Europa in multicolour Constructing Transnational Identities with Pan-European Broadcasting Services

European audiences collectively taking part in the consumption of Pan-European media, it has been one of the visions of European leaders since the dawn of the European Union. However, history shows that reaching consensus about transnational broadcasting is a difficult thing to achieve. Are shared newspapers, radio stations or TV channels simply too idealistic? Are cultural and linguistic barriers too difficult to overcome? In this essay we will look at transnational television in Europe in the context of globalization, through an analysis of developments of Pan-European broadcasting services in the past decades. We will conclude with the commercial and regulatory factors that enabled these developments and the challenges that arise in the makings of transnational broadcasting.

Until the 1980s, television broadcasting in Europe had a strong territorial and national basis. In many cases, such as France, there was a state monopoly on broadcasting. The combined processes of decentralisation and transnationalization have led to the emergence of publicly funded television channels reaching audiences across borders. Furthermore, due to deregulation and the growth of global media giants since the 1990s, European audiences are increasingly united in a collective media landscape.[1]

From the early 1980s, the European Commission and Parliament made a series of attempts to set up a pan-European multilingual television channel in order to provide the audience with non-national programs. The goal was to promote a European identity in audiences and consolidate popular support for European integration. However, all of those attempts, such as Eurikon and Europa TV, had little success and that is because of the resistance they encountered in some national governments or the preference of the audience for local and national programs. This shows the difficulties in promoting a cultural model different from their respective national context to mass audiences and the challenges in building a shared identity among Europeans.

The first experiment in pan-European television was created in 1982 with Eurikon. The initiative was set up by the European Broadcasting Union, with the participation of 15 European broadcasters. However only 5 of the participating broadcaster provided programs (Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and the U.K.). Eurikon was never meant to become a 'real' channel and its aim was to test the waters for a permanent pan-European television channel in the future.[2]

After three years the first public pan-European channel was finally born: Europa TV. Its purpose was to reach Europe not only geographically but also in its programming content, and “was carefully structured to avoid the dominance of any single national group” and a “non-national perspective was encouraged by all available means”.[2] The channel was financed by the European Commission, the Dutch government, the participating broadcast organizations and through advertising revenues. However, despite the excellent premises, the attempt failed. The main reason behind its lack of success was of financial nature. The intention to assign Europa TV a slightly higher funding than domestic public broadcasters was unrealistic and led to a decrease in quality and the resulting lack of appeal to its audience. Even its effort to attract potential advertisers by offering commercial slots free of charge led to nothing.

Most of these transnational channels aim at a particular population or ethnicity, such as the global and political channels BBC World, CNN International or Euronews.[3] Other channels aim at the global economy, like Bloomberg or CNBC-Europe. Significantly, most of the channels mentioned here are private: CNN is a branch of Time Warner; Bloomberg is the financial information multinational; CNBC merged with Dow Jones in 1995; BBC World is commercially funded, although linked to the national public television.[4] The opening up of global markets, enabled by institutional and technological changes that conquered the world in the 1990’s had a transformative impact on the communication and media sector.[5] Other examples of commercial success stories of an audience reaching across Europe, are MTV and Disney Channel. From the beginning of the 1990’s international channels started developing steadily and growing in number. Nowadays, about 15 are well known, either to their wide distribution or the nature of their content.

A special place is assigned to the publically funded channel Euronews, the first multilingual Pan-European news channel. At this moment it broadcasts in 13 languages. It was launched on the 1st of January in 1993 and was financed by a consortium of European public broadcasters and the EU. In recent years the funds allocated by the UE to the channel were constantly increased, and that shows. Next to the news broadcasted 24/7, viewers are also able to watch programs, such as Futuris or Innovation, that could be mistaken for normal news reports. In the case of Euronews we are looking at a commercial company, however masked by legitimizing commissions of the EU with the purpose of ensuring a long-term coverage of European affairs from a European perspective. In short, they are trying to compensate for the lack of interest that the press has shown towards EU affairs.

Therefore, we have a clear diversity in the various channels coming either from the public or private stature that are involved in the construction of a transnational media-sphere. Success varies widely. The big private companies have means (both financial and personal) that public institutions and broadcasters can only dream of. Obviously, this can affect the quality of the content that is offered to audiences. The most popular international channels attract a specialized audience, reaching only a small part of European households. Even Euronews, going strong and being the only pan-European channel at the moment, is influenced by the main shareholders, thus becoming a less impartial and subjective channel.

For this reason Euronews is often subject of controversies, and consensus about content is often lacking. A final example of this given by the Russian involvement in the Euronews. Russia’s state television company VGTRK is one of the major stakeholders of Euronews, with about 16 percent in shares. The Russian party MP requested a ban on broadcasting of Euronews on Russian territory, after claiming that reports on the developments in the Ukraine and Vladimir Putin were biased and were inciting hatred. Euronews had repeatedly shown a group of Ukrainian military personnel that used a portrait of Putin resembling Adolf Hitler as a target for shooting practice.[6] The Russian party challenged the approach of Euronews and defied the distinctly West-European media culture. Unilateral information flows in transnational context lead to protests by the involved parties. Media, like all other areas of European economy, are vulnerable to (economic and cultural) monopolies. Transnational media, if not contested, can have a homogenising effect and can even be an assault on local identity. This shows that a European identity, through the shared experience of the media, is continuously negotiated.

As we have shown, Pan-European television channels can be distinguished by their content and funding strategy, either being commercially or publically funded. This relates to a global media landscape, which has been transformed due to deregulation and privatization of broadcasting. The succes of commercial and public broadcasting varies widely. Nonetheless, both commercial and public services can help provide intercultural exchanges between transnational audiences and therefore lead to the emergence of a Pan-European public sphere. The contestation of Pan-European broadcasting services shows how a collective identity has to be negotiated between involved parties. Therefore, we conclude that Pan-European broadcasting can help take the necessary steps on the path to a more united European demos.

Tweet: Is Pan-European TV to fail, or is it possible to broadcast a singular #Europe in accordance with multiple perspectives?

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Notes: 

[1] J.K. Chalaby (2002), 'Transnational Television in Europe. The Role of Pan-European Channels', European Journal of Communication, 17:2, p. 184.

[2] Theiler Tobias (1999) 'Viewers into Europeans? How the European Union Tried to Europeanize the Audiovisual Sector, and Why it Failed. Canadian Journal of Communication. 24(4)

[2] Theiler Tobias (2005) Political Symbolism and European Integration. Manchester University Press.

[3] Vissol Thierry, « International and Pan-European News Channels: An overview. », Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique 4/2005 (Tome XLIV) , p. 53

[4] Chalaby (2002), p. 185.

[5] Thussu, Daya Kishan (2012) ‘Cultural Practices and Media Production’, in: Isabella Rigoni, Eugenie Saitta (eds), Mediating Cultural Diversity in a Globalised Public Space, New York: Palgrave Connect Media, p. 119.

[6] 'Euronews faces ban on Russian broadcasting over alleged hate report’ (15-9-2014) https://www.rt.com/politics/187808-euronews-russia-hate-ban/ (retrieved 12-6-2015).

Literature:

- Chalaby, J.K. (2002), ‘Transnational Television in Europe. The Role of Pan-European Channels’, European Journal of Communication, 17:2, p. 183-203.

- Thussu, Daya Kishan (2012) ‘Cultural Practices and Media Production’, in: Isabella Rigoni, Eugenie Saitta (eds), Mediating Cultural Diversity in a Globalised Public Space, New York: Palgrave Connect Media.

- ‘Euronews faces ban on Russian broadcasting over alleged hate report’ (15-9-2014) https://www.rt.com/politics/187808-euronews-russia-hate-ban/ (retrieved 12-6-2015).

- ‘Do we need pan-European Media? - Debating Europe’ (28-8-2012) http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2012/08/28/do-we-need-pan-european-media/#.VmQik4QvK9Y (retrieved 12-6-2015).

- Vissol Thierry, « International and Pan-European News Channels: An overview. », Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique 4/2005 (Tome XLIV) , p. 53-71

- Theiler Tobias (2005) Political Symbolism and European Integration. Manchester University Press.

- Theiler Tobias (1999) 'Viewers into Europeans? How the European Union Tried to Europeanize the Audiovisual Sector, and Why it Failed. Canadian Journal of Communication. 24(4)