The Establishment of the Common Market for Broadcasting in Western Europe
| Published date | 01 July 1986 |
| Author | George Wedell |
| DOI | 10.1177/019251218600700305 |
| Date | 01 July 1986 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
281
THE
ESTABLISHMENT
OF
THE
COMMON
MARKET
FOR
BROADCASTING
IN
WESTERN
EUROPE
GEORGE
WEDELL
Broadcasting
grew
up
in
Europe
as
a
national
instrument.
But
as
the
result
of
new
emerging
communications
technologies,
particularly
cable
and
satellites,
national
boundaries
and
national
regulations
are
becoming
irrelevant.
Even
national
autarchies
created
by
language
differences
are
breaking
down.
Under
these
conditions
the
EEC
is
addressing
the
question
of
what
measures,
if
any,
it
should
and
can
take
to
develop
a
useful
and
viable
European
broadcasting
policy.
This
article
discusses
the
1984
Green
Paper
and
more
recent
documents,
identifies
the
problems
confronted
by
the
EEC
member
states
in
the
field
of
broadcasting,
and
speculates
on
the
chances
of
success
of
current
efforts
to
cope
with
the
new
technological
and
programming
challenges.
TELEVISION:
A
NATIONAL
INSTITUTION
Throughout
Europe
the
next
decade
will
see
a
dramatic
expansion
of
television
services.
In
addition
to
the
services
terrestrially
trans-
mitted,
there
will
probably
be
more
than
30
program
channels
trans-
mitted
by
cable
and
five
or
more
direct
broadcast
satellite
channels,
as
well
as
an
explosive
growth
in
the
number
of
video
cassette
recorders
that
will
enable
viewers
to
make
up
their
own
programs
of
feature
films,
games
and
computer
facilities.
Cable
television
could
add
a
new
qualitative
dimension
to
the
expan-
sion
in
the
number
of
channels.
Through
talkback
and
other
forms
of
interaction,
the
viewer
will
be
able
to
respond
to
questions
as
well
as
initiate
conversations.
He
will,
for
example,
be
able
to
contribute
opinions
to
a
television
discussion
or
public
opinion
poll
by
casting
a
vote
for
immediate
computer
analysis
and
publication.
Broadcasting
in
Europe
has
grown
up
as
a
collection
of
national
instruments.
Due
to
the
scarcity
of
frequencies,
European
governments
have,
over
the
years,
built
up
systems
effectively
under
national
control
282
and
designed
to
serve
each
country’s
interests.
The
growth
of
broad-
casting
on
a
national
basis
has
been
reinforced
by the
diversity
of
languages
in
Europe,
which
has
possibly
been
the
most
significant
factor
in
the
development
of
well-defined
national
broadcasting
areas.
THE
BREAKDOWN
OF
NATIONALISM
To
think
of
broadcasting
in
the
context
of
European
interdepen-
dence
involves the
recognition
that
such
broadcasting
has
to
transcend
the
national
assumptions
about
broadcasting
that
prevail
in
most
member
states
of
the
European
Economic
Community
(EEC).
Little
by
little,
indeed,
these
assumptions
are
eroding.
In
the
West
European
heartlands
(Benelux,
West
Germany
and
France),
TV
transmissions
from
one
country
have
for
many
years
been
receivable
in
at
least
part
of
the
others.
With
the
advent
of
cable,
used
until
now
to
extend
the
coverage
of
open
circuit
systems,
viewers
in
Belgium,
for
example,
have
been
able
to
receive
the
four
Belgian
channels
(two
French
language,
two
Flemish
language),
as
well
as
two
from
the
Netherlands,
three
from
Germany,
three
from
France
and
one
from
Luxembourg.
British
pro-
grams
have
now
been
added
after
years
of
negotiation
about
rights
and
other
legal
issues.
Under
the
impact
of
the
technological
revolution
that
is
now
being
applied
to
all
types
of
information
systems,
this
trickle
of
transnational
developments
is
likely
to
turn
into
a
flood.
The
cumulative
effect
of
developments
is
to
move
all
forms
of
media
communications
from
the
carefully
regulated
and
restricted
national
systems
that
have
developed
in
all
European
countries
during
the
last
two
generations
into
an
entirely
new
context
in
which
national
boundaries
and
national
regula-
tions
become
irrelevant.
Attempts
to
maintain
national
autarchies
may,
to
some
extent,
be
supported
by
language
barriers.
Progressively,
however,
these
barriers
are
breaking
down
as
language
facility
increases
and
as
the
media
learn
how
to
operate
multilingual
and
non-verbal
communications.
At
the
same
time,
the
multiplicity
of
media
outlets
is
removing
the
time-honored
argument
for
public
(if
not
government)
control;
in
other
words,
that
there
is
a
need
to
regulate
access
to
the
limited
number
of
frequencies
available
to
each
country,
in
the
public
interest
of
that
country.
Regulatory
authorities
find
themselves
outflanked
by
the
new
technology
and
vacillate
between
attempts
to
retain
traditional
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