European Broadcasting Law and Policy

European broadcasting policy has attracted attention from many disciplines because it has dual nature: cultural and commercial. This book offers a detailed treatment of European broadcasting law, set against an overview of policy in this area. In this respect the authors identify tensions within the EU polity as regards the appropriate level, purpose and mechanism of broadcast regulation.

Key influences are problems of competence, the impact of changing technology and the consequences of increasing commercialisation. Furthermore, the focus of the analysis is on the practical implications of the legal framework on viewers, and the authors distinguish both between citizen and consumer and between the passive and active viewer. The underlying question is the extent to which those most in need of protection by regulation, given the purpose of broadcasting, are adequately protected.

• Meticulous scholarship and subtle analysis unpicks the labyrinthine world of EU broadcasting law and policy to reveal how different actors interpret and re-interpret both law and policy in differing ways
• Reveals the tensions within EU regulation between economic requirements and political and socio-cultural aspirations
• Highlights the changing legal and commercial frameworks under which the broadcasting sector must operate