AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA SERVICES DIRECTIVE Key Issues for the Television Business EPP Group hearing, 29 June 2006
► Media groups active in 28 European countries ► Operating over 270 free-to-air and pay-TV channels and distributing 540 channels and 170 new services ► Every line of the directive affects our businesses
BUSINESS CONTEXT -New competition with powerful competitors -Rights costs increasing, but revenue flat – good content costs money -Multiplication of broadcasting technologies -“Consumer is king” : personal use - Reinventing business models - and regulatory ones?
THE ACCELERATING PACE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND BUSINESS MODELS : the example of VIDEO CINEMA TELEVISION VHS ANALOG CABLE ANALOG SATELLITE DIGITAL SATELLITE DIGITAL CABLE DVD The question should not be « What will TV be in 2010 ? » but « What will TV be in 6 months ? » WEB TVoDSL VOD PODCAST SVOD 3G DVB-H XXth century XXIst century
The Future: Digital All EU states to be fully digital Slide 5 Finland and UK : market leaders Majority around 2012 For consumers Increased choice Interactivity and niche interests For broadcasters In France after DTT launch from 6 to 25 terrrestrial channels
New media, new players Advertising budgets moving away from TV? And from global players Competition from telecom operators… European telcos: €210 billion turnover Time Warner 2004 revenue $ 42.1 billion EU Advertising market 2004 $ 29.8 billion (incl. Pubcasters) channels channels Slide 6 New media, new players Multiplication of channels New media, new players
So how should this new environment be regulated ? FOUR SPECIFIC ISSUES Scope & Non-linear services : technological neutrality Country of Origin : cornerstone of EU policy Advertising rules : more flexibility for responsible broadcasters The rights holder is king
SCOPE & NON LINEAR SERVICES We favor the limited scope extension to non- linear services : core principles should be applicable to everyone We plead for technological neutrality : same use, same rules Let’s give time to new services to find their balance before regulating them completely
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN Cornerstone of EU policy Need to have one jurisdiction Only way to encourage transfrontier television Competition and consumer choice
ADVERTISING - Only way to provide free, legal and attractive content to the consumer - Broadcasters need more flexibility, and are responsible enough not to abuse of it : insertion, minutage - Let’s provide space for new advertising techniques but let’s not deprive broadcasters of revenues : we know how to create attractive contents
RIGHTS PROTECTION The consumer is king, so is the rights holder Our main issue : the quest for rights Viewers get access to information from broadcasters, not middlemen Bad example : short reporting
“The aim is for Europe´s audiovisual content industry to flourish under one of the most modern and flexible set of rules in the world ” Commissioner Reding,