Television Across Europe Summary: Regulation, Policy and Independence

Assesses and reviews the current profound transformation mass media in Europe are going through. These media reports analyze broadcasting regulations and policies, and the current public service broadcasting crisis of identity in the 20 monitored countries. Contains recommendations to both international organizations, such as the European Union, and to the government and authorities in the countries monitored. In Western Europe, the future of public service broadcasting appears questioned on the grounds of its expensiveness. In most of the post-communist European countries, the reform of the state-owned broadcasting mammoths has failed, while low-quality commercial television has boomed at a fast pace. At the same time, regulation is undermined by poor legislation, unclear, and often corrupt, licensing procedures, non-transparent ownership and various types of connections between broadcasters and political parties. The first half of the