2017 | 11 | History of Private and Commercial Television in Europe
The history of European televisions’ commercialization is interesting and complex. In many European countries, early attempts to launch some form of private television took place on a local, national, or even supra-national basis. The process of television commercialization in Europe didn’t just start during the 1980s. Its implementation happened from the very beginning, and followed very different paths in each country. This issue on the History of Private and Commercial Television in Europe may help deepen our understanding of how the commercialization of television has shaped media culture in Europe. It offers a scholarly view on the history of private and commercial television in Europe, addressing institutional, technological, political, and cultural perspectives, and their entanglement, so as to allow for transnational comparison.
Co-edited by Luca Barra, Christoph Classen, and Sonja De Leeuw
Co-edited by Luca Barra, Christoph Classen, and Sonja De Leeuw
Recent Submissions
- ArticleA Slippery Slope: The Rise and Fall of the Domestic Soap Opera in Italian Public and Commercial TelevisionCardini, Daniela (2017-09-22)Prior to the mid-nineties, Italian television did not produce any soap operas. Daytime serials were imported mainly from the USA.Unexpectedly, the most commercial television genre was produced for the first time by the public service broadcaster: Un posto al sole was aired by RAI in 1996. The commercial competitor Mediaset immediately responded with Vivere in 1998 and CentoVetrine in 2001. Un posto al sole still airs today, while both Mediaset’s soaps were cancelled.The paper focuses on the rise and fall of domestic long-running daytime serials, on the different choices taken by the two competitors and on the perspectives opened up by the genre on Italian TV schedules.
- ArticleCanal + Spain and Live Football Broadcasts: A Whole Different GameRodriguez-Ortega, Vicente; Romero Santos, Rubén (2017-09-22)The main goal of Canal + Spain was to reach a significant amount of subscribers by offering programming unavailable on other channels. Following the French programming model, Canal + adopted a logic of product differentiation and technological innovation. It featured two main types of content: a diverse roster of films, shown shortly after their theatrical release, and perhaps most importantly, the innovative broadcasting of live sports events, more specifically, football.This article focuses on sports programming in the beginning of Canal + Spain. First, it offers an account of the Spanish television landscape in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Then, it scrutinizes the arrival of commercial television within the Spanish mediascape, thus examining the launching of Canal + by paying attention to the specificity of the Spanish audiovisual market. Second, this essay analyzes the types of live sports broadcasts, focusing on football, in Canal + during the early 1990s in order to account for their importance in creating a unique kind of product designed to appeal to potential subscribers. More specifically, we will argue that live football broadcasts did not only attempt to establish a clear demarcation with the old-fashioned image and soundscapes of traditional television, but also aimed at culturally appealing to a urbanite, cultivated spectator, precisely the type of viewer Canal + tried to recruit in its early days. Therefore, we will discuss how technological excellence and spectacle became tools for the expression of specific cultural values. In short, Canal + offered a content and technology-driven “change of aesthetics” within the Spanish mediascape in the early 1990s.
- ArticleEast Meets West: The Cultural History of Television in BulgariaIbroscheva, Elza; Stover, Maria (2017-09-22)This study provides a glimpse into the cultural history of the popular medium of television for the period 1944-2016. Seeking a more nuanced and more evolved understanding of the role of the television in Bulgaria during socialist and in post-socialist times, this essay argues for a ‘situated’ reading of these historical developments, theorising that socialist and post-socialist television are indeed defined by disparate, yet equally influential and dynamic, cultural and political processes. From the ‘golden age’ of communist-era television, during which TV was hailed as a main force for mobilisation, education and entertainment, we will trace the ‘boom’ in commercial TV channels at the offset of the transition, with its often-questionable quality, leading to the emergence of several serious contenders on the broadcasting scene, both in terms of their financial value and in terms of their power over public opinion.
- ArticleEditorialBarra, Luca; Classen, Christoph; de Leeuw, Sonja (2017-09-22)This issue on the History of Private and Commercial Television in Europe may help deepen our understanding of how the commercialization of television has shaped media culture in Europe. It offers a scholarly view on the history of private and commercial television in Europe, addressing institutional, technological, political, and cultural perspectives, and their entanglement, so as to allow for transnational comparison.
- ArticleFrom PSB to Privatisation: Structures and Vulnerabilities of the Greek-Cypriot Broadcasting SectorManiou, Theodora A. (2017-09-22)Around the world, the historical evolution of television follows every country’s history and is closely related to the structures of every society within which it operates. In Cyprus, broadcasting remained under the direct control of the state for more than thirty years while significant political events can be associated with changes in the audiovisual media landscape. Public service broadcasting (PSB) television was established in 1957, only three years before the country denounced British colonialism and became an independent Republic, under the auspices and guidance of the BBC. For thirty-five years, the one and only PSB television channel was predominating the country’s broadcasting sector and it was only in 1992 that private television channels were allowed to operate. As expected, broadcasting suffered a series of political demerits that left narrow margins for growth and technological development. This article presents a historical overview of the evolution of television in the country in accordance to the specific historical artefacts that took place and generated a series of disadvantages still reflecting upon the Cypriot private broadcasting sector. The aim of the article is to present the interrelation between private broadcasting and politics and its current aftermath in Cyprus. Through a comparative analysis of different surveys (conducted after 2000) depicting the audience’s points of view regarding private and PSB television, this study highlights the specific characteristics, structures and vulnerabilities of the current broadcasting sector in Cyprus.
- ArticleI Want My MTV, We Want Our TMF: The Music Factory, MTV Europe, and Music Television in the Netherlands, 1995-2011Kooijman, Jaap (2017-09-22)The Dutch music television channel, The Music Factory (TMF), launched in 1995, presented a local alternative to MTV Europe, owned by the US-based conglomerate, Viacom. In 2001, Viacom took over TMF, which by then proved to be far more popular than MTV Europe among young Dutch viewers, and for three years, turned TMF into a text-message-based “interactive” music television channel. In 2011, Viacom discontinued the TMF brand. This article places the relatively short history of TMF within the contexts of the emergence of commercial television in Europe and the shift of music videos from television to other media platforms, as well as broader discussions of globalisation.
- ArticleRussia’s STS Television Network: A Cultural Window to the WestBrassard, Jeffrey (2017-09-22)Perspectives on Russian television focus mainly on state controlled networks. Russia, however, also has several important commercial televisions stations to whom little attention has been given. The most important of these stations is the entertainment network STS. The station was founded in 1996 when a subscription station AMTV merged with Saint Petersburg based broadcaster Channel Six and several regional stations to form Russia’s fifth national broadcaster. After airing primarily Hollywood and Latin American series in the 1990s, the station began to produce Russian language series in 2003. Today the station is one of the most important entertainment brands in the former Soviet Union. This paper traces the history of STS and its importance in bringing new genres and production techniques to Russia. It also maps the network’s explosive growth in the 2000s and its relationship with major Hollywood studios, most notably Sony. The influence of the station’s two most important executives Alexander Rodanyansky and Vyacheslav Murugov is also examined. The paper then theorizes on what STS’ current strategy may yield and what its current programs suggest about the changing nature of the Russian television market in an increasingly politicized environment.
- ArticleThe Winding Road on the Media Landscape: The Establishment of Estonian (Television) Broadcasting between 1992 and 2016Jõesaar, Andres (2017-09-22)This article explores how Estonian broadcasting (with a focus on television) tackled the challenges of transforming from a monopolistic party propaganda machine into a modern dual media system in which public service broadcasting and newly created private enterprises coexist, and how this process evolved in a small, post-Communist country. This article argues that the Estonian government’s ‘idealisation’ of market forces supported by the European Union media policy, which is driven by common market ideology, did not account for the market’s limitations and media companies’ actual capabilities to provide a large range of media services.The research methodology is based on an analysis of Estonian media legislation and the broadcasters’ annual reports from the period 1992–2016. The article analyses the key connections between the financial conditions of the broadcasting industry and the adaptations made in broadcasting legislation in Estonia during the last 25 years.
- ArticleTV Commercials' Second Life: Commercials as Remembrance Culture in the NetherlandsBiernawska, Krystyna (2017-09-22)The objective of this article is to look at the cultural indicators of television in the Netherlands from the perspective of feature that is essential to commercial TV - audiovisual advertisements.TV advertisements have been continuously gaining recognition as vital part of shared, cultural memory amongst audiences. It is therefore worth looking into the current practices of archiving and reuse of these ephemeral texts, including the digital environment. Once any commercial is removed from its original context of the broadcast TV flow and of its commercial layer, to be then placed in the archival setting – its meaning becomes radically altered. Consequently, the question is - what is left of a commercial and what becomes a cultural memory, often embedded deeply in collective psyche of generations of broadcast viewers, in the archival environment?
- Article‘Remember, it’s Just Television’: Rubicon TV and the Commercialisation of Norwegian TelevisionBakøy, Eva; Sundet, Vilde Schanke (2017-09-22)This article investigates the historical development of one of the most successful television production companies in Norway, Rubicon TV, focusing on its changing leaders, their mission statements and programme portfolios. Based on primary historical documents, the article shows how the various CEOs of the company have consistently argued that television is not a ‘window to the world’, but a harmless medium for light, engaging entertainment. This understanding was originally a reaction to the perceived elitism and paternalism of public service television, allowing the company leaders moral leeway to produce provocative and innovative programmes that came to change the Norwegian television landscape.
- Article“The Growing Practice of Calling in Continental Film Groups”: The European Influence on Production of Early British TV AdvertisingPayne, Alison (2017-09-22)While the development of commercial television advertising in Britain is often framed in the context of the American model, this paper will argue that London advertising agencies looked across the Channel to French and Dutch production companies and personnel, particularly in the first five years of commercial television, from 1955-1960. Using case studies, this paper will illustrate the involvement of these Continental companies and personnel on the production of advertising films for British commercial television, and identify the reasons why they were replaced by their British counterparts from the early 60s.