Tranfrontier Television in the European Union: Market Impact and Selected Legal Aspects

TRANSFRONTIER TELEVISION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION:
MARKET IMPACT AND SELECTED LEGAL ASPECTS
Chapter 1: Transfrontier Television in the European Union -
Prevalence and Market Impact
• As of January 2004, the European Audiovisual Observatory estimates that a total of
1,100 national or transnational television channels are available or originate in the
European Union. More than 200 of these channels target non-national markets.
In addition there are around 1,900 regional and local channels of which almost 70 are
carried on satellites.
• Channel numbers have risen steeply from 103 in 1990 to more than 1,100 in 2003
(excluding local channels) - movie and sports themed channels are those showing
the fastest increase in numbers.
• Five types of channels involved in transfrontier broadcasting can be identified:
i. Single-language pan-European channels
BBC World, TV5 Europe CNN International,…
ii. Pan-European channels with distinct language versions
Euronews
TV1000
Discovery Channel
iii. ‘Delocalised channels’ established in country A and targeting country B
RTL9, TV3 (targeting Scandinavian countries).
iv. Channels serving country of origin A but with advertising windows
targeting country B
Pro7, the future Irish version of Sky News,…
v. Channels established outside Europe but relayed through European
satellites
TV Globo International
• The impact of transfrontier television varies widely in terms of audience share, from
marginal in the larger markets to a significant impact in smaller markets:
􀂃 Less than 1% of total audience in the UK, France, Italy, Spain in
2002..
􀂃 …but 84% of total audience in Luxembourg,
􀂃 46% of total audience in Ireland,
􀂃 and more than 30% in Austria, the French Community of Belgium,
and Sweden.
• Estimating the economic impact of transfrontier television on national markets
remains difficult if not impossible, as companies operating transfrontier channels
publish no geographical breakdown of their revenues.
• From a methodological point of view, the Observatory faces increasing problems in
tracking reliably the number of TV channels in existence in Europe and in
ascertaining the country of establishment of a certain number of channel providers.
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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y
TRANSFRONTIER TELEVISION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION:
MARKET IMPACT AND SELECTED LEGAL ASPECTS
Chapter 2: Jurisdiction Over Broadcasters
EC-Rules, Case Law and an Ever-changing Audiovisual Landscape
• The balance between the interest of a state in regulating broadcasting within its territory
(including organisational and content-related matters), and the fundamental freedom to
disseminate and receive information is at the very heart of jurisdiction over
broadcasters. Should a broadcaster perceive this balance as tilted to its detriment it will
try to find a more hospitable environment for conducting its business.
• The freedom of services and freedom of establishment warranted under the EC Treaty,
as well as secondary law translating these freedoms into regulation of specialised
areas have facilitated decisions by broadcasters in favour of non-national
establishment. Moreover, the “Television without Frontiers” Directive ensures that
television broadcasts can circulate freely between Member States and that
broadcasters can offer their services throughout the European Union, regardless of the
Member State from which they operate.
• As a consequence, the question as to which Member State has jurisdiction over which
broadcaster becomes highly relevant. The paper describes the basic principles by
which the “Television without Frontiers” Directive regulates jurisdiction and summarises
the most relevant case law. Due to the complexity of the issue, the enormous growth of
the broadcasting sector in past years, and the impact of new technology on television
services, open questions remain and these are highlighted by the paper.