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Europe Regional Briefing
DTH programming into the country.
Polish Radio
operates five national radio stations, together with
regional services. Polish Radio’s international
service,
Radio Polonia
, provides radio services to
listeners worldwide, and is a member of the AIB.
Digital broadcasting is not a high priority in Poland.
DVB-T trials are due to start during 2004/2005. DAB
is on the air with a single multiplex in Warsaw only.
Portugal
Member of the European Union. Population 10.1
million. President: Jorge Fernando Branco de
Sampaio. Prime Minister: Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
RTP
is the public television broadcaster which has
two national channels, together with international
channels RTP Africa and RTP Internacional.
Commercial television channels include SIC and TVI.
Public service radio broadcasting is operated by
RDP
which has three national channels and a modest
international service.
Radio Renascenca
, operated
by the Catholic Church, is popular among Portuguese
across the country.
Trials of DVB-T have taken place, but no formal
plans exist at the present for its implementation.
DAB is on the air, covering 75% of the population.
Romania
Population: 22.3 million. President: Ion Iliescu.
Prime Minister: Adrian Nastase. Despite the country’s
relatively low income levels, Romania has an
advanced media market.
TVR
has two channels, and
commercial operators provide national channels
Acasa TV, Antena 1, Prima TV, Pro TV and Realitatea
TV. There are also local private TV channels on the
air.
Radio Romania
has four national networks
together with regional and local stations. There
are commercial radio channels operating nationally
and locally.
Radio Romania International
is the
external service and is a member of the AIB.
Slovakia
Member of the European Union. Population 5.4
million. President-elect: Ivan Gasparovic. Prime
Minister: Mikulas Dzurinda.
Slovak TV
is the public
broadcaster, with two national channels. Its audience
share has collapsed following the introduction of
commercial competitors including TV Joj and TV
Markiza.
Slovak Radio
operates five national channels,
together with an external service whose future is in
doubt at the time of going to press. Commercial
stations include
Radio Okey
and
Radio Twist
.
Pilot DVB-T services have been introduced. DAB
may start in 2006.
Slovenia
Member of the European Union. Population 1.9
million. President: Janez Drnovsek. Prime Minister:
Anton Rop. Slovenia is a small media market, with
around 642,000 television households.
RTV
Slovenia
operates two national television channels
and three national radio stations. Commerical
channels
Kanal A
and
Pop TV
compete in television.
Spain
Member of the European Union and member of
the European single currency. Population 42.7
million. Head of State: King Juan Carlos I. Prime
Minister: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Spain’s
media marketplace is dynamic and growing
although there are only around 11.8 million TV
households.
RTVE
operates national and regional
television and radio services – La Primera and La
2 are the two national public service television
channels and in addition RTVE operates 24 Horas,
a rolling news channel, and
TVE Internacional
for audiences abroad. Commercial television
channels include
Antena 3
and
Tele Cinco
.
Canal
Plus
operates pay-TV in the country. Radio services
include
Cadena COPE
, operated by the Catholic
Church, and commercial channels Cadena SER and
Onda Cero. Radio Exterior de Espana is the
international radio service operated by RTVE.
Digital broadcasting developed rapidly, with a DVB-
T service run by Quiero. However, this pay-TV service
collapsed in 2002. DTT channels will be sold
through public tender in each Spanish region during
2004 and local TV stations will have to migrate to
digital by 2006. DAB covers around 50% of the
population and has digital-only services including
El Mundo, ABC and Recoletos, all owned by
newspaper groups. Other digital-only stations are
Cope Digital, Ser Digital and Quiero Radio.
Sweden
Member of the European Union, Population 8.9
million. Head of State: King Carl XVI Gustaf. Prime
Minister: Goran Persson. Sweden’s population has
access to a range of public and commercial services,
together with satellite channels (around 65% of
the country’s homes have access to cable or satellite
TV).
Sveriges Television
operates three national
public service channels – SVT1, SVT2 and SVT24, a
news service. Commercial channels include TV4 and
the popular TV3, a satellite/cable service.
Sveriges
Radio
has four national channels, plus
Radio
Sweden International
, the country’s external radio
service (which is a member of the AIB).
TV advertising to children under 12 is prohibited.
Four DVB-T multiplexes are on the air across the
country. DAB achieves around 35% population
coverage following a cutback in transmission in 2003.
Sveriges Radio operates DAB-only services including
SR X (rock music), SR Klassiskt (classical music), P3
Star (aimed at young people), SR Sisuradio, SR P1
and SR C (experimental, culture programmes).
Switzerland
Population 7.1 million. President: Joseph Deiss.
The
Swiss Broadcasting Corporation
provides
programming in all four languages of Switzerland
– French, German, Italian and Romansch. There are
seven television channels and 18 radio stations
and the SBC is funded both by licence fee and
advertising revenue. There are no national
commercial television channels, but regional
commercial stations exist. Viewers consume
programmes via cable and satellite from
neighbouring countries.
Swiss Radio International
is the external service operated by SBC.
The headquarters of the European Broadcasting
Union (EBU) and Eurovision are located in Geneva
as well as the DVB and DRM project offices.
DVB-T is not currently implemented on a commercial
basis. DAB is rolling out slowly in the country.
Broadcasting regulator: Ofcom.
United Kingdom
Member of the European Union and the
Commonwealth. Population 60 million. Head of
State: Queen Elizabeth II. Prime Minister: Tony Blair.
Public service broadcasting is in the hands of the
BBC
which has two national television networks on
terrestrial and digital-only services including News
24, CBeebies, CBBC, BBC 3 and BBC 4. BBC radio
services include five national networks and a network
of local stations, plus digital-only services such as
BBC 6 Music and BBC 7. Commercial television is
operated by
ITV
with national terrestrial coverage,
plus digital only ITV2.
Channel Four
is a national
commercial network that has a public service remit
and
Five
is a national commercial channel.
BSkyB
is
a major provider of television, with a subscriber base
approaching seven million.
National commercial radio includes
Classic FM
,
Talk Sport
and
Virgin Radio
, as well as digital
only services.
BBC World Service
is one of the world’s leading
international radio broadcasters, with programmes in
English and more than 40 other languages and
BBC
World
is an international television news channel.
BBC Prime
and
BBC America
are two of the BBC’s
international subscription-based television services.
ITN
(an AIB member) provides commercial television
with local, national and international news.
London is home to a range of pan-European broadcasters
including
CNBC Europe
, an AIB member, plus
MTV
,
CNN
,
Fox Kids
,
Discovery
and
Disney Channel
.
The WorldDAB Forum offices are in London, as are
the headquarters of the AIB and the
Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA).
DVB-T has progressed well following the launch of
the Freeview platform owned jointly by the
BBC
,
BSkyB
and
Crown Castle International
. Subscription
services were reintroduced in Q2 2004. DAB is similarly
well advanced, with 75% population coverage and a
range of national, regional and local services.
Broadcasting regulator: Ofcom.
The AIB maintains an extensive database about
broadcasting across Europe, the Americas, Africa, the
Middle East, Asia and the Pacific from which the
information in this regional briefing is derived.
Detailed information about broadcasters, including contact
data and senior personnel is published in the AIB’s twice-
yearly
AIB Directory
. This A5-sized publication also carries
information about tuning to international radio and
television stations, so it’s a perfect companion in the office
and when you’re travelling, enabling you to keep in touch
with colleagues and with home. The
AIB Directory
is
available on subscription, ensuring that you have the latest
information about the world’s broadcasters, regulators,
manufacturers and suppliers. Order today at
AIB Consulting offers detailed analysis of broadcasting
markets and can tailor reports to clients’ specific
requirements, supporting business-critical strategic
planning and other projects. To discuss your needs
contact
Anver Anderson
on +44 (0) 1245 399 965.
