Public Service Broadcasting in Four Countries: Overview

Abstract

The structure, funding, and audience size of public service broadcasting (PSB) revealed in the four countries examined in the articles in this issue of The Journal of Media Economics differ markedly from one another but exhibit few surprises. PSB in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada is highly centralized, but relatively decentralized in the United States. The United Kingdom devotes the largest proportion of its gross national product to PSB, and the United States devotes the smallest. Similarly, PSB in the United Kingdom attracts the largest share of the television audience among the four countries, and U.S. public television attracts the smallest. Although the future relevance of PSB in Canada may be at risk, the provision of PSB in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States seems likely to continue in its present form for the foreseeable future.