Mergers and acquisitions in TV production, aggregation and distribution: challenges for competition, industrial and media policy

This paper focuses on the recent wave of M&A activity, both vertical and horizontal in TV production, aggregation and distribution industries, and discusses the implications of M&A activity for competition, industrial and media policymaking. Moreover, it aspires to set a forward-looking perspective on the regulation of M&A in the TV industry. It is argued that while EU competition policy has difficulties to fully grasp anti-competitive effects resulting from vertical M&A activity in particular, industrial and media-specific policies dealing with the creation of an economically and culturally sustainable, European broadcasting and distribution sector are virtually absent from national and European policy agendas. It is particular in the latter two domains of policymaking that policy action is necessary

State Aid and Public Service Broadcasting How Future-proof is the Remit of Public Broadcasting Organisations? IES WORKING PAPER 1/2009

The European Commission’s interference through state aid rules with the Member States’ support for public service broadcasting is not undisputed. Member States, public broadcasters and numerous academics fear that State aid control might limit the public service remit and, hence, the multi-platform and holistic role of public broadcasters in the converging media industries. This paper assesses to what extent the fear for Commission intervention is, indeed, justified. It starts with the assumption that the transformation from public service broadcasting to public service media is vital for the European democratic society. The paper leads to the observation that, in fact, European State aid policy might contribute to such a necessary and urgent transformation, instead of threatening it. The paper consists of three main parts. Firstly, the legal constraints and margins of the Community’s State aid framework are discussed. Secondly, the application of the rules to a selection of public broadcasting cases is analyzed. Finally, some conclusions are drawn from the analysis

Government intervention in marriages of convenience between TV broadcasters and distributors

Albeit largely neglected in communication sciences research, industrial convergence has put the relation between legacy content media like TV broadcasters and distributors (cable, satellite) firmly on the policy agenda. There seems to be an increasing awareness of the gatekeeping characteristics of mainstream as well as online video distribution, and the power distributors can exert vis-à-vis television broadcasters in terms of the bundling of services and pricing.The relation between TV broadcasters and distributors is increasingly characterised by conflicts. Because of public disputes between broadcasters and distributors, and threats of blackout, several governments across Europe are indeed discussing the necessity of regulatory intervention in order to decrease tension and promote cooperation in their media sectors. The article therefore questions how broadcasters have problematised their relation with distributors and put it on the policy agenda, whether it is up to governments to intervene in the relationship between broadcasters and distributors, and whether the proposed policy actions are likely to remedy the tensions in the marketplace

Reach or Trust Optimisation? A Citizen Trust Analysis in the Flemish Public Broadcaster VRT

In democracies, one of Public Service Media’s (PSM) main roles is to inform the public. In a digital news ecosystem, where commercial, citizen, and alternative news sources have multiplied, questions about the ability and need for PSM to fulfil this role are increasingly being raised. While the role of PSM can and should be scrutinized, a too-narrow a focus on an informed citizenry may obfuscate aspects, other than audience reach and objectivity, that are key to this information role, such as trust. Against this background, this article studies whether and to what extent citizens still trust the news and information services of their public broadcaster, asking if that trust is still high, whether there is a difference between groups in the population, and if trust is in line with reach. Based on a representative survey of news users in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking community of Belgium, the article studies the reach and trust scores of the brands of VRT, Flanders’ PSM, and compares them to those of its main competitors, with a specific focus on differences in terms of age, education levels, and political orientation. The results suggest that VRT struggles more than the main commercial players to reach young people and the lower-educated, but still leads when it comes to trust. The data show the continued importance of widening our assessment of PSM beyond market-focused indicators of reach

Audience participation in public service media. From an instrumental to a purposeful vision

La participación de la audiencia se ha convertido en una palabra de moda en las políticas, estrategias y debates sobre los medios de comunicación de servicio público. Los distintos tipos de participación de la audiencia —por ejemplo, la incorporación de los medios sociales a los programas o los proyectos de cocreación mediática con los jóvenes— se han vinculado a la consecución de objetivos sociales como el aumento de la diversidad de los contenidos mediáticos. Sin embargo, la participación de la audiencia no ha cumplido sus promesas en la práctica en el caso de los entes públicos. Este articulo aborda los retos de la aplicación de la participación de la audiencia en el contexto de los medios de comunicación de servicio público, especialmente en la fase de creación de contenidos. Cuestionamos críticamente el supuesto subyacente en los estudios de los medios de comunicación de servicio público y en las teorías de los medios de comunicación de que una mayor participación de la audiencia es automáticamente mejor para la consecución de los objetivos de la sociedad. Se adoptan ideas de la teoría política sobre los modelos participativos y deliberativos de la democracia para pasar de una visión instrumental a otra más propositiva acerca del papel de la participación de la audiencia en los medios de comunicación de servicio público.Audience participation has become a buzzword in Public Service Media policies, strategies and debates. Different types of audience involvement—for example, adding social media to programs or media co-creation projects with young people—have been linked to the achievement of societal objectives such as increasing the diversity of media content. Yet, audience participation has failed to live up to its promises in the practice of public broadcasters. This article addresses the cha-llenges of the implementation of audience participation in a Public Service Media context, especially in the phase of content creation. We critically question the un-derlying assumption in Public Service Media scholarship and media theories that more audience participation is automatically better for the achievement of societal objectives. Insights from political theory on participatory and deliberative models of democracy are adopted to move from an instrumental to a more purposeful vision on audience participation in Public Service Media