Public Service Broadcasting

Abstract

The concept of public service broadcasting (PSB) was introduced in 1927 when BBC was established as state monopoly. It identifies a form of broadcasting media at the service of the citizens and independent from governments and economic powers. It differs from state broadcasting and from commercially funded broadcasting. Its mission consists in “inform, educate, entertain” and it is funded directly by citizens. This model spread across Europe after World War II, while the model of “market failure” PSB prevailed in the United States, ancillary to the service provided by commercial broadcasters. In the digital age, the PSB concept evolves into PSM (public service media), meaning that its contents are no longer distributed only through radio and TV (broadcasting) but through all possible platforms, first of all the Internet. The digital mission of public service media was redefined in 2012 by the European Broadcasting Union around six priorities: “universality, independence, excellence, diversity, accountability, and innovation.”