Public Service Media’s Funding Crisis in the Face of the Digital Challenge

Abstract

The funding crisis of Public Service Media (PSM) is also a crisis affecting its legitimacy, business model, audience, innovation and transformation required to adapt to the current digital ecosystem, which is dominated by the changes in the access and consumption ways available to citizens, as well as by the new telecommunications global players. Eleven European countries have cut back the budgets of their public service media organizations during the past five years, and those which haven’t done it yet are facing adjustment plans until 2020. Besides financial pressures, European PSM is also facing increasing opposition from private operators, populist parties and the constant appetite for manipulation of the governments in power. By applying quantitative and qualitative methods to approach the evolution of the funding of European PSM, this paper describes and contrasts the debate around the future and sustainability of this media model. To this effect, we consider the manifestations and strategic visions of three intertwined parts: (a) the current policies of governments and political parties in the main European countries; (b) the strategic plans and the company reports of European PSM organizations; and (c) a review of the academic work that is being developed around this topic.