Radio And Television Broadcasting On The European Continent

Radio and Television Broadcasting on the European Continent was first published in 1967. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. In this book Dr. Paulu provides a comprehensive survey based on firsthand study of the development and current status of radio and television broadcasting in continental Europe. He discusses the technical, organizational, financial, and programming aspects of European broadcasting in both Communist and Western countries. The material is organized, not on a country-by-country basis, but as it relates to broad basic issues, and it is presented in a framework of such interrelated factors as geography, history politics, international relations, religious traditions, language, national economic standards, and cultural and social life. The broadcasting systems studied include those of the Soviet Union and other Communist countries, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland. The account is particularly timely in view of the concern and discussion about the future course of broadcasting in the United States. It has relevance not only for communications specialists but for political scientists and other scholars in the social sciences as well as for the growing public which is interested in the improvement of American broadcasting.

The music industry’s ongoing battle against digital piracy is just the latest skirmish in a long conflict over who has the right to distribute music. Starting with music publishers’ efforts to stamp out bootleg compilations of lyric sheets in 1929, Barry Kernfeld’s Pop Song Piracy details nearly a century of disobedient music distribution from song sheets to MP3s. In the 1940s and ’50s, Kernfeld reveals, song sheets were succeeded by fake books, unofficial volumes of melodies and lyrics for popular songs that were a key tool for musicians. Music publishers attempted to wipe out fake books, but after their efforts proved unsuccessful they published their own. Pop Song Piracy shows that this pattern of disobedience, prohibition, and assimilation recurred in each conflict over unauthorized music distribution, from European pirate radio stations to bootlegged live shows. Beneath this pattern, Kernfeld argues, there exists a complex give and take between distribution methods that merely copy existing songs (such as counterfeit CDs) and ones that transform songs into new products (such as file sharing). Ultimately, he contends, it was the music industry’s persistent lagging behind in creating innovative products that led to the very piracy it sought to eliminate.

Like its companion volume, Telecommunications in Europe, this book deals with the evolution of powerful monopoly institutions in the communications field--the public broadcasters--and the dramatic changes that took place in the late 1980s throughout Europe, and transformed the media landscape. It provides a comprehensive view of European broadcasting systems, using the perspective of economics and policy analysis. The introductory part offers a framework for understanding media and the forces of change affecting them. The main section is a unique series of chapters covering the broadcast and cable television systems of almost thirty European countries.

Which are the main regulatory bodies dealing with television broadcasting in Europe? What are their status and competences? What are their supervisory and regulatory powers?

British Broadcasting in Transition was first published in 1961.Recent developments in British radio and television broadcasting are of keen interest to those on both sides of the Atlantic who are concerned with the basic problems of broadcast regulation. Dr. Paulu gives a detailed account of these developments since 1955, when the new Independent Television Authority introduced commercial television in competition with the noncommercial service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. This volume, a sequel to his earlier book, British Broadcasting: Radio and Television in the United Kingdom, brings the study up to date and provides a comprehensive basis for an evaluation of the British system of managing the airwaves.The author describes the legal and financial structures of both the BBC and the ITA and reviews their program policies and operations. He discusses the effects of television on other communications media and the reaction of the British public to both radio and television. He appraises current performances of the BBC and ITA, notes the effects of competitions, and offers some recommendations for the future of British broadcasting.With increasing numbers of Americans questioning the merits of their broadcasting system, with Britons considering possible changes in theirs, and with several Continental countries contemplating commercial support for television, this account of the British experience provides timely and needed data.