Is there a case for an EU information television station?

Directorate-General For Communication European Commission

Description

Information policy
Target audience: Specialised/Technical

Sujets

• Televisión

Informations

• Publié par: DIRECTORATE-GENERAL-FOR-COMMUNICATION-EUROPEAN-COMMISSION
• Nombre de lectures: 16
• Langue: English

Extrait

T602311cov 3/03/06 16:57 Page1

In 2004, there were 3 660 television channels – international, panEuropean, national, regional, local, special interest and general interest – broadcasting within the EU25. In 1990, there were only 125.

In 2004, the average European spent 215 minutes each day watching television – 24 minutes (13%) more than in 1995.

Digital broadcasting is changing the way people watch TV, permitting more selective behaviour and forms of interactivity. Nevertheless, news programmes remain a favourite: 67% of TV viewers say they watch them every day and 19% say they watch them several times a week. No wonder people in the EU regard television as their main source (or even their only source) of information – including infor mation about the EU.

However, despite this high level of TV consumption, studies show that public knowledge of politics, and more specifically of EU politics, has remained at the same very low level for years. It is true that only 343 channels are broadcasting news and that EU affairs represent only a small proportion of the content provided (5 to 10% of EU news as against 50 to 60% of national news).

Viewers are able to process and recall the news, and thus increase their knowledge, only when programmes take their needs and expectations into account. In this respect, with very few exceptions, television is failing to achieve its true potential as a knowledgebuilding tool and is very far from being the ‘European public space’ it should be.

This book, based on the most uptodate statistics and ad hoc studies, presents an indepth analysis of the TV channels’ markets for information, and more specifically EU information, both from the supply (Part I) and demand (Part II) sides. It pays particular attention to the panEuropean news channels and the national parliamentary channels (Part III) and examines their role in contributing to a more participatory democracy. Its aim is to investigate what could be done by EU decisionmakers to help develop an audiovisual European public space.

, the author, is audiovisual adviser in DirectorateGeneral Communication, the European Commission’s department for EU information and communication policy.

Price (excluding VAT) in Luxembourg: EUR 30

Thierry Vissol

DirectorateGeneral Communication European Commission

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Information in all the official languages of the European Union is available on the Internet. You can access it through the Europa server:

All over Europe there are hundreds of local EU information centres. You can can find the address of the centre nearest you at this website:

EUROPE DIRECT is a service which answers your questions about the European Union. You can contact this service by freephone:or by payphone from outside the EU: (322) 2999696, or by electronic mail via

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