11 (Re)defining public service media from an economic perspective: Damned if they do, damned if they don’t
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Karen Donders
Abstract
Public broadcasters have held an important position in European media markets ever since their creation in the 1920s and 1930s. While their economic impact on media markets was perceived as market distortive and negative in the 1980s and 1990s, the position of policy-makers on this has gradually changed in an era of platform domination. Nowadays, policy-makers also emphasize the potential of public broadcasters’s investments in audiovisual production and innovation. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the role of public broadcasters in media markets, devoting attention to issues of market distortion and European State aid control, public broadcasters’ contributions to domestic audiovisual production, and their investments in innovation. We argue that public broadcasters can indeed contribute to the sustainable development of media markets, but that such an objective should be subordinate to their societal role.
Abstract
Public broadcasters have held an important position in European media markets ever since their creation in the 1920s and 1930s. While their economic impact on media markets was perceived as market distortive and negative in the 1980s and 1990s, the position of policy-makers on this has gradually changed in an era of platform domination. Nowadays, policy-makers also emphasize the potential of public broadcasters’s investments in audiovisual production and innovation. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the role of public broadcasters in media markets, devoting attention to issues of market distortion and European State aid control, public broadcasters’ contributions to domestic audiovisual production, and their investments in innovation. We argue that public broadcasters can indeed contribute to the sustainable development of media markets, but that such an objective should be subordinate to their societal role.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series V
- Contents IX
- 1 Management and economics of media and communication – History and definition of the field 1
-
Section I – Theories
- 2 Industrial organization of media markets and competition policy 21
- 3 Approaches from strategic management: Resource-based view, knowledge-based view, and dynamic capability view 47
- 4 (New) Institutional media economics 69
- 5 Political economy 87
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Section II – Methods
- 6 Quantitative methods 109
- 7 Qualitative methods in media management research 129
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Section III – Key issues
- 8 Convergence 151
- 9 Content platforms 169
- 10 Media concentration 187
- 11 (Re)defining public service media from an economic perspective: Damned if they do, damned if they don’t 203
- 12 Innovation & creativity: Media as business and commons 223
- 13 Labour and risk in the media industries: Individual and organisational perspectives 241
- 14 Media and the economic cycle 261
- 15 Designing marketing models for media products 281
- 16 Branding: Media brands and brands as media 311
- 17 Transnational media and their management 333
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Section IV – Regional perspectives and peculiarities
- 18 North America 355
- 19 Latin America 365
- 20 Media management and economics research in Northern Europe 375
- 21 Southern Europe 393
- 22 Central and Eastern Europe 405
- 23 East Asia 417
- 24 Media management and economics research in China 427
- 25 Media economics in India: Traversing the Rubicon? 441
- 26 Australia and New Zealand 457
- 27 Media management scholarship and research: Emergence and trends of the discipline in Africa 469
-
Section V – Future
- 28 New media and the need for new analytical frameworks: Dual challenges to media economics and policy analysis 485
- Contributors 497
- Index 505
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series V
- Contents IX
- 1 Management and economics of media and communication – History and definition of the field 1
-
Section I – Theories
- 2 Industrial organization of media markets and competition policy 21
- 3 Approaches from strategic management: Resource-based view, knowledge-based view, and dynamic capability view 47
- 4 (New) Institutional media economics 69
- 5 Political economy 87
-
Section II – Methods
- 6 Quantitative methods 109
- 7 Qualitative methods in media management research 129
-
Section III – Key issues
- 8 Convergence 151
- 9 Content platforms 169
- 10 Media concentration 187
- 11 (Re)defining public service media from an economic perspective: Damned if they do, damned if they don’t 203
- 12 Innovation & creativity: Media as business and commons 223
- 13 Labour and risk in the media industries: Individual and organisational perspectives 241
- 14 Media and the economic cycle 261
- 15 Designing marketing models for media products 281
- 16 Branding: Media brands and brands as media 311
- 17 Transnational media and their management 333
-
Section IV – Regional perspectives and peculiarities
- 18 North America 355
- 19 Latin America 365
- 20 Media management and economics research in Northern Europe 375
- 21 Southern Europe 393
- 22 Central and Eastern Europe 405
- 23 East Asia 417
- 24 Media management and economics research in China 427
- 25 Media economics in India: Traversing the Rubicon? 441
- 26 Australia and New Zealand 457
- 27 Media management scholarship and research: Emergence and trends of the discipline in Africa 469
-
Section V – Future
- 28 New media and the need for new analytical frameworks: Dual challenges to media economics and policy analysis 485
- Contributors 497
- Index 505
