Audiovisual Media Services Without Frontiers


Book Description

The current ongoing revision of the EC's Television without Frontiers (TVwF) Directive clearly raises major questions for the future of the regulation of linear and non-linear services. However, it also gives rise to reflection concerning the Council of Europe's European Convention on Transfrontier Television (ECTT), a parallel regulatory instrument concerning cross-border broadcasting. At a time of major transformation of the European legal instruments which are applied to broadcasting and new audiovisual services, this new report from the European Audiovisual Observatory takes stock of recent and current problem areas in broadcasting regulation in the light of the challenges these will raise for the new extended regulation. The report analyses issues of the practical application of the TVwF Directive and the ECTT in their current form. It also raises the question of the future cohabitation of the two instruments following the completed revision of the TVwF Directive, not forgetting that there will clearly be a period where the two instruments will be "out of phase" with each other.




Television without frontiers?


Book Description

The draft Audiovisual Media Services (AMS) Directive, published in December 2005, was met with some alarm. It sought to extend the existing 'Television without Frontiers' Directive to new services which were seen to be competing for audience and revenue. In doing so it would have introduced inappropriate regulation on the new media sector. There have now been some changes to the original draft and a tightening of the definition of "television like" services. Although an improvement, the Committee is concerned that there is still not enough legal certainty. They are also worried about the need to defend the 'Country of Origin' approach to single market legislation and reject the idea that regulators should act to preserve the market dominance of existing players from new entrants. They are also unconvinced of the need for any quantitative restriction on advertising.




European Audiovisual Policy in Transition


Book Description

This book describes and critically addresses the innovations and shifts made in the revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) adopted by the European Parliament and Council in 2018. Reflecting on European Union regulation and policy practice in all its Member States, the book’s unique approach places in-depth case study topics against the broader theoretical background. Taking a Europe-wide angle, an international team of authors focuses on key aspects of the AVMSD: the expansion of its scope to include video-sharing-platforms such as YouTube; the update of the rules for commercial communications; the first attempt for harmonized, minimal requirements at EU level regarding transparency of media ownership; new rules to ensure that video-on-demand services offer, invest in, and prioritise European content; the obligation on television distributors and smart TV manufacturers to pass on broadcasters’ signal without any interference, alteration or modification; and, the formalisation and consolidation of new forms of collaboration among national regulatory authorities. This thorough analysis of the cornerstone of European media policy makes this edited collection a crucial reference for scholars and students of media and cultural industries, media law and policy, European and EU media policy, and technology studies.




The New Audiovisual Media Services Directive


Book Description

After long deliberations, the European Community (EC) has completed the reform of its audiovisual media regulation. The paper examines the main tenets of this reform with particular focus on its implications for the diversity of cultural expressions in the European media landscape. It also takes into account the changed patterns of consumer and business behaviour due to the advances in digital media and their wider spread in society. The paper criticises the somewhat unimaginative approach of the EC to new media and the political (and at times protectionist) considerations behind some of the Directive's provisions.




Public Broadcasting and European Law


Book Description

Although EU Member States share a tradition of regulating public broadcasting for the public interest, such regulation has been in decline in recent years. It has been challenged by the emergence of commercial television sworn to the market logic, as well as by satellite services and the Internet. EU law and policy has, under pressure from powerful global forces, abetted that decline. The question thus arises: Do cultural values still matter in European national broadcasting? This important book examines the challenges posed to public service obligations by European Union media law and policy. An in-depth analysis of the extent to which six countries (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) regulate broadcasting for the public interest reveals a range of vulnerability to national political pressures or, alternatively, to the ideology of market sovereignty. The author examines the country of origin principle and the European quota rule of the Television without Frontiers Directive, revealing the influence of European law on the definition and enforcement of programme requirements, and shows how the case law of the European Court of Justice encourages deregulation at the national level without offering adequate safeguards at the supranational level in exchange. She asks the question whether the alleged 'European audiovisual model' actually persists--that is, whether broadcasting is still committed to protecting such values as cultural diversity, the safety of minors, the susceptibility of consumers to advertising, media pluralism, and the fight against racial and religious hatred. The book concludes with an evaluation of the impact of the EU state aid regime on the licence fee based financing of public broadcasting. Despite the increasing importance of the subject, its study in a comparative context has been heretofore underdeveloped. This book fully provides that context and more, and will be of great value and interest to all parties concerned with the key role of communications in the development of European integration.




The Modernisation of the European Television Without Frontiers Directive


Book Description

This paper presents a critical analysis of the proposal for the amended Television without Frontiers Directive (the draft Audiovisual Media Services Directive). The following is argued in the paper: a) The revision lacks consistency from a regulatory point of view by using the artificial distinction between 'linear' and 'non-linear' services. Although based on jurisprudence from the European Court of Justice, there is no need to convert this jurisprudence into regulation. b) The directive introduces a wide range of new rules which are applicable to audiovisual services on the internet. It's not less regulation, but more. c) The proposed harmonisation of the content regulation seriously conflicts with standard jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. In its jurisprudence, the Court gives a substantial margin of appreciation to member states for the regulation of content (limiting the possibilities for fully-fledged harmonisation). d) The introduction of new regulation for non-linear services cannot be based on the lack of a transfrontier market. It's an attempt to regulate the internet (aka 'nonlinear' services) and will have an adverse effect on the creation of a common market. The paper is still a draft. Certain topics raised require additional research and are not discussed in full detail. The notes and references also need to be supplemented further.




The Palgrave Handbook of European Media Policy


Book Description

Containing state-of-the-art contributions on the various domains of European media policies, this Handbook deals with theoretical approaches to European media policy: its historical development; specific policies for film, television, radio and the Internet; and international aspects of the fragmented policy domain.




Private Television in Western Europe


Book Description

Private Television in Western Europe: Content, Markets, Policies describes, analyses and evaluates the phenomenon of private television in Europe, clustered around the themes of European and national experiences, content and markets, and policies.




Cultural Diversity and the EC Audiovisual Media Services Directive


Book Description

The European Community (EC) has recently and after lengthy and strenuous deliberations reformed its media regulation and adopted the Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AVMS) as a successor of the Television without Frontiers Directive. The present paper examines in particular whether and how the modifications to the EC audiovisual media regime may influence cultural diversity in European media and contemplate whether in this regard the AVMS appropriately safeguards the balance between economic and other public interests. Cultural diversity is singled out as a regulatory objective because of its recent prominence in policy discussions at national, regional and international levels and its legal emancipation through the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.