Public Service Broadcasting Online: a Comparative European Policy
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Public Service Broadcasting Online Palgrave Global Media Policy and Business Series Editors: Professor Petros Iosifidis, Professor Jeanette Steemers and Professor Gerald Sussman Editorial Board: Sandra Braman, Peter Dahlgren, Terry Flew, Charles Fombad, Manuel Alejandro Guerrero, Alison Harcourt, Robin Mansell, Richard Maxwell, Toby Miller, Zizi Papacharissi, Stylianos Papathanassopoulos, Caroline Pauwels, Robert Picard, Kiran Prasad, Marc Raboy, Chang Yong Son, Miklos Suksod, Kenton T. Wilkinson, Sugmin Youn This innovative series examines the wider social, political, economic and techno- logical changes arising from the globalization of the media and communications industries and assesses their impact on matters of business practice, regulation and policy. Considering media convergence, industry concentration, and new communications practices, the series makes reference to the paradigmatic shift from a system based on national decision-making and the traditions of public service in broadcast and telecommunications delivery to one that is demarcated by commercialization, privatization and monopolization. Bearing in mind this shift, and based on a multi-disciplinary approach, the series tackles three key questions: To what extent do new media developments require changes in regulatory philosophy and objectives? To what extent do new technologies and changing media consumption require changes in business practices and models? And to what extent does privatization alter the creative freedom and public accountability of media enterprises? Benedetta Brevini PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING ONLINE A Comparative European Policy Study of PSB 2.0 Karen Donders, Caroline Pauwels and Jan Loisen (editors) PRIVATE TELEVISION IN WESTERN EUROPE Content, Markets, Policies Michael Starks THE DIGITAL TELEVISION REVOLUTION Origins to Outcomes Palgrave Global Media Policy and Business Series Standing Order ISBN 978–1–137–27329–1 (hardback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a stand- ing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of diffi culty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Public Service Broadcasting Online A Comparative European Policy Study of PSB 2.0 Benedetta Brevini The University of Sydney © Benedetta Brevini 2013 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. 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This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures and Tables xi Preface xii Acknowledgements xiv 1 Introduction 1 Public Service Broadcasting: Tradition and challenges 3 Academic research 5 The structure of this book 6 2 The European and Global Policy Framework of Public Service Broadcasting 8 Europe and Public Service Broadcasting 8 Europe and Public Service Broadcasting online 9 European law and Public Service Broadcasting: The regulatory framework 11 PSB online: The global policy context 13 Multilateral discussions of PSB and the Internet 13 Public Service Broadcasting and GATS 14 The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 15 Council of Europe and Public Service Broadcasting on the Internet 16 Four international mandates on freedom of expression and PSB 17 Conclusion 18 3 Theorizing Public Service Broadcasting Online 19 Introduction 19 New institutionalism and the political economy of communication 19 Policy: Decision, output and outcome 21 Path dependency and political cultures against policy convergence 22 Policy transfer and the limits of national peculiarities 23 The concept of Europeanization 24 Marketization 26 Comparing media systems and PSB policies 28 Conclusion 29 vii viii Contents 4 A Normative Framework for PSB Online: The Idea of PSB 2.0 30 PSB 2.0: The four normative criteria 30 Citizenship for PSB 2.0: Setting the context 32 The ‘citizens versus consumers’ paradigm 34 The danger of reducing citizens to consumers in media policy 36 Towards a broader conception of citizenship: Citizenship and its different meanings 37 Different theories of democracy, different theories of citizenship 38 Towards a definition of citizenship for PSB 2.0: Which theory of democracy? 40 Citizenship for PSB 2.0 41 Universality for PSB 2.0 42 Quality for PSB 2.0 46 Trust for PSB 2.0 50 Conclusion 52 5 Comparing Histories of PSB in Denmark, France, UK, Spain and Italy 54 Comparative data about the media and technology context of France, Spain, Italy, UK and Denmark 54 DR and its political, cultural and historical legacy 60 A brief history of DR 64 France Télévisions and its political, cultural and historical legacy 67 The BBC and its Charter renewal 73 The BBC Trust: Guarantor of BBC independence 73 Approval process for new services: The Public Value Test 74 TVE: Its political, cultural and historical legacy 75 RAI and its tradition 79 6 The Impact of Historical, Political and Cultural Legacies on PSB Online in Europe 82 National and institutional policies on RTVE online 82 Practices of RTVE online 85 Public and institutional policies of DR online: First came the practices and then the policies 87 National policies and the legal framework of DR.dk 88 National policies on DR online 90 Practices of DR online 92 Contents ix France Télévisions online: The regulatory framework 94 Policies on France Télévisions online 96 Practices of France Télévisions online 99 RAI online: Constrained by political negligence 100 Conclusion 105 7 European Union Influence on PSB Online 107 Foundations of the European framework 107 Early decisions of the European Commission 108 Cold feet: The Commission’s shifting approach to PSB online 109 Negotiating a new standard 112 The ex-ante test 114 Communication 2009: A critical appraisal 116 European influence or BBC policy transfer? The importance of the BBC online framework 117 Histories of bbc.co.uk 118 Commercial pressure on BBC online 120 Conclusion: A progressive Europeanization? 123 8 Commercial Pressure from Rival Competitors: The Impact on PSB Online 126 Introduction 126 RTVE and its commercial rivals 126 Commercial complaints and their impact on RTVE reform 127 The fragile new funding scheme of RTVE 129 The new Zapatero ‘counter reform’ and its impact on RTVE.es 130 Commercial pressure on DR online: Complaints from the Danish newspaper association 130 Commercial pressure on policies on France Télévisions: Complaints lodged with the European Commission 133 Commercial pressure at the national level: How it shaped France Télévisions’ policies 134 Commercial complaints against France Télévisions after the reform: The reduction of taxation on commercial broadcasters 138 No cash, no reform: The total abolition of advertisement is postponed 139 Complaints lodged with the EC: Their effects on the reform of France Télévisions and RTVE 141 Conclusion 143 x Contents 9 Conclusion 145 Path dependency: National peculiarities overcome convergence 145 Marketization: Two distinct types 148 ‘Marketization through reduction of PSBs’ scope’ coming from the EU 148 Europeanization as marketization 149 Bottom-up Europeanization and the BBC policy transfer 150 Challenging the Hallin–Mancini model: Towards a generalization of the findings 151 Normative aims 151 Citizenship 152 Universality 153 Quality and trust 154 Final remarks 156 Notes 158 Bibliography 176 Index 197 List of Figures and Tables Figures 4.1 Components of universality 45 5.1 The growth of debts accumulated by RTVE 1991–2006 78 5.2 Audience of RAI and Mediaset channels 2000–2011 80 6.1 Page views per month, RTVE.es 2005 84 6.2 Page views and unique users, RTVE.es 2008 86 7.1 BBC online reach of UK internet users 1999–2001 119 7.2 BBC online page impressions for News, Sport and