Denmark, Sweden and Norway

Abstract

The demonopolization of public service radio and television in Europe has brought about tougher competition in market terms. This, in turn, has made the conduct of broadcasters more businesslike. Public regulators, therefore, have attempted to secure programme diversity at a higher level than would be the case under strict commercial conditions. In Scandinavia, one important way of doing this has been to license hybrid channels that, while being financed by advertising, are at the same time acting under public service obligations with nationwide, terrestrial must-carry privileges. The authors evaluate these regulatory measures on data from Norway, Sweden and Denmark in terms of audience share and open and reflexive diversity, and conclude that the Scandinavian way of conducting co-regulation could serve as an inspiration to regulators around the world — especially in EU member states.