusion that viewers and, for that matter, American society would be unambiguously worse off if STV succeeded only in causing essentially the existing system of broadcasting simply to begin charging viewers for programs that they now receive free. A careful examination of the consequences of an all-STV system makes obvious the source of popular opposition to pay-TV and makes dubious the allure of such a system for some economists. The existing commercial broadcasting system generates consumer satisfaction of enormous value--worth perhaps as much as $20 billion annually—in providing free of charge its current array of mass-audience programming. To pay for exactly the same programming now available without charge would mean a massive reduction in the welfare of most families. The realization of this has generated political support for bans or limitations on the development of pay-TV and has moved the commission to try to develop a complicated web of antisiphoning rules intended to prevent the supplanting of the existing commercial system by subscription television

Iowa Public Television Performance Report, FY2010

Agency Performance Repor

Iowa Public Television Performance Report, FY2009

Agency Performance Repor

With the Support of Listeners Like You : Lessons from U.S. Public Radio

This chapter provides an assessment of public broadcasting in the United States. It asserts that European public service broadcasting (PSB) could learn from U.S. practices that may prove to be particularly relevant in the current PSB climate

Science on television : how? Like that!

This study explores the presence of science programs on the Flemish public broadcaster between 1997 and 2002 in terms of length, science domains, target groups, production mode, and type of broadcast. Our data show that for nearly all variables 2000 can be marked as a year in which the downward spiral for science on television was reversed. These results serve as a case study to discuss the influence of public policy and other possible motives for changes in science programming, as to gain a clearer insight into the factors that influence whether and how science programs are broadcast on television. Three factors were found to be crucial in this respect: 1) public service philosophy, 2) a strong governmental science policy providing structural government support, and 3) the reflection of a social discourse that articulates a need for more hard sciences

How to choose and how to watch: an on-demand perspective on current TV practices

In Sweden, digital TV services have until very recently not been accessible to most people through the TV set. At the same time, TV channels offer more and more content on the web and the majority of the population has access to high-speed internet connections. A web survey aimed at investigating attitudes and behavior related to on-demand TV was distributed in December 2008 to 52 households in an experimental, open (operator neutral) access network in Sweden. Questions were posed on TV arrangements, habits and attitudes; social aspects of TV watching; watching film or TV on-demand; and watching film or TV using the computer. Complementary interviews were also performed with participants that were not part of the experimental environment. Results show that participants in the studies understood and felt a need for time-shift and on-demand TV services: time-shift needs for re-scheduling, catch-up and repeats were expressed as well as on-demand needs for movies and for accessing otherwise unavailable TV content. Support for on-demand TV could also be found in that subjects reported little need for viewing TV content according to a broadcast schedule, with the main exception of news, sports events and other live broadcasts