Audiovisual Media Services 3.0: (Re)defining the Scope of European Broadcasting Law in a Converging and Connected Media Environment

Abstract

The publishing and broadcasting sectors are characterized by a different historical evolution. Whereas the publishing sector was organized as a realm of the market in the 19th century, broadcasting was almost immediately captured as a government monopoly in the 1920s–1930s (Noam, 1992; HOffmann-Riem, 1996). As a result, there is a large consensus on the fact that regulation in the publishing sector sets out from the ‘free market place of ideas’ theory, relying mainly on market forces complemented with self-regulation. This ‘hands Off’ approach for print media sharply contrasts with the regulatory burden on broadcasting. Regulation in the broadcasting sector was triggered by technological concerns (e.g., spectrum scarcity) and the delicate relationship between mass media, mass deception and electoral gain (Pauwels, 1995). Because of the general presumption that quality and pluralism can only be achieved through government intervention and that citizens need protection from the powerful mass media, content-related (e.g., quota, protection of minors and advertising) and structural (e.g., ownership rules, although substantially relaxed in the last decade) measures are widespread in the broadcasting sector (Curran & Seaton, 2003).