PSB-The French way

As the debate continues over public service broadcasting in the Uk,it may be prudent to take a look at what is happening over the Channel in France.

Follow the media looks at what is calls the Sarkovision as the French president who has admiited that if he had not become a polititian,he would have started a Tv channel,looks to stamp his mark on the French broadcasting system

since January,he has been on a crusade to reform French public broadcasting in its totality. A presidential commission chaired by Jean-François Copé delivered its plan last week. The two most apparent steps to that reform are changes in organization and finance.

But one area of note has been the backward steps in its independence from the state,including,

that in the future the French president would name France Télévisions chief executive.

Unlike the Uk,French Psb contains advertising and Sarkozy is keen to eliminate this by

Ad revenue lost to French public broadcasting would be made up by a 3% tax on private broadcasting revenues, as much as €80 million. In addition – and not inconspicuously – telephone (not limited to mobile operators) operators and internet service providers will be charged 0.9% of their revenue for the support of public broadcasting. And that bill – certainly passed on to consumers – would add as much as €380 million annually.

Note suprisingly the private sector is up in arms as it willbe footing the bill to subidise the PSB sector