In The Public Service

Leaders argue about money for public broadcasting: good ideas or none - April 6, 2008

A proposal to fund public broadcasting in France with a tax on internet and mobile phone services met another round of criticism from EC Info Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding.

Eurovision faces tough questions on song contest in Serbia - February 2, 2008
Violent demonstrations in Serbia raised tensions among Eurovision Song Contest organizers. Eurovision and the EBU downplayed suggestions of moving the venue from Belgrade.

Public broadcasters calmed as Ministers translate M. Sarkozy - January 10, 2008
Anytime a national leader suggests changes in any institution some people get very nervous. So it was earlier in the week as new French President Nicolas Sarkozy commented on French broadcasting. Share prices for commercial TV channels and advertising companies rose as public broadcasters eyed the window ledges.

Broadcasting chief resigns over Putin documentary - December 7, 2007
The great lesson from the recent Russian Parliamentary election campaign is very simple: expect the expected. Russian media was, at best, compliant and, at worst, complicit. But who would expect Russian influence on media to drive into the European Union?

Digital on the edge; public broadcasting hustles for money - December 5, 2007

The difference between public and private sector broadcasting can be reduced to one thought, according to the ‘publics.’ The ‘privates’ need programs to make money, they say, and the ‘publics’ need money to make programs. ‘Content’ has replaced the very last century concept of ‘program’ and hustling money has changed, too.

The BBC Broadcasts Part One Of Its Monarchy Documentary That Proved How Silly And Stupid All That False Hype Was That Cost The Jobs Of the BBC1 Controller And A Senior Production Company Executive - November 28, 2007
The BBC showed on Monday the first part of its documentary series about the British monarchy at work and the message that flowed was how utterly stupid that whole hype mess for the series was that brought down the BBC 1 Controller and a senior executive at the production company.

Ministers ‘save’ TV5 Monde - November 10, 2007
TV5 Monde partners have checked French government efforts to consolidate its international broadcasting. Swiss, Belgians and Canadians want the French-language television channel to remain a partnership and not become ‘the voice of France.’

Get out the vote campaign worked, moans politician - October 29, 2007

Campaigns by public television to encourage election voting characterize civic responsibility. Democratic participation in elections is a good thing. Encouraging that participation is also a good thing.

BBC 1 Controller Resigns Over Queen Fiasco - October 8, 2007
The controller of the BBC’s primary terrestrial channel, BBC1, has resigned as heads begin to roll over Buckingham Palace’s fury at the public broadcaster showing the media a trailer for a documentary that edited video out of context and embarrassed the Queen.

New Eurovision Song Contest Rules - October 2, 2007
The next Eurovision Song Contest will be different. Details are sketchy but two semi-finals will determine the finalists and maybe a wild-card

Remember That Pioneer TV Show “Who Do You Trust?” A Survey Says The British Public, By A Large Margin, No Longer Trusts Its TV - August 26, 2007
Before Johnny Carson became a household US TV name on “The Tonight Show” he hosted a daily half-hour quiz show titled “Who Do You Trust?” If That show was alive today and asked that question of the British public their overwhelming answer would be, according to a new survey, that they know who they don’t trust – British TV.

Money and politics mix as Moscow radio station dumps BBC - August 18, 2007

Moscow station Bolshoye Radio informed the BBC (Friday August 17) and stopped broadcasting BBC Russian immediately. For the BBC, its last FM re-broadcaster in Russia is gone. For international broadcasters it is another footnote to a changing world.

Youth station DJs fired - ‘too old’ - August 8, 2007
Public broadcasting jobs in Germany are not jobs for life any more. Too old and you’re out at youth channel Radio Fritz.

Don’t blame the independent producers - July 23, 2007
The agonized whinging from BBC critics, honorably not other broadcasters, bemoan the lost days when broadcasters produced everything they aired. That system ended sometime in the last century. That day came when one general director after another asked that very important – and so very ‘80’s – question: What business are we in?

It’s Not Good Business To Upset The Queen - July 23, 2007
The independent program maker RDF Media has learned the hard way it is not good business to portray the Queen in a manner that’s not true, and embarrass the public broadcaster at the same time.

South Africa shares its world-view - July 22, 2007
South Africa’s State broadcaster became the most recent addition to the bouquet of viewpoints offered to television viewers with the debut of SABC International. The satellite channel will counter the “half truths” told by “news agencies with headquarters in powerful nations,” beamed President Thabo Mbeki in a launch speech all too familiar.

What A Month For The BBC’s Reputation For Excellence – It Has Apologized To The Queen, Ofcom Slaps It With Its First-Ever Fine, It Cuts Off Tony Blair’s Final Minutes in Parliament, And Its Trustees Says It Is “Deeply Concerned” At Falling Standards - July 19, 2007
When a company’s board issues a public statement saying “significant failures of control and compliance” have compromised “values of accuracy and honesty” and that company is the world’s most prestigious public broadcaster, the BBC, then one has to ask how long it will take for some top jobs to go?

Unbelievable! BBC Television Cuts Off Terrestrial Coverage Of Blair’s Historic Last Day In Parliament For A Drama Series Promo And Wimbledon - June 28, 2007
It was a historical day – the UK’s prime minister was making his last appearance in Parliament before going off to see the Queen to resign. An event that one might think a public broadcaster would cover in its entirety? Not so the BBC for its terrestrial viewers.

New US Broadcasting Chief Knows His Way Around a Newsroom - June 25, 2007

James K. Glassman has become Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the agency supervising US government international broadcasting. Answering questions via email this weekend, he offered a candid and optimistic appraisal of the agency and its mission.
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From Russia on YouTube - June 11, 2007

Russia’s new international TV channel Russia Today has discovered Web 2.0. Faced with a distribution challenge, YouTube provides a solution.

Pope Benedict XVI Often Criticizes Television For Showing Anti-Social, Violent and Sexual Programming Aimed At Children, But RAI, the Italian Public Broadcaster, Will Televise A British TV Documentary That Says The Pope As A Cardinal Maintained Church Secrecy In Child Sexual Abuse Cases, And, Again, The Church Is Not Pleased - May 23, 2005
Pope Benedict XVI on several occasions this year has criticized the media, particularly television, for programming particularly aimed at children that goes against their moral social good. But the Church had another TV issue to deal with this week as RAI, the Italian public broadcaster, planned to show a BBC documentary critical of the then Cardinal Ratzinger for enforcing church secrecy rules on its many child sexual abuse cases around the world.

Iran Broadcasting Chief Says Radio a Source of Calm. US Congressmen Disagree - May 20, 2007
An Iranian sponsored international radio conference and a US Congressional committee hearing, all in one week, heaped praise and criticism on broadcasters.
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Another Public Broadcaster Under Government Pressure – Nobody’s Happy - May 5, 2007
Romanian public television is losing money and the Parliament is unhappy. The broadcasters’ president walked (or ran) out a week ago. He was unhappy. Another public broadcaster in the new Member States faces a crisis.

English Language Radio Comes to Georgia - April 18, 2007
NPRs reach extending south

Polish President Puts New Spin on Polish Plumber Jokes - April 10, 2007
Firing yet another public television president sets no precedent in either Poland or the new Member States. Polish President Lech Kaczynski ordered TVP President Bronislaw Wildstein out at the end of February moving ever more quickly to bring the broadcaster under State control. Wildstein’s successor, former Kaczynski aide Andrzej Urbanski, was nominated and appointed within a week.

Engaging the Future: The BBC – Global Voice to the World
ftm interviews BBC Global News Director Richard Sambrook - April 4, 2007

The world finds its bearings each day from broadcast news. Through radio and television sounds and images, facts and reality are sorted and chosen by billions. Though times are changing broadcast news will continue to inform and educate like no other medium for generations to come. News brands have expanded to meet increasing demand; CNN has global television reach, Al Jazeera is a new force and the BBC lofts above them all.

Slow Change for Bulgaria and Romania State Broadcasters - January 5, 2007
Bribes, favors and turning a blind eye swallow the Bulgarian and Romanian political and business cultures. Concerns by European Commissioners turned to warnings, threatening to delay or postpone both countries accession to the European Union. The State broadcasting institutions were far from exempt.

Faith-healers in Budapest to Save MTV - November 6, 2006

What Got Stuck in Arne Wessberg’s Craw? - September 9, 2006
The always diplomatic Arne Wessberg – outgoing president of the always diplomatic European Broadcasting Union – left the stage with a sharply un-diplomatic blast at Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and public television channel MTV.

“Third Way” is New Direction for PSB Youth Channels - August 1, 2006
PSB youth channels typically follow one of two formats — the more program-driven “educational/alternative” option and the standard-fare contemporary hit radio (CHR), which competes more openly with commercial stations. A “third way” is developing; pleasing to pleasing to public broadcasters, upsetting their private competitors.

Eurovision Song Contest Not Political - July 30, 2006
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) reacted swiftly and harshly to a suggestion that the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest just might be a great promotional device for the European Unions’ 50th anniversary.

Swiss Lead in Radio Recycling - July 28, 2006

Environmentally friendly Switzerland tries “World Radio Switzerland” for the 2nd or 3rd time.

Eurovision Song Contest 2007: the Devil is in the Details - June 26, 2006

New Leadership Named for TV Poland - May 20, 2006
The new Polish government made good on its announced intentions to change the leadership at Telewizja Polska, Polish public television. The National Broadcasting Council named a new supervisory board, a new management board and new president, conforming to political party guidelines, within a week, finishing just in time for the annual TVP open house.

The BBC Wants Back Its Teen Audience No Matter The Video and Audio Platforms Used. But Rupert Murdoch Wants Those Teens Surfing MySpace, And His People Howl At The BBC Spending Public Funds For Competitive Sites. Let The Battle Begin. - April 28, 2006 The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) has clearly set out traditional media’s problem and how it intends to fix it. “The BBC should no longer think of itself as a broadcaster of TV and radio and some new media on the side. We should aim to deliver public service content to our audiences in whatever media and on whatever device makes sense for them, whether they are at home or on the move.”

PSB Youth Channel Plans in Bavaria Stir Private Broadcasters - February 9, 2006

Europe’s public radio broadcasters have discovered a new and unexpected audience: young people. When Bavaria’s public broadcaster announced plans to launch its version of youth radio, private broadcasters cried foul.

Czech Public Youth Radio Waves Hello - January 18, 2006
Public broadcaster Cesky Rozhlas (Czech Radio - CRo) launched Radio Wave (CRo4) January 13th (yes, Friday the 13th) at 13:13 aimed at 15 to 25 year old listeners.

Pattiz Era Ends at BBG - January 12, 2006

Norman J. Pattiz has resigned from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the oversight board which controls American government international broadcasting. His five-year tenure at BBG was fraught with controversy over new radio and television services targeting the Middle East. Pattiz met with BBG staff on Tuesday then issued the following statement, which was emailed to BBG, IBB and VOA staff by Bert Kleinman, Executive Vice President of Middle East Broadcasting Network.

Public Television Pain / Slovakia - November 24, 2005
Public service television in the new Member States struggles still with painful transition. Inheriting bloated operations in place since - and protected by - previous regimes many attempted to leave State broadcasting behind but not the structures. Slovak Television (SVT) had a different set of challenges. It didn’t exist before 1993.

Wayne’s World – Where Reality TV is Reality - November 17, 2005
Touting hits like “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Honey, We’re Killing the Kids,” BBC Entertainment chief Wayne Garvie praises reality TV to public service broadcasters.

US Broadcasting Agencies Under Investigation - November 7, 2005
After meeting for three days at an undisclosed location the US Corporation for Public Broadcasting board accepted the resignation of former chairman and current board member Kenneth Y. Tomlinson. This week Tomlinson will appear before a Congressional subcommittee investigating Arabic television channel Al-Hurra. Tomlinson currently chairs the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees all US government overseas media programs, including Voice of America and Al-Hurra television.

BBC Returns to Arabic TV, Vacates Eastern Europe - November 3, 2005
When the BBC World Service announced plans for an Arabic language television channel there was no doubt it would succeed. The Beeb has been there before. And without that episode a dozen years ago, troubled though it was, neither Al-Jazeera nor Al-Arabiya would exist today.

Big News: Planning Required - August 1, 2005
Covering news events can be like a military operation: Broadcasters rush to deploy reporters and crews, deliver supplies, to the right locations at the right times. And then, everything changes as the event unfolds.

PSBs Scramble to Meet Rule Proposals - June 30, 2005
The BBC looks ahead to the Charter Review and sells an asset. Swiss public broadcasting says a new radio and TV law will cause cuts.

With So Much Attention These Days on How Video Is Transforming the Web Let’s Not Forget Audio - June 22, 2005
The BBC Didn’t, Offered Five Beethoven Symphonies For Free and Logged More Than 650,000 Downloads. And Podcasting Is Growing Everywhere.

To The Barracades!! - May 26, 2005
BBC employee unions and management are at the arbitration table today, actually separate rooms. Public service broadcasting faces yet another dilemma.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do - May 23, 2005
Independent American public broadcaster NPR seeks Berlin radio license. And the US government isn’t happy.
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Fomenting Public Diplomacy - May 2, 2005
RFE/RL has a new logo, dumping that old bell for a new flame, RFI and DW partner-up and the BBC World Service wants to send more emails.

It’s Not So Easy Being a European Public Broadcast Executive These Days. Was It Ever? - April 25, 2005
One EU investigation ends as another begins, budgets are cut, laws are changed, not to mention strikes, and let’s not forget the occasional blasphemy charge.

BBC License Fee Lives For Another Ten Years. What Then? - March 14, 2005
The Green Paper on the BBC’s Royal Charter recommends continuing the license fee for another 10 years but suggests an end in sight.

Competition Commission Opens Investigation to Open the Books at ARD/ZDF - February 24, 2005
Representatives of four German states paddled to Brussels last week hoping to head off a formal investigation. It failed. Commissioner Kroes says the “open the books.”

“It’s Pointed and a Bit Uncomfortable” - February 24, 2005
In an extraordinary positioning campaign, Swedish public television “provokes” as it promotes points at Silvio Berlusconi.

A Cartoon Rabbit Visits Two Lesbian Families and Soldiers Actually Swear In A Documentary about Iraq -- It’s All Too Much for US Public Broadcasting and They’re Looking for a New PBS Boss - February 21, 2005
With the House of Representatives approving a bill in record time to increase indecency fines from $$32,500 to $500,000, the US Secretary of Education demanding a refund of the department’s funding for a cartoon show...

Editor-in-Chief Appointed at Radio Netherlands - February 14, 2005
Radio Netherlands announces the appointment of Joop Daalmeijer as Editor-in-chief and director.

Experts to Dutch Public Broadcasters: No Singing and No Dancing - February 7, 2005
Governments must look for efficiency in their public media policies, says a Dutch think tank. Entertainment is out.

PSB Anxiety, Far From Cute - February 3, 2005
Europe’s public service broadcasters, nearly healed after the last anxiety attack, return to the analysts couch.

A Very Long Year for the BBC - January 24, 2005
An anniversary like no other passes this week, January 28th. Don’t expect celebrations. In the year since Lord Hutton tarred the BBC, the public broadcasting icon, every critic has piled on.

The Public Diplomacy of Willis Conover - November 2, 2004
The end of October brought the end of Swiss Radio International broadcasting on shortwave and as I considered this I could not help but think of Willis Conover.

OFCOM Throws Punch at BBC, Proposes £300m TV channel - October 16, 2004
Time was when the BBC deftly avoided punches thrown by critics and competitors. A series of OFCOM reports and statements suggests the real contest is only beginning.

Top Two Go in Danmarks Radio Mess - October 13, 2004
To borrow from  Hamlet, ”There is something rotten in the state of Danmarks Radio.” First, the Chairman of the Board fired the Director General and then the chairman resigned after he admitted a television interview he gave about the firing was somewhat at variance with the truth.

New Controller Named at BBC Radio 4 - October 1, 2004
BBC News deputy director Mark Damazer has been appointed Controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC 7.

UK commercial radio reports “public service” content - September 22, 2004
CRCA publishes its study of news and community information broadcast by UK commercial stations, adding to OFCOMs review of “public service.”

German business group seeks change in broadcast license fees - September 3, 2004
The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) proposed changes in the system that collects broadcast license fees.

Trade union bristles at new France Culture schedule - August 30, 2004
When France Culture director Laure Adler announced new fall programs the trade union representing Radio France employees (CGT) snarled that management was putting the channel in danger.

Europe's Media Rules

Media rule makers are taking strong positions on competition, State aid, public broadcasting finance and advertising. and that's only for starters. As the Audiovisual Media Services Directive takes effect, national rules are changing. Europe's Media Rules has all the background and latest developments. 82 pages PDF (June 2008)

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Media Searches for Business Models

The search for effective business models challenges traditional media and new. From broadcasting to publishing, Hollywood to China, media outlets confront change after change in new terms for revenue creation and value. Media Searches for Business Models is 30 articles on what's real and what's not. 76 pages PDF (May 2008)

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The Beijing Olympic Games and China

The Beijing Olympic Games is the most anticipated media event of the 21st century. ftm is following the run-up to the Games, Brand China, Digital China, media business in China and the state of China's media freedom. 25 articles 60 pages PDF (April 2008)

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Most Read ftm Articles in Europe (January)

A Futurist Panel At The World Economic Forum Suggests Print Newspapers Will Cease By 2014 So Should We Start Packing Our Bags?
A World Economic Forum (WEF) panel featuring such futurists as Paul Saffo of Stanford and Peter Schwartz, chairman of Global Business Network, suggested Thursday that print newspapers will disappear by 2014. But ever since the Internet became a powerhouse we’ve heard similar predictions on the end of print, so, no need to pay attention to this prediction either. Right?

The Cup of Nations opens. It’s pay to play (or watch or listen) every day
For broadcasters and telecoms to ad agencies and sponsors, sport is, again, the best hope for a brighter (financial) day. Africa’s Cup of Nations football tournament opened this past weekend to an expected audience of one billion. By years’ end sports programming will enrich many; certainly those who place the right bet.

Digital radio; one step forward, two steps back
Being a digital radio supporter requires a certain strength of conviction. There’s no ambiguity about digital media’s future. Getting there is less certain.

Could It Be That Free Is Just Fine Until There Is A Big Breaking Story And Then We’ll Cough Up The Money To Buy The Better Journalism In A Paid-For Newspaper?
The UK is one of the world’s leading competitive newspaper markets with Londoners choosing between nine titles every weekday and 10 on Sunday, and the reputation of the so-called “red top” tabloids with the sex exposés, nude women and the like is known around the world.

Another shot across the bow of public broadcasting as the EC opens inquiry
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes wants to ask some questions. A day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced his intention to radically change the way French public broadcasting is funded, the European Commission fires its own shot over that bow.

Most Read ftm Articles in North America (January)

The Cup of Nations opens. It’s pay to play (or watch or listen) every day
For broadcasters and telecoms to ad agencies and sponsors, sport is, again, the best hope for a brighter (financial) day. Africa’s Cup of Nations football tournament opened this past weekend to an expected audience of one billion. By years’ end sports programming will enrich many; certainly those who place the right bet.

Two radio guys in two countries take hold of two newspapers called Tribune
Just as the old guard newspaper people digested Rupert Murdoch’s take over of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, populating both with old guard newspaper people, the radio people slipped in the back door of the Tribune Company in the United States and La Tribune in France.

It’s A New Year But For Newspapers It’s The Same Story -- Share Prices Hitting 52-Week Lows With Advertising Declines Accelerating, But The Sliver Of Silver Lining Is That Web Display Advertising May Shoot Up And Newspapers Must Take Advantage
US Newspaper ad revenue declined 8.6% in 2007, according to JP Morgan analyst Imran Khan, far worse than the 1.7% decline in 2006, and he believes the decline will accelerate in 2008, but that will be positive for online search and display advertising. Now if newspaper web sites could only increase their web display advertising share then all may not be lost, but it doesn’t look like they are.

The Subprime Financial Crisis Claims Another Victim – Newspapers
It’s only the second week of the new year yet already forecasters are dramatically lowering their already low forecasts for newspaper advertising, not the least reason being the subprme crisis effect on real estate that in turn has led the savaging of newspaper classified advertising.

Could It Be That Free Is Just Fine Until There Is A Big Breaking Story And Then We’ll Cough Up The Money To Buy The Better Journalism In A Paid-For Newspaper?
The UK is one of the world’s leading competitive newspaper markets with Londoners choosing between nine titles every weekday and 10 on Sunday, and the reputation of the so-called “red top” tabloids with the sex exposés, nude women and the like is known around the world.

Most Read ftm Articles in Asia (January)

A Futurist Panel At The World Economic Forum Suggests Print Newspapers Will Cease By 2014 So Should We Start Packing Our Bags?
A World Economic Forum (WEF) panel featuring such futurists as Paul Saffo of Stanford and Peter Schwartz, chairman of Global Business Network, suggested Thursday that print newspapers will disappear by 2014. But ever since the Internet became a powerhouse we’ve heard similar predictions on the end of print, so, no need to pay attention to this prediction either. Right?

The Cup of Nations opens. It’s pay to play (or watch or listen) every day
For broadcasters and telecoms to ad agencies and sponsors, sport is, again, the best hope for a brighter (financial) day. Africa’s Cup of Nations football tournament opened this past weekend to an expected audience of one billion. By years’ end sports programming will enrich many; certainly those who place the right bet.

Raise high the license fee, Burma, and see less
Burma’s military rulers engaged a new front in their war on media “liars attempting to destroy the nation.” Today’s target is the dreaded satellite dish. Without warning, and no official announcement, satellite dish owners are now expected to pay about three times the average annual wage for a license to watch news, sports and soap operas from the outside.

The Financial Message To Newspapers: Increase Your Digital Investments As Quickly As Possible
It’s beginning to look like Wall Street thinks there may be some value to owning newspaper shares, not for their print activities but for all the financial advantages of building various web businesses. And the quicker newspaper companies do that, the more that will find favor with the financial people.

Could It Be That Free Is Just Fine Until There Is A Big Breaking Story And Then We’ll Cough Up The Money To Buy The Better Journalism In A Paid-For Newspaper?
The UK is one of the world’s leading competitive newspaper markets with Londoners choosing between nine titles every weekday and 10 on Sunday, and the reputation of the so-called “red top” tabloids with the sex exposés, nude women and the like is known around the world.