Pluralism, Politics and the Marketplace: The Regulation of West German Broadcasting in the 1980s (Communication and Society)

Since the mid-1980s, broadcasting in the Federal Republic of Germany has been extensively re-regulated. The traditional duopoly of the public broadcasters Ard and ZDF has been challenged by new private networks in both radio and television. In two historic judgements handed down in 1986 and 1987, the Federal Constitutional Court set out terms for a new dual order of private and public broadcasting. But how were the guidelines of the court interpreted in practice? Pluralism, Politics and the Marketplace traces the economic and political influences which shaped the emergence of a pluralistic broadcasting system in the federal republic, and examines the conflicts between public and private broadcasting, both in West Germany and in the European Community as a whole. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Preface......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Glossary of terms and abbreviations......Page 13 The philosophies of broadcasting pluralism......Page 18 The concept of pluralism in the Federal Republic......Page 21 Party policies and the new broadcasting technologies......Page 24 Rulings on broadcasting by the Federal Constitutional Court......Page 25 The road to the 1987 Inter-Land Treaty......Page 35 The regulation of signal distribution......Page 43 Broadcasting under Allied rule......Page 44 The 1961 judgement of the Federal Constitutional Court......Page 46 The impact of the DBP's cable and satellite policies......Page 49 The DBP/Lnder relationship......Page 52 The DBP and its relations with the broadcasters......Page 62 Liberalisation of the DBP and changes to its broadcasting distribution monopoly......Page 64 The regulatory structures for public and private broadcasting......Page 67 Organisation and control of the public broadcasting corporations......Page 70 The structure of the private broadcasting sector......Page 74 Programming obligations in the public and private sectors......Page 84 From legislative theory to regulatory practice......Page 90 Monitoring......Page 91 Controlling organisational pluralism......Page 95 Controlling editorial pluralism......Page 101 Pluralism regulation versus economic regulation......Page 104 The effectiveness of the regulatory authorities......Page 110 Alternative forms of broadcasting in the FRG......Page 113 The alternative 'professional' radio spectrum......Page 114 Open access channels......Page 116 Public commitment to alternative broadcasting......Page 120 The regulation of the market......Page 122 The regulation of access to audiences......Page 124 The regulation of broadcasting finance......Page 127 Ownership and concentration regulation......Page 135 Broadcasting and federal anti-cartel legislation......Page 149 Right of access to public events......Page 158 The balance between public and private broadcasting......Page 159 The European dimension......Page 161 Copyright......Page 173 EC audiovisual policy: Towards a comprehensive media order?......Page 178 Audiovisual or competition policy?......Page 183 Political versus economic regulation......Page 186 Broadcasting regulation in the five new Lnder......Page 188 Distribution issues......Page 193 Changes to the competitive situation......Page 196 Options for the future......Page 197 Towards integration......Page 199 Conclusion: Beyond balanced pluralism......Page 201 Public/private relations: Three paradigms......Page 202 Programming changes......Page 206 Political responses......Page 209 Towards regulatory unification?......Page 211 Towards regulatory fragmentation?......Page 212 Proposals for change......Page 213 Towards a new European order......Page 215 Appendices......Page 217 Notes......Page 228 Select bibliography......Page 250 Further reading;English-language literature......Page 255 Index......Page 258 From Kiel opposite the Danish coast, to Munich in the foothills of the Alps; and from Aachen on the Belgian border to, since German unification in 1990, Frankfurt-on-the-Oder on the Polish frontier, the broadcasting system of the Federal Republic is one of the largest and most powerful in Western Europe. Traces the economic and political influences which shaped the emergence of a pluralistic broadcasting system in the German Federal Republic, and examines the conflicts between public and private broadcasting, both in Germany and in the European Community as a whole A study of the the re-regulation of the German broadcasting system since the mid 1980s when the public duopoly was challenged by the emergence of private networks in both radio and television. Vincent Porter And Suzanne Hasselbach. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.