ContentSphere - Music & Media in an Online Culture

[German version] Actually, this article should have dealt with comparing Germany’s public service broadcasters current position and those of British PBS. I intended to comment on it since on one hand, there had been the turndown of “Project Kangaroo”, the BBC’s joint venture with ITV and Channel 4. In Germany, on the other hand, the bill much debated for defining the legal foundations to PBS online integration (12th Amendment Act of Broadcast Treaty, abbr.: 12. RÄStV) had been signed a few months before.

Please notice: It should have. Having a closer look, each one’s perspective on the bill whether affected or not, reveals some astonishing aspects. After all, even more it looks like a devastated allotment garden after a lively argument from “Picket Fences”.

So what is the point of view of the persons involved? What are the issues the bill deals with it is discussed at primetime? Finally, what is the core of the matter all about?

Eventually, and maybe, there still will be a comparison between Germany and the UK. Let’s see.

Digital Distribution and European Commission are expecting

The bill is not born out of anything similar to passionate love. Not really. In early 2005, the European Commission opened proceedings against Germany because of filed complaints regarding various aspects of financial regularisations of public broadcasting services.

Services affected, like ARD and ZDF, to a large extent are financed by fees. Recently, they started boosting online activities. This included media archives offering video and audio streaming for free. This was the day the bill was born. Concedings to the European Commission finally served to the closing of the proceedings. Later on, these concedings were to be integrated into the draft.

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