“Television Without Frontiers” is the cornerstone of European television policy, aimed at cultural diversity while protecting young people from overly violent or pornographic imagery and preventing us all from an overload of advertising.

Television is a successful industry in Europe, creating jobs, innovation and growth, and this is recognized within those EU rules.

Broadcasters can attract greater audiences and viewers can profit from a bigger choice of channels while enjoying protection in some key areas.

Everything depends of course what we expect from digital television. But once it leaves behind the classic offer, the costs can rise considerably. To assess the potential financial impact, studies have indicated the annual cost for an average television viewer who is satisfied with a basic offer, and the sum paid by four dedicated viewers (film, sports, documentaries, children’s programs). Big surprises came out of this. If the price for a basic subscription is limited to € 107.40/year for the satellite TV Flanders and € 165.72/year with Coditel Plus (66 basic channels), then the price will rise up to € 440/year to the people who take the offer “Movie” on Canal +, or even € 634.40/ year for the people who choose for the sport BeTV to € 375.72/year for an offer with some documentary channels in Coditel and up to € 459.60/year for the offers for children at Coditel. The basic cost for cable distribution will soon be multiplied in this way by a factor of 3 or even 4.

Maintenance of quality

The rules want to make sure that European public interest is maintained on television and that you, as a European citizen, have a right to reply to what is reported on television. Programmes which might “seriously impair’ the development of minors are forbidden.

And it’s not just the content of television programmes themselves that have rules, also the frequency of television advertising. No TV channel is allowed to broadcast more than 12 minutes of advertisement an hour, and this differentiates European television from many US channels for instance.

Issues to discuss in this area are related to freedom of television. Should the market for EU suppliers of television channels be open for all the EU television users? Should Europe oblige the operators to provide a low standard price for a basic television offer, inclusive the quality channels? Should taxes be (re-)introduced to support the basic offer in the television industry? What will the future bring for television users when the rules would affect the channels to choose from according to how much you pay for it? How will it influence the average EU citizen?