Public Service Broadcasting

A range of radio and television broadcasting services that exist to a greater or lesser extent independent of control by advertisers and states. Commercial broadcasters rely on income from advertisers and compete with other broadcasters for audiences and advertising. In contrast, public service broadcasting in most countries, though not the United States, is funded by license fees paid by the public who own radios or televisions and/or by government grants.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is widely recognized to be one of the most successful public broadcasting services. In Britain, public service [Page 425]broadcasting started in 1923 with the founding of the BBC, intended to be a public service run in the national interest. Broadcasting was permitted only under license by the Post Office, and the BBC maintained a monopoly for many decades. Broadcasting was seen as too important a public utility to be commercialized. It was believed that market forces would dictate that commercialized competing broadcasters provide only programs catering to the lowest forms of mass appetite. From the start, the BBC aimed to provide not just entertainment but also access to the best of human knowledge while maintaining high standards and a high moral tone. The BBC aspired to inform and educate and provide a forum for open public discussion. By providing common access to public events and ceremonies, a shared public life could be created. BBC-owned transmitters currently provide services to 91% of the British population.

In most countries other than the United States, public rather than commercial broadcasting dominates and is seen as essential to maintaining and promoting the national culture. Some countries require that a certain minimum portion of broadcasting content be produced within the country and in the national language.

In the United States, public broadcasting is much more eclectic. Individual stations may be part of a network or independent. Many colleges have their own broadcasting services. NPR (National Public Radio) and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) are networks of local stations, rather than single entities, and occupy niche positions, dwarfed by the commercial broadcasting stations. Financing is provided by appealing for funds directly to audiences, who are encouraged to pay to become members of their local stations. Additional financing is provided by corporate sponsorship, foundations, and grants. NPR develops some of its own program ming and buys in the rest. Public broadcasters in the United States and elsewhere see themselves as providing programming of a higher intellectual and moral quality than commercial broadcasters would provide. For more information, see Avery (1993) and Schnell (1996).