European Broadcasting Law and Policy

Jackie Harrison, Lorna Woods0521848970, 9780521848978, 9780511367465, 9780521613309, 0521613302

European broadcasting policy has attracted attention from many disciplines because it has dual nature: cultural and commercial. This book offers a detailed treatment of European broadcasting law, set against an overview of policy in this area. In this respect the authors identify tensions within the EU polity as regards the appropriate level, purpose and mechanism of broadcast regulation. Key influences are problems of competence, the impact of changing technology and the consequences of increasing commercialisation. Furthermore, the focus of the analysis is on the practical implications of the legal framework on viewers, and the authors distinguish both between citizen and consumer and between the passive and active viewer. The underlying question is the extent to which those most in need of protection by regulation, given the purpose of broadcasting, are adequately protected.

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Table of contents :
COVER……Page 1
HALF-TITLE……Page 3
TITLE……Page 5
COPYRIGHT……Page 6
CONTENTS……Page 7
SERIES EDITORS’ PREFACE……Page 9
PREFACE……Page 11
Alphabetical……Page 13
Numerical……Page 16
European Court of Human Rights……Page 19
Commission Decisions……Page 20
National Legislation……Page 22
PART I……Page 23
1 Introduction……Page 25
Introduction……Page 40
Theories about the value and function of the broadcast media……Page 41
Citizens and consumers……Page 47
Broadcasting and the public interest……Page 48
The broadcast media and the public sphere……Page 51
PSB and the public sphere……Page 53
Conclusions……Page 62
Introduction……Page 63
Historical overview of the development of broadcasting……Page 64
Early regulatory responses to social, cultural and moral concerns……Page 65
Approaches to regulation……Page 70
Impact of digitalisation and convergence on the regulatory environment……Page 74
Regulation and the viewing experience……Page 79
Conclusion……Page 82
Introduction……Page 84
Development and expansion of the European Union……Page 85
Judicial harmonisation……Page 89
Competition policy……Page 92
The relationship between the common market and other relevant values in the EC Treaty……Page 96
Positive harmonisation……Page 99
Types of Union action……Page 104
Conclusion……Page 107
Brief overview of broadcasting policy in the Union……Page 109
Competence, coherence and autonomy of broadcasting policy……Page 114
Increasing commercialisation……Page 126
Technology……Page 129
Conclusion……Page 133
PART II……Page 135
Introduction……Page 137
The importance of access to infrastructure……Page 139
Competition law and essential facilities……Page 142
The general structure of the Communications Package……Page 144
Criticism of the general approach……Page 151
SignificantMarket Power (SMP)……Page 153
Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND)……Page 156
Interoperability……Page 158
Presentational aspects of EPGs……Page 161
USD andmust carry……Page 162
Review of Communications Package……Page 165
Conclusion……Page 166
Introduction……Page 168
General problems in the media sector……Page 169
Overview of theMerger Regulation……Page 174
Cases in the media sector……Page 178
Assessment of the approach of the Commission and the Courts……Page 184
Conclusion……Page 193
Introduction……Page 195
The original version of the TelevisionWithout Frontiers Directive……Page 196
The 1997 Amending Directive……Page 204
Conclusion……Page 214
Introduction……Page 216
Relationship between broadcasters, advertisers and viewers……Page 217
Overview of placement rules……Page 219
Problems arising from the operation of the advertising rules……Page 223
Conclusion……Page 238
Introduction……Page 240
General issues arising fromnegative content regulation……Page 241
Current Union provisions for the control and restriction of content……Page 243
The problems with negative regulation in the TWFD……Page 246
Impact of technology on regulation……Page 252
Technology as a regulatorymechanism……Page 258
Conclusion……Page 263
Introduction……Page 265
Overview of quota provisions……Page 266
Definition of European works……Page 268
Criteria for assessing ‘European’……Page 276
Independent productions……Page 282
Application and enforceability……Page 283
Conclusion……Page 286
Introduction……Page 288
Conflicting policy considerations……Page 289
Competition law and the exclusive rights to sporting events……Page 291
The listed events system……Page 300
Weaknesses in the listed events system……Page 303
Conclusion……Page 309
Approach to PSB in the Union……Page 312
Conflicting policy concerns……Page 316
Overview of legal state aid framework……Page 318
Problems in identifying aid……Page 324
Exceptions to the state-aid provisions……Page 327
Impact on the scope and scale of PSB at the member state level……Page 330
Conclusion……Page 332
PART III……Page 335
14 Conclusions……Page 337
APPENDIX……Page 351
BIBLIOGRAPHY……Page 358
INDEX……Page 377