Television in Europe (1989-2009)

TV Market Data / Television in Europe (1989-2009)

November 2009 | External Link

ACT
20 Years of Commercial Television in Europe (2009)

On the occasion of the “2nd Annual ACT Conference 2009”, commercial broadcasters from all over Europe met in Brussels and celebrated 20 years of commercial TV in Europe, delivering creative, informative and entertaining content.

When taking a look back to 1989, commercial broadcasters can be very positive about what has been achieved. From a landscape with 47 national TV channels, the broadcasting industry has developed into a pluralistic and diverse media landscape with more than 3,300 Catch-up TV TV channels available in Europe.

TV Channels in Europe (1989-2009)
TV Channels Europe 1989-2009
Sources: External Link ACT | OBS

And people in Europe are spending more time watching television than ever. The average Mobile TV European viewing time is 3 hours and 47 minutes per day in 2008, three minutes more than in 2007. Today, however, established models of content financing are challenged by the economic downturn, with a double digit decline in advertising in almost all European countries – a point made both by broadcasters but also by the European Commission.

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society & Media, said: “The biggest challenge for the next European Commission will be to work effectively to accelerate the recovery from the world economic downturn. Information and communication technologies, including media, will play a crucial role in this process as a source of productivity, innovation and growth.”

Broadcasters present at the ACT Conference 2009 confirmed that commercial broadcasters are constantly adapting their business models, diversifying revenues via multimedia activities and launches of new TV channels and services such as Catch-up TV, Mobile TV, IPTV IPTV, HDTV HDTV and 3DTV 3DTV.

Philippe Delusinne, ACT President & CEO RTL Belgium commented: “It is the attractiveness of TV and enduring interest of people in it, which ensure that TV – sometimes combined with other platforms – will also in future remain the key medium to reach out to mass audiences. Television will not only survive, it will thrive. But our ability to do so remains linked to TV Regulation European regulation. For commercial television to flourish in the future, a regulatory rethink is needed, which allows to move away from prescriptive micro-management and instead provides outcomes, which work with the flow of technological change.”

Ross Biggam, ACT Director General, concluded: “As we move from the world of ‘broadcasting’ to one of ‘multiplatform distribution of audiovisual content’, two things will remain certain. That the viewer’s control over what to watch, when and where to watch it will only continue to increase. And for that, the decisive factor in our business is what it always has been: the programmes.” The ACT has also published its External Link 1st Annual Report to explain in a more in-depth way what television is about, what business models underpin the sector, and the key economic and strategic drivers.

Download:

PDF Document ACT's 1st Annual Report - Television in Europe (2009)