Harnessing public broadcasting for Canadians in the digital age

International benchmark study for the CRTC

Study by Cullen International

November 2019

A. Introduction

The CRTC has commissioned Cullen International ^Footnote1 to undertake an international benchmark study to support its work on the upcoming licence renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada’s national public broadcaster.

1. Context

In Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada, the CRTC proposed to update legislation to develop new adaptable and innovative approaches to regulation. One option was to replace prescription licensing of every individual services with broader, compressive service agreements covering a service group’s broad array of broadcasting and digital services. Such agreements would be adapted to a service group’s technological and business reality, be subject to public scrutiny, set out specific binding commitments applicable to the service group and include performance-based measurements tailored to achieve policy outcomes.

The TV and radio licences of Canada’s national public broadcaster (CBC/Radio-Canada) are up for renewal, but their services have expanded well into the digital space. Legislative changes required to introduce new approaches are still some time away, but we are exploring an interim approach that encompasses all of CBC/Radio-Canada’s services.

The overall objective of the study is to provide an overview of the evolution of public service broadcasters (PSBs), their governance and measurement frameworks to help the public process to identify an approach that could be tailored to the Canadian situation. PSBs are also often increasingly referred to as public service media (PSM ^Footnote2 ) in Europe so PSB and PSM will be used interchangeably in the report.

2. Scope

The study’s objectives are the following:

1. Identification of the bouquet of services, both traditional broadcasting (radio and television) and digital ^Footnote5 , that PSMs offer.
   • How do they differ between countries?
   • How have the service offerings within each country evolved from traditional broadcasting to digital? In particular for local, regional and national news and information services.
   • How do they serve linguistic, indigenous and ethnic minority communities and those with disabilities?
2. Overview of the approach to governance of each PSM considered, including how they are regulated.
   • Which institutions are involved in governance and/or regulation and how?
   • Has governance and regulation evolved to include digital services? If yes, how?
   • Is there consideration given to the impact on competition with the private sector? If yes, how?
3. Outline of how performance is measured.
   • How has performance measurement evolved to include digital?
   • What are the elements of performance measurement? Does it include: public opinion surveys, currency panels, internal digital data on websites/apps, external digital data (e.g. Set-top Boxes, Facebook), schedule/inventory, revenues, expenditures, complaints, or other measures?
   • To whom is performance measurement accountable and how is performance measurement verified?
   • What opportunities and challenges does the performance measurement process face with the shift to digital?
4. Identification of the more advanced models in terms of governance and measurement practices in the selected countries and overview of how governance and measurement evolved over recent years to become ‘best practices’.

3. Methodology

The study was largely conducted based on desk research, using public sources of information, reviewing publications and statements issued by government ministries, regional and national regulators and public service broadcasters.

Telephone and face-to-face interviews were also conducted to supplement and confirm information obtained in the research.

All the information gathered during the research phase of the study is included in appendices which form an integral and important part of the study.

The information was gathered during the research phase of the study i.e. between 1 September 2019 and 1 November 2019.

The report and appendices refer to national media regulators. For sake of clarity, this table lists the full name of these regulators together with their acronyms.

B. Executive summary

Service offerings

The PSM organisations (PSM) offer a large selection of television and radio channels composed of generalist channels and thematic channels. The thematic channels mainly cover news, entertainment, content for children and teenagers, regional/local content and content aimed at (minority) communities (linguistic, ethnic and indigenous). Half of these broadcasters also offer channels with an international reach (e.g. the world, Europe and the Americas), and/or their own commercial channels partly or in full.

Over the past recent few years, the surveyed PSM have developed diverse and multiple offers of online services which go beyond the catch-up of their linear television programmes (e.g. pay and free on-demand services, live streaming, podcasts, mobile apps). This move is mainly led by the need to address competition exercised by international online streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon.

Most of their digital services consist in a main platform or hub, from which many thematic websites can be accessed. Leading themes offered are news, content for young audiences, regional content and content aimed at some minority communities (linguistic, ethnic, indigenous).

In some cases, free-to-air channels have been replaced by online only versions of the channels, often driven by the budget constraints imposed on PSM by national governments or the need to retain/attract young audiences, such as the BBC Three channel which was moved online in 2016. To face the audience decrease and consumption on mobile devices, some PSM have developed separate apps or platforms with content (e.g. web series, videos, music) aimed at these young audiences. For example, France Télévisions launched “Francetv Slash” and ARD in Germany created “Funk”.

All PSM covered have also understood that delivering content on social media and video-sharing platforms is key to compensate for the decline in linear viewing. Therefore, they have a presence on major social media (such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat) and supply content from their channels on the video-sharing platform YouTube.

Another observed trend is that certain PSM (France Télévisions, NPO, RTVE, the BBC) are entering into partnerships with commercial broadcasters to launch joint online platforms to offer additional content to their audiences. Again, this is a consequence of the increasing competition exercised by global streaming services providers, but is also a consequence of budget cuts imposed by governments in these countries.

The mandate of all the PSM contain an obligation to offer programming to at least one or several minority communities, i.e. linguistic, ethnic or indigenous, although the mandate is expressed in different ways. Because of its specific mandate (which is to offer programming to multicultural and indigenous communities), SBS in Australia is the only PSM to serve content to these three types of communities.

All the PSM are mandated to provide or produce programmes in the minority or co-official languages spoken by the communities existing in their territories, but only half of them must supply programming to ethnic communities, in line with the historical or cultural background of the country in which they operate.

All PSM must comply with requirements to make their programmes accessible to people with a visual or hearing disability. In some instances, the type of measure to take is not detailed (such as subtitling, sign language or audio description), while in some cases, the measures are very detailed (with specific targets to meet). There is also a split situation about whether accessibility obligations apply to on-demand services ^Footnote6 or not.

Governance

The governance models of the PSM are diverse. In Europe, this is because there are no binding rules set at the European Union (EU) level. At Council of Europe level however, a number of non-binding best practices have been adopted. According to these, there should be clarity at least on the bodies to whom the PSM is accountable; the public purposes and wider responsibilities for which the PSM is to be held accountable; the information the PSM should supply; a clear timetable for annual reports and other audit processes, and on the terms on which public service media are required to consult with stakeholders ahead of their key decision.

All countries have in place rules to ensure that their PSM are accountable and that they fulfil correctly their public service missions. The general governance models in the countries covered are classified into three groups: the countries with very specific umbrella organisations (the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany) but sometimes where another external body may also exercise supervision, those where the regulator is primarily responsible (France, Ireland, Spain, the UK) and countries where the parliament exercises (limited) oversight (Australia, Finland).

On financial supervision the same diversity is observed. In Ireland, France and the Netherlands there are multiple levels of financial oversight: by the regulator, the government, the parliament, the state audit office and external auditors. Despite the fact that in the UK, the regulator plays a (significant) role in the supervision of the BBC, Ofcom has no role to play on the financial oversight, which is left almost entirely to the state audit office. In Finland and Spain, the regulator plays the main role.

In all countries, the provision of new online digital services is now part of the public service obligation of the PSBs. The recognition of this extended remit was recognised at different moments and with different limits.

On the oversight of the launch of new services at EU level, a non-binding but influential communication foresees that member states should set up an ex-ante or public value test before new audiovisual services are launched by PSM. The purpose of this test is to assess if the new services do not distort trade and competition and to assess if the impact on the market is balanced with the value of the new services for society. It also includes the following best practices, i.e. that the test should be carried out by an independent body, giving interested parties the opportunity to be heard. We see that six out of nine countries have set up an ex-ante screening test of new services launched by PSM. Australia, France and Spain have not introduced such a test. In all of the countries where a test exists, interested parties can give their views but the test is either carried out by the regulator, the ministry or the umbrella organisation or the PSM itself.

Performance

In all the countries PSM are required to assess their overall performance against their public service purposes (and in some cases specific obligations) and to report to the institutions they are accountable to on the results of this assessment.

The performance of all covered PSMs is measured with a set of indicators which always relate (at a minimum) with their consumption, perception and quality (intended in different ways according to each PSM’s objectives).

The regulatory framework governing performance measurement varies substantially from country to country. While in some countries (such as Australia) PSM benefit from a certain degree of flexibility when translating their public service purposes into a set of performance commitments, in other countries (i.e. France, the Netherlands and Sweden) PSM are obliged to apply a set of measurement indicators (with very detailed indicators in the case of France). In these countries the results of the PSM’s self-assessment is then evaluated by the regulator.

An additional level of verification applies in France, where the regulator also conducts its own separate measurement of the PSM performance by using additional data and according to its own measures. The same system is in place in Spain and in the UK. In France, the budget allocated to the PSM in the draft finance law is linked to an annual performance plan.

As the provision of digital services has been included in the remit of all the covered PSM, the measurement of the performance of all PSM also capture these services.

In countries where there is a strong regulatory oversight on performance measurement, the relevant framework has been (or in the future could be) amended accordingly. In France, for instance, the number of binding indicators was reduced to provide the PSM with the flexibility needed to respond to the digital shift. In the UK, a discussion is ongoing on how the framework applied by Ofcom to measure BBC performance could be further adapted to better reflect the increased relevance of online consumption.

In some countries digital services are captured by general indicators that apply cross-platform (i.e. over radio, TV and digital assets) while in other countries new indicators have also been developed to specifically measure digital services. Data sources for digital indicators mainly include:

• web analytics to measure audience engagement on its own digital platforms;
• analysis of programming schedule/content catalogues of digital services;
• population and/or audience surveys on consumption and/or perception;
• financial data (e.g. revenues and expenditures).

The greater challenge for PSM is how to make sure the data can be combined and compared, including with TV and radio measures, to build effective performance (including cross-platform) indicators. Comparison within the market requires reliable shared industry reports. Measurement of audio streaming is also a common challenge.

One of the more advanced models, has been developed by the ABC. On internal measurement, ABC has recently migrated all its digital assets to Google Analytics 360, which measures usage and behaviour. On external measurement, ABC can rely on industry-wide currencies that:

• measure the consumption of its TV programmes over the long-tail (including on-demand viewing) and over different devices and demographics;
• measures audiences across the PSM’s own websites and apps as well as third-party platforms, using a tagging-based (rather than panel-based) methodology.

C. Service offerings

1. TV and radio broadcast channel offerings

All the PSM have been providing a comprehensive and large offer of television and radio services for a long time: television services were first offered by the BBC in the UK in the thirties, and then by the other PSM between the forties’ and seventies.

Only France Télévisions has a limited offer of radio services as these services are provided by a separate public service entity, Radio France, which is also 100% state-owned.

Radio services were launched before television, for instance, the RN radio station (owned by ABC) was already broadcasting in the region of Sidney (Australia) in 1923.

a) The television offer is large and diverse

Most PSM have one or two flagship generalist/mixed-genre channel(s) and multiple free thematic channels, depending on the size of the PSM. The table below gives an overview of the genres offered by the PSM.

(1) Many offer rolling/24h News channels

All PSM except SBS in Australia, Yle in Finland and SVT in Sweden offer a rolling/24 hours news channel. For these three broadcasters, news is part of the programmes offered by their generalist channels.

In Spain, RTVE has two news services, one which is aimed at Spanish citizens and the other which targets Europe and the Americas (but it is a commercial service 100% owned by RTVE).

Four PSM out of the ten analysed (i.e. Yle, France Télévisions, RTE and RTVE) hold shares in Euronews (a 24-hours news channel covering Europe and Mediterranean countries and broadcast in 12 different languages), and Africanews, its equivalent for the African continent.

(2) Channels with a focus on regions and communities

The channel offering with a regional/local focus and/or aimed at communities is specific to each country for cultural and historical reasons.

The PSM offers aimed at linguistic, ethnic and indigenous communities are covered in detail in section b)(3).

In Australia, SBS is a PSM with the overall mission to provide multilingual and multicultural television, radio and digital media services to reflect the multicultural and indigenous society of Australia. For that purpose, it provides (among other services) multilingual television and radio programmes dedicated to Australian-focused content, and in particular the National Indigenous Television (NITV) which among other programmes, broadcasts the Australia’s only national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander television news service (see b)(3) on offers aimed at linguistic, ethnic and indigenous communities).

In France, France Télévisions has a network of 24 channels covering the different regions of France (mainland) and a network of nine channels covering the overseas territories ^Footnote7 . On top of this, the PSM runs a national channel which aims to bring the culture of these territories to the French mainland population.

In Germany, by default the nine regional broadcasting corporations which constitute ARD have a regional focus ^Footnote8 .

In the Netherlands, a channel offering content for young audiences is about to be transformed into a channel which will offer regional programmes. There is also a channel which offers content from NPO (the Netherlands) and from VRT (the Flemish PSM - Belgium) to Dutch citizens based abroad.

In Spain, regional channels are run by PSM of the autonomous communities (Catalonia, Basque country, etc.), not RTVE.

In Finland, Ireland and the UK, specific channels are exclusively aired in the language spoken by a community or a region of the country, i.e. Swedish in Finland, Gaelic in Ireland, Gaelic, Welsh and Scottish in the UK. In Finland, Yle offers a channel with programmes in Swedish and other Nordic languages

(3) Channels with international reach

Half of the broadcasters offer television channels that target an international audience.

The ABC offers a generalist channel (80% made of news) named ABC Australia which targets audiences across Asia Pacific and the Indian subcontinent.

Next to Euronews and Africanews (see above), France Télévisions, ARD/ZDF, RTVE and the BBC mainly offer these channels. These channels usually focus on culture and/or news and current affairs. Some of the channels are part of the public service remit of the broadcaster (France Télévisions, ARD/ZDF) while some are outside of the public remit and funded by advertising (RTVE and the BBC).

France Télévisions and ARD/ZDF operate a common French-German channel, Arte, which broadcasts European cultural content to European citizens in six languages.

France Télévisions has shares in TV5 Monde (together with other French speaking public service broadcasters such as CBC/Radio-Canada and Télé-Qébec in Canada, RTBF in Belgium and RTS in Switzerland), which is an international channel broadcast in French (and sub-titled ^Footnote9 in 14 languages) aimed at promoting cultural diversity and the international reach of francophone programmes.

RTVE in Spain has probably the most comprehensive offer of channels targeting an international audience, such as Europe and the Americas. It owns 100% of four commercial television services (i.e. not part of its remit) that are segmented by genre, i.e. generalist, kids, rolling news and entertainment.

In the UK, the BBC offers BBC World, a news and current affairs channel available in 200 countries, and contrary to its alter ego BBC Radio World, is not funded by public money but by advertising (see below).

(4) Channels aimed at children and young audiences

All the broadcasters have launched dedicated television channels aimed at children and young audiences, except Yle which airs content for children and young audiences on its second generalist channel, and France Télévisions which offers this type of content on digital platforms (see section 2).

The broadcasters provide content for very young children (including pre-teen children) and/or for teenagers or both, as shown in the table below.

(5) Other thematic channels

The broadcasters also offer types of thematic channels which can be grouped as follows:

• Education: France Télévisions, ARD/ZDF and SVT have channels dedicated to education and knowledge-sharing.
• Parliament’s sessions: NPO and the BBC offer a channel dedicated to live broadcasts of parliament’s debates. NPO also uses this channel to retransmit sports events.
• Sports: Almost all PSM cover sports as part of the programme schedule of their generalist channels. Only RTVE operates a channel exclusively dedicated to sports, and SVT has two channels which share the sports programming with programmes for kids and educational content.
• Culture: Yle, ARD, NPO and the BBC have a channel dedicated to cultural content and arts, which according to the BBC’s “are an intellectual and cultural enriching alternative to mainstream programming”. France Télévisions also offers that programming together with educational content. France Télévisions and ARD/ZDF have a common channel, Arte, which offers cultural content to Europe in multiple languages (see above).
• Entertainment. Many broadcasters offer a channel with entertainment and content for families. This covers for example channels dedicated to comedy (ABC), food and cooking (SBS), feature films and series (SBS), or can be more generalist channels (Yle, France Télévisions, RTE, and NPO). For France Télévisions, this channel (France 4) is set to become an “online-only” channel in 2020. NPO announced that the programming of its channel NPO3 would move to a regional content offering.
• Archives. Only NPO broadcasts a channel with content coming from a cultural archive institution, the Sound and Vision Institute.

(6) Some have interests in commercial television channels

The research shows that some PSM fully or partly own commercial channels:

• France Télévisions, Yle and RTE have a participation in Euronews and Africanews (which are mainly owned by MGM and NBC News). France Télévisions also has a minority stake in a channel showing criminal investigations, together with the pay TV operator, Canal Plus.
• RTVE is the 100% owner of four commercial channels which target international audiences.
• The BBC also runs commercial channels with an international reach (such as BBC Earth and BBC Canada), via its subsidiary BBC Studios.

b) The radio offer is large and diverse

• As for television, the radio offer is large and diverse.

The summary table below provides an overview of the main genres offered by PSM radio channels.

(1) Music radios

Unsurprisingly, music is one of the core themes broadcast by PSM radios stations. As the table below shows, all PSM own radio stations which air at least one or several musical genres. ABC, ARD, RTE, NPO, SVT and the BBC supply the largest offer of musical genres (mainly classical, urban, world and modern music).

Classical music is particularly well represented as it is offered by all PSM, except SVT, SBS ^Footnote11 and France Télévisions ^Footnote12 .

SBS offers diverse genres of music coming from around the world (Asian and Indian music), whereas ABC, RTE and NPO offer a large catalogue of modern music (jazz, country music, contemporary and past music hits, alternative music…).

A few broadcasters (NPO, SVT and the BBC) offer channels with musical content aimed at children and youth, such as urban and contemporary music. This type of content is now offered on digital media platforms by some PSM (see section on digital offerings).

(2) Generalist radios

All PSM offer one or multiple mixed genre radio station(s), depending on the size of the public broadcaster. In particular ABC, SBS, MDR and the BBC offer a wide range of generalist channels with regional and local programming and/or, channels which are aimed at indigenous and linguistic/immigrant communities.

(3) Stations aimed at specific communities and regions

All PSM except NPO own radio stations which provide regional/local content and/or are aimed at linguistic, ethnic and indigenous communities.

• Both ABC and SBS offer a wide range of generalist stations covering regional (Pacific) and/or local matters (capital cities), and addressed at linguistic, ethnic and indigenous communities in the country (SBS Radio 1 & 2 are broadcast in 68 languages, SBS Arabic 24).
• The BBC has a network of regional stations (Scotland, Wales, Ulster) which broadcast in the languages of these regions. It has also a wide range of local radio services for audiences in the different parts of England and the Channel Islands, and broadcast programming aimed at the British Asians community.
• Yle operates radio stations in Swedish, the other official language, and in Sami, the language spoken by the population of the Northern part of Finland. Similarly, SVT in Sweden has radio stations with content in Finnish and Sami languages.
• France Télévisions has a network of nine radios dedicated to overseas territories.
• MDR in Germany has three radios with generalist content focussing on the regions it covers, i.e. Saxonia, Saxonia-Anhalt and Thuringia.
• RTE operates an Irish language radio and RTVE has a radio which broadcast in Catalan language (but which is only available in Catalonia).

(4) News

Unlike for television, only a few PSM have a radio channel dedicated to news. This is the case for ABC, SBS, ARD, RTVE and the BBC. For the other PSM, news is addressed in the programmes of generalist stations.

The BBC via the “BBC World Service” provides news and information targeting an international audience in 28 different languages (service in English is offered 24/7). Unlike television this service is not funded by advertising but by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

(5) Other services

Most of the sports coverage is done through generalist radios, except on the BBC which divides the transmission time of its radio station “Radio 5 Live” between sports and news. The BBC has also the possibility to extend the radio broadcast capacity in case additional coverage of sporting events is required.

Most PSM (except SBS and France Télévisions for the reasons explained above) have radio services aimed at young and children audiences. NPO, SVT and the BBC also air musical stations aimed at youngsters.

A very few number of broadcasters (MDR and the BBC) dedicate a radio station to culture and arts (such as drama and reading).

2. Online offers

a) A large number of digital services

The analysis shows that all PSM offer a large number of services on the internet, which go beyond the simple delivery of the replay of their broadcast channels.

The PSMs also offer live streaming of television and radio content, content in preview (i.e. offered online before being broadcast on channels), free and pay video on-demand services, content on mobile apps, radio podcasts, and sometimes video games. Most of the PSM also provide services on third party platforms, such as channels and programmes on YouTube, and have a presence on major social media like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

For all PSM except ARD/ZDF in Germany and SVT in Sweden, this offer is structured around a principal (or hub) platform from which other websites with more specialised content can be accessed. These thematic websites mainly offer content for young audiences, educational and cultural content, regional/local content, news, sports, archives, and audio content (music, podcast…).

ABC and SBS in Australia, RTE in Ireland and the BBC in the UK have a streamlined/clear offer of digital services, probably due to their greater experience in the offering of online services (these PSM were among the first to offer content on the internet (from 1995 to 1997).

Conversely for a PSM like France Télévisions, the offer appears less clear with multiple thematic sub-websites which can be accessed from many different entry points and which can make them less visible to the public. ABC is particularly innovative and advanced on technology: all the content offered online is accessible via mobile apps.

b) In some cases, digital offers are replacing free to air channels

A number of PSM have taken the decision to shut down some channels initially available on broadcast networks, and to move them on the internet (see 1.a) above). This is the case for France Télévisions and the BBC and can be explained by budget constraints and/or the decline in the consumption of linear television by young audiences.

To face the audience decrease among young audiences and to adapt to the consumption on mobile devices, the strategy of some PSM is to develop separate platforms or apps with content aimed at these audiences (such as videos, cartoons, web series, music…) and to make them available on social media and third party-sharing platforms. For example, France Télévisions launched “Francetv Slash” in 2018, ARD created “funk” in 2016, and the BBC replaced the “BBC Three” channel by its online version in 2016.

c) Some PSM are entering into partnerships with commercial broadcasters

Some PSM have recently started to enter partnerships with commercial broadcasters to create common digital platforms to offer additional content to their audiences. This can be explained by the increasing competition exercised by international online video streaming providers (Netflix, Amazon,…) and budget cuts imposed by governments in these countries.

In France, France Télévisions and the two largest commercial broadcasters will launch “Salto” in 2020. Salto is a pay over-the-top platform which will offer access to the linear channels, video on-demand and catch-up services from France Télévisions, TF1 and M6, and at a later stage, access to digital free-to-air channels from other broadcasters.

In the Netherlands, NPO and commercial broadcasters, RTL and Talpa, have been operating a similar platform, “NLZIET”, since 2014.

In Spain, RTVE has partnered with private operators Artresmedia and Mediaset to launch “Losvestv” in November 2018, a platform gathering the content of the three owners and accessible via the HbbTV technology.

In the UK, “Britbox”, a pay streaming service created by the BBC and ITV (already up and running in the US and Canada since 2017) is about to be launched.

d) All PSM are present on third-party online platforms

All PSM have a presence on the major social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Unsurprisingly, this presence is particularly prominent in relation to services aimed at young audiences, for example France TV Slash and funk (ARD).

All PSM also provide content from their generalist or specialised channels (news, youth, archives, etc.) on the video-sharing platform YouTube.

Interestingly, NPO in the Netherlands is subject to new rules (of April 2019) which require the PSM to ask authorisation to its umbrella authority, “the foundation” (see p. 29), before making content available on third-party platforms, and to ensure that the title of the programme is preserved. In France, the press reports that the CEO of France Télévisions announced in November 2018 that the group would stop posting its programmes in full on YouTube because of a lack of fair sharing of the value by the platform.

ABC closed its own user-generated content service (ABC Open) in June 2019. ABC Open aimed at providing a platform where “regional Australians tell their stories”. A new ABC audience-image portal (ABC My Photo) will be launched in 2019-2020.

3. Offers aimed at linguistic, indigenous and ethnic minority communities

a) Mandate

(1) All PSM have a mandate but expressed in different ways

All PSM have a mandate to offer programming to at least one minority (linguistic, indigenous or ethnic) community. It is in particular relatively clear in the mandate of:

• ABC (Australia): “reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community”;
• SBS (Australia): “reflect Australia’s multicultural society” and contribute to meeting the communications needs of that multicultural society”;
• Yle (Finland): “support the preservation of Finnish cultural heritage and diversity and provide programming for minority and special groups”;
• RBB (Germany): “take into account the regional diversity of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg and the language and culture of the Sorbian (Wendish) people”
• SVT (Sweden): “serve the interests of the population in all parts of the country”;
• the BBC (UK): “reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the UK’s nations and regions”.

The mandates of France Télévisions (“highlight the linguistic and cultural heritage of France”), RTE in Ireland (“reflect the cultural diversity of Ireland”) and RTVE in Spain (“guarantee plurality, linguistic and cultural diversity of Spain”) are expressed by reference to the country as a nation, rather than by reference to communities, special groups or a multicultural dimension.

The mandate of NPO in the Netherlands stands out as it is expressed in the form of a quota that NPO should try to meet: “at least 50% of content which is relevant to the provinces or cities it is addressed to”).

(2) Some PSM have a detailed mandate

The mandate of some PSM is more detailed than others. In particular, the mandate is more specific about:

• requirements to produce programmes in certain (minority or official) languages spoken in the country: SBS, Yle, RTE, RTVE, SVT
• obligations to broadcast certain types of programmes (e.g. sport, religious, news, cultural content, debates in parliament): RTE, France Télévisions
• objectives that programmes (entertain, educate, inform) must reach: SBS, RTE, NPO,
• quotas of content that must be produced by local/regional broadcasters or acquired from them: NPO, RTVE
• requirements on the need to promote language diversity and its continuous development: SBS, France Télévisions, RTVE, RBB)
• additional values to respect, such as “treat citizens speaking different languages on equal grounds and support tolerance”: Yle
• explicit specifications on obligations to supply online services (France Télévisions, RTVE

SBS in Australia is the only PSM among those covered, tasked with the overall purpose to deliver channels and services which reflect the Australian multicultural and indigenous society (including minority communities). SBS provides a variety of television, radio and online services primarily dedicated to Australian-focussed content in 68 languages, and television programmes in 53 languages (other than English).

In the other countries surveyed, the mandate to provide television, radio and web content to minority communities is one task of many in the hands of PSM.

(3) Online services

For SBS, Yle, RBB, SVT and the BBC, offering online services to minority communities is part of the mandate covering all their services activities. For FT, RTE and RTVE the mandate explicitly specifies the obligations to make this type programming available on the internet.

ABC’s mandate does not formally apply to online services but in practice, the broadcaster considers that the obligations shaping its broadcasting services extend to its online services.

b) Offers

(1) Offers aimed at linguistic communities

All PSM provide or produce programmes and services in the languages spoken by the (minority) communities present on their territory. All PSM must contribute and promote the languages spoken by minorities. This is particularly true for SBS which delivers programming in multiple languages to reflect the Australian multicultural and indigenous society (see above), and which must contribute to the retention and continuous development of languages.

Some PSM have channels which are exclusively broadcast in a language other than the language spoken by the majority of the population: SBS (Australia), Yle (Finland), RTE (Ireland), RTVE (for radio—Spain) SVT (Sweden) and the BBC (UK).

For other public service media, the situation differs: France Télévisions’ offer consists in incorporating in its services, programmes covering overseas territories and Corsica both in French and in the languages spoken in these territories. RBB (Germany) also includes programmes aimed at Sorbian people in its regional channel. NPO in the Netherlands has no obligation to broadcast in a language other than Dutch. It “should” only reserve at least 50% of its programming to Frisian or Dutch productions.

The situation is particular for RTVE in Spain, which does not offer channels in the (co-official) languages of the different autonomous regions (except a radio channel in Catalan only broadcast in Catalonia). RTVE offers the possibility to “disconnect” the broadcast signal of its national channels (La 1 and La 2) to allow regional broadcasters to broadcast content in the language of their region. According to financial possibilities, RTVE must also ensure that the content it broadcasts, and which is made by the autonomous communities (in their language) is subtitled in Spanish (Castilian). Conversely, RTVE must ensure that its programming in Spanish which is broadcast in these communities is subtitled in the languages of these communities.

(2) Offers aimed at ethnic communities

All PSM, except NPO, RTE, RTVE and the BBC offer content programming aimed at ethnic communities, which refer to human populations who share a common history, descent, culture, language or lifestyle. As shown above, the programme offers of RTE, RTVE and the BBC focus on linguistic communities or regions.

(3) Offers aimed at indigenous communities

Only ABC and SBS in Australia provide programming to “indigenous communities” which must be interpreted as meaning the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands before the British colonisation.

In particular, ABC is very active by voluntarily incorporating Indigenous Australian languages and names into its storytelling, and by producing content in indigenous languages and promoting the emergence of indigenous filmmakers.

As explained above, SBS provides broadcast and online programming in many different languages, and in particular it airs the National Indigenous Television, a free-to-air channel with content produced by Indigenous Australians, including the Australia’s only national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander television news service.

c) Quotas imposed on some PSM

In a very few countries, there are detailed obligations on PSM to ensure a certain amount of transmission time of content aimed at communities (quantitative obligations) or obligations to broadcast a specific type of content and/or in a specific language (qualitative obligations).

The BBC in the UK is probably the public service broadcaster with the largest number of detailed obligations. There are obligations in terms of programme-making and expenditure which are common to all BBC’s services/channels, and there are other obligations which apply to each type of channel/service according to their objectives (e.g. minimum transmission time, specific genre to broadcast).

In the Netherlands, all NPO channels (national and regional) must devote a minimum percentage of transmission time to Dutch or Frisian productions.

In Spain, some quantitative obligations are foreseen in the RTVE framework mandate but have never been enforced in practice.

In the other countries, there are either no quotas or indication on how the mandate must be met: Australia (ABC and SBS), Finland (Yle), Germany (for the different PSM covered in the study).

The obligation can also be very general. For example, France Télévisions must air “a significant proportion of programmes dedicated to Corsica” on regional channel Corse Via Stella. In Sweden, an obligation requires SVT to “significantly increase the amount of programmes produced in minority languages each year (from 2013)”.

In Ireland, RTE must ensure that its (Irish only) channel, TG4, reflects in its programmes “the varied elements that make-up to the culture of the people of Ireland and have special regard for the elements which distinguish that culture and in particular for the Irish-speaking regions”.

4. Accessibility

a) Rules at the EU level

Current rules ^Footnote13 at the European Union (EU) level do not impose any detailed obligation on member states about accessibility. EU member states must only encourage media service providers in their jurisdiction to ensure that their services are gradually made accessible to people with a visual or hearing disability.

The recently adopted new EU directive ^Footnote14 which aims to modernise these rules (and must be transposed by member states by 19 September 2020), strengthens the accessibility rules by requiring (rather than encouraging) service providers to make their services “gradually and progressively more accessible without undue delay and to report to their regulatory authorities”.

This mean that EU countries are free to impose accessibility rules on broadcasters. For public service media, making programmes accessible to people with disabilities is usually part of their public service missions.

The research shows that there are rules on accessibility in all countries, but the types of rules are very different. Some countries only have general rules, which do not distinguish between the type of measure to adopt (i.e. subtitling ^Footnote15 , sign language, audio description ^Footnote16 ), while other countries have introduced special rules (such as targets that PSM must reach) which may differ according to the type of measures.

b) Subtitling

(1) Obligation to reach targets

In all countries surveyed, PSM must reach subtitling targets, except in Germany where the obligation is general and does not detail how ARD/ZDF must comply with it. As shown in the summary table below, in countries where targets are set, they are all expressed as a minimum percentage of sub-titled programmes to reach during a certain period of time (e.g. broadcasting day, peak time, after 12pm).

However, in some countries, the rules allow the PSM to benefit from derogations which make the targets easier to reach:

• For ABC and SBS, the targets differ according to the type of programme broadcast (e.g. in all programmes v. only news and current affairs programmes), and the period of time when these are programmes are broadcast (e.g. from 6am to 12pm or after 12pm);
• France Télévisions must subtitle 100% of its programmes, but this obligation only applies to channels with an audience above 2.5% (which is the case for France Télévisions’ five main channels);
• Instead of subtitling, RTE is allowed to use captioning, a less qualitative type subtitling to reach the targets;
• For NPO, the target to reach by thematic channels is lower (50%) than for generalist channels (95%);
• SVT has a minimum target of 100% of subtitled programmes to reach but this only applies to pre-recorded programmes (the target is set at 70% for live broadcasts);
• For the BBC, the 100% the target does apply to a certain type of channels (BBC parliament).

(2) Obligation to subtitle on-demand and other services

Subtitling requirements also apply to on-demand services offered by Yle, RTE, NPO, SVT and the BBC. For RTE, the requirement is very general, whereas for the other PSM, requirements include specific targets to meet.

ABC, SBS, France Télévisions, ARD/ZDF and RTVE are not obliged to subtitle their on-demand audiovisual services. In France, subtitling on-demand content is only encouraged, but it provides subtitles its main on-demand services.

In Spain, RTVE is required to subtitle content delivered on its “red button” service, accessible via the connected television standard HbbTV ^Footnote17 . In the UK, subtitling is also mandated on providers of electronic programme guides, and this includes the Freeview, Freesat and YouView projects in which the BBC partners with other companies ^Footnote18 .

(3) Sub-titling for linguistic, ethnic and indigenous communities

In line with its public service mission, SBS must subtitle its programmes (that reflect the multicultural and indigenous society) according to the targets explained above.

In Finland, Yle is required to subtitle programmes offered in Finnish and Swedish, the two co-official languages spoken in the country, whereas programmes broadcast in foreign languages are subtitled by default.

(4) Obligation to supply quality subtitles

ABC, SBS and France Télévisions must comply with quality standards for subtitling. In Australia, it is the media regulator, ACMA, which adopted these standards on readability, comprehensibility and accuracy), whereas in France, stakeholders (including the government, the regulator (CSA), channels, unions, subtitling companies) signed a charter which put forward sixteen principles to ensure a qualitative subtitling.

In Ireland, RTVE is allowed to meet its subtitling targets with captioning which is a less qualitative type of subtitling ^Footnote19 .

c) Sign language

The research shows a split situation on sign language.

Rules on sign language apply to all selected PSM, except for ABC, SBS and NPO (in practice NPO provides sign language to certain type of programmes (news, Christmas speech…), including those available online).

For Yle, France Télévisions, ARD/ZDF (and RTE for on-demand services) requirements exist but are general, i.e. they do not indicate how the obligation must be fulfilled. In France, France Télévisions must “pay attention” to provide news programmes with sign language, which the PSM does in practice in its rolling news channels and other generalist channels. Yle in Finland also provide daily news with sign language.

RTE (for linear services), RTVE, SVT and the BBC have specific targets to meet:

• RTE must reach a quota of 3% of programmes with sign language broadcast in a day, but there is no indication on the type of programmes covered;
• RTVE is required to include sign language in at least 10 hours of programmes per week;
• SVT must broadcast 4 % of programmes interpreted with sign language out of the total broadcasting time;
• the BBC must sign 5% of all its content.

(1) Obligations relating to on-demand and other services

Obligations to sign on-demand services only exist for Yle and RTE. For these PSM, the obligation is general and is not expressed with specific targets like for subtitling.

In the Netherlands, although no obligations exist, NPO ensures that some of its programmes are provided online with sign language. For SVT in Sweden, the sign language obligation is in principle applicable to linear services only, but a government decision states that it can be fulfilled by “adding support for sign language to on-demand services”.

• In Spain, as for subtitling, RTVE must sign content delivered on its “red button” service (accessible via the HbbTV standard).

(2) Sign language for linguistic, ethnic and indigenous communities

There are no obligations on PSM to sign content aimed at linguistic, ethnic and indigenous communities

Only Finland has a reference to linguistic minorities/communities as Yle must "treat in its programme broadcasting Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking citizens on equal grounds, and produce services in the Sami, Romany and sign language and, where applicable, also in the languages of other language groups in the country”.

d) Audio description

The research shows a split situation similar to sign language, i.e. that rules on audio description apply to all selected PSM, except ABC, SBS and NPO.

However, the situation might change for ABC and SBS in Australia, as the government recently invited broadcasters to make proposals to include audio description in their programmes. In the Netherlands, NPO provides a number of programmes with audio description, including in on-demand services.

In countries where PSM must comply with rules, obligations are general in Germany where there are no details on how the ARD/ZDF must comply with them (like for subtitling and sign language). They are also general in France where the obligation to audio describe “a certain proportion of programmes during peak time” only apply to channels with an audience above 2.5% (which includes France Télévisions).

But rules are expressed in the form of targets for:

• Yle which must provide 100% of yearly public service foreign programming, i.e. other than in Finnish and Swedish language;
• RTE: 5% of the programmes broadcast in a day;
• RTVE: at least 10 hours of programmes per week;
• SVT: 100 % of pre-recorded SVT programmes in foreign languages with Swedish subtitles);
• the BBC: 10% of programmes, except on the BBC news channel.

(1) Obligations relating to on-demand and other services

Obligations to audio describe on-demand programmes are imposed on Yle, RTE, and the BBC.

The obligation is general for RTE and expressed in specific targets for Yle and the BBC (same targets as for linear services, see above). In practice, the BBC exceeds the 10% minimum quota and audio describe 20% of programmes on certain channels (BBC one, BBC Two, BBC Four, CBBC, and CBeeblies) and longform programmes on BBC three. In the Netherlands, although no obligations exist, NPO ensures that some of their on-demand and online programmes are audio described.

For SVT, the obligations are in principle only applicable to linear services (like for sign language), but a government decision states that it can be fulfilled by “adding support for audio description to on-demand services”.

In line with subtitling and sign language, audio description must be provided for the content delivered by RTVE on the “red button” service (accessible via the HbbTV standard).

(2) Audio description for linguistic, indigenous and ethnic communities

There is no obligation to audio describe content aimed at linguistic, indigenous and ethnic communities imposed on the PSM surveyed.

Finland is the only country where audio description must be added to all Yle’s foreign programmes that are subtitled with translation (other than Finnish and Swedish language, since the two official languages of Finland). However, this does not apply to live music events and live sports.

D. Governance

This section covers the governance models of PSM: the institutions involved and their respective roles. It addresses separately the verification of the financial situation of PSM as different systems may apply (see section 2.b)).

1. Rules on best practice governance in Europe

There are no binding measures at the European Union (EU) level ^Footnote20 on the governance ^Footnote21 of PSM (or on PSM in general). It is therefore the prerogative of the member states, which largely explains the variety of solutions in place.

However, even if there are no binding rules, the importance of PSM is clearly recognised in the EU. The Protocol on Public Service Broadcasting annexed to the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam states that:

“The system of public broadcasting in the member states is directly related to the democratic, social and cultural needs of each society and to the need to preserve media pluralism”.

In Europe, the governance structure of PSM is also framed by the legal requirement that they must be independent, perceived as a cornerstone of democratic societies, whereby citizens must be provided with a reliable and trustworthy source of information where different views are expressed. The legal requirement does not stem from legislation at the EU level but comes from a court decision of the European Court of Human Rights which was handed down in 2009 ^Footnote22 .

This requirement of independence does have repercussions on the governance of PSBs as it implies that a political institution (i.e. the government, a minister, the parliament, a committee within the parliament) cannot take the role of a governing body of the PSM. The recently reformed Audiovisual Media Services Directive ^Footnote23 has introduced new binding rules on the independence of national regulatory authorities according to which the member states must ensure in particular that they are independent of their respective governments and of any other public or private body. It is also widely accepted that this governing body should act as a ‘buffer’ between the PSM management and the political powers ^Footnote24 .

Equally important, the Council of Europe ^Footnote25 adopted a recommendation, on public service media governance in 2012 ^Footnote26 . Under this non-binding but influential recommendation it is stated that:

“[i]t is vitally important that member states review, and where necessary strengthen, the external governance arrangements for public service media designed to guarantee editorial and operational independence […].”

To assess the governance system of public service media, the recommendation provides guidelines which are summarised under a 3-tier system, covering structures (accountability and independence), management and culture. Under the first tier, the recommendation covers independence and accountability.

According to the guidelines, to provide for the independent PSM, editorial autonomy should be guaranteed through the following safeguards.

• Adequate regulatory and policy framework setting out the responsibilities of different actors (governments, parliaments, regulators etc.) in relation to PSM. This framework should be such that:
• the scope and reach of the public services remit is explicitly recognised with absolute clarity on whose role it is to set and review the remit;
• the policy goals for public intervention are clearly and consistently laid out, including unambiguous support for the principles of freedom of expression and journalistic enquiry;
• there is clarity about the responsibility of the regulator in relation to the PSM;
• the regulator is required to operate openly and transparently in respect of regulatory action, and is itself guaranteed independence from the state in its decision-making powers.
• There should be adequate funding which cannot be used to exercise editorial influence.
• There should be independent appointment procedures for the highest supervisory or decision-making authority ^Footnote27 .

On accountability, the best practice regulatory and policy framework of PSMs should be that there is clarity on:

• the bodies to whom the PSM is accountable;
• the public purposes and wider responsibilities for which the PSM is to be held accountable;
• the information the PSM should supply and the access they should provide to stakeholders;
• a clear timetable for annual reports and other audit processes, terms on which public service media are required to consult with stakeholders ahead of their key decision.

2. Country overview

a) General oversight

All countries have in place rules to ensure that their PSMs are accountable and that they fulfil correctly their public service missions. Several mechanisms are usually employed which may involve scrutiny by external actors, typically: the regulator, the parliament (or a specific committee within the parliament) and the government (or a ministry). In some cases, an organ close to the PSM can undertake this mission. Usually, one actor has a more prominent role to play than the others.

The research in the nine countries shows that there are different rules in place in terms of accountability as the following summary table illustrates. It must be noted that the research does not cover the independence of PSM as such or how the governing bodies of the PSM are appointed/dismissed.

(1) shows the body/authority which has the main responsibility to carry out the oversight.

Based on the country data gathered during the course of the study, the general governance models in the nine countries is classified into three groups: the countries with very specific umbrella organisations, those where the regulator is primarily responsible and countries where the parliament exercises (limited) oversight.

(1) Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden: umbrella organisations

In Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden the organisation and oversight is very specific because umbrella organisations have been put in place which undertake supervisory functions. In the Netherlands and Sweden this does not preclude however other institutional actors (such as the regulator and the parliament) from also having important supervisory functions.

In the Netherlands, at the national level, the PSM function is carried out by several broadcasters and the Dutch Public Broadcasting Foundation (NPO), the umbrella governance body. The NPO organises and coordinates the work of the different supply channels of the national PSM.

There are two types of national level PSM: those that are mandated by law and those to whom the minister of culture grants recognitions or provisional recognitions for five years.

• Two mandated broadcasters:NOS and NTR. They are mandated by the media law and do not have to obtain recognition every five years. NOS is responsible for providing media offer in the areas of news, current affairs, sport events and for national holidays ^Footnote28 . NTR makes programs about art, culture, minorities, and youth while also providing educational and journalistic programmes ^Footnote29 .
• Every five years the minister of culture grants recognitions to up to six broadcasting associations under very specific conditions specified in the law ^Footnote30 . Broadcasting associations must distinguish themselves from other broadcasters by for instance representing a group of the Dutch society (social, cultural, religious etc.) ^Footnote31 .

In terms of oversight and accountability, the PSM provide information to the NPO, which can sanction broadcasters and can even ask the minister to withdraw a recognition. The country’s main institutions are also involved in the oversight: the NPO presents each year to the regulator (Commissariat voor de Media) and to the minister in charge the annual reports, the financial statements and the budget. The regulator evaluates the annual reports of the NPO and supervises the implementation of the performance agreement. The regulator reports on its findings each year to the minister. The minister reports to responsible parliamentary committee on the measures taken in relation to the NPO.

In Sweden, three separate companies (SVT, SR and UR) are owned by an independent public (state) foundation called Förvaltningsstiftelsen för Sveriges Radio AB, Sveriges Television AB och Sveriges Utbildningsradio AB. The foundation controls the shares of the companies but it cannot interfere on matters of programming. Its board is appointed by the government. The purpose of the foundation is to serve as a buffer between the state and the companies. The public service companies are given permits to broadcast for certain periods of time. Before new permits are given, a public enquiry is conducted to see if the permit should be renewed. The foundation appoints the boards of the three companies and is in charge of their supervision. The regulator, the Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority, also has a decisive role to play as it provides an annual evaluation of how the public service mission has been fulfilled, based on written reports provided by the three companies. The government and the parliament have no role to play in the supervision of the companies.

In Germany, the organisation of PSM is also very specific.

Following the Nazi rule, after the second world war, the oversight was set up to be as independent as possible from the state to make sure the PSM were free from political interference. According to rulings of the German Constitutional Court, the independence of PSM requires that there must be no government institution involved in the control of PSM.

Between 1945 and 1956, regional public broadcasting corporations were established. In 1950, they formed a consortium for the management and discussion of joint issues, the ARD ^Footnote32 . Today, ARD consists of nine independent broadcasting corporations under state law:

• Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), founded in 1949
• Hessischer Rundfunk (HR), founded in 1948
• Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), founded in 1991
• Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), founded in 1956 as one of the two spin-offs of NWDR (1945 - 1955)
• Radio Bremen, founded in 1945
• Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), formed in 2003 by merger of SFB (founded in 1954) and ORB (founded in 1991)
• Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR), founded in 1957
• Südwestrundfunk (SWR), formed 1998 by a merger of SDR (founded in 1949) and SWF (founded in 1946)
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), founded in 1956 as one of the two spin-offs of NWDR (1945 - 1955).

These nine corporations provide regional radio and television channels (one general TV channel with a regional focus each) and they contribute to the joint national television programme “Das Erste”.

Deutsche Welle (DW), a public broadcasting corporation under federal law was founded in 1960. DW is an international broadcasting service and the tenth member of ARD.

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) was jointly founded by all of the Länder (states) in 1961 and launched as a first nationwide television broadcaster in 1963 ^Footnote33 .

For ZDF, the main body in charge of oversight is a specifically appointed organisation, the Television Council for ZDF (Fernsehrat, FR).

For the ARD members, the broadcasting councils of each of the regional broadcasting corporations (Rundfunkräte, RR) are in charge of supervision.

These councils are composed of members that represent the interest of the public. For instance, the ZDF Television Council is composed of 77 members representing all the relevant interests in society, e.g. trade unions, businesses, newspaper publishers, education, science, the arts, state governments, federal government, parliament.

In terms of oversight, the Television Council and the broadcasting councils carry out both supervision duties and other tasks such as the appointment of executive staff and advising the director general on programming. The regulators have no roles to play, while the governments and parliaments of the states play a minimum supervisory role, limited to supervising the proper implementation of the legal framework in general.

(2) France, Ireland, Spain and the UK: the regulator is primarily responsible

In France, Ireland, Spain and the UK, the PSBs are mainly accountable to the regulator (except for financial supervision, which is covered in the next chapter). This however does not preclude the involvement of other public institutions as explained below.

In France, the CSA (regulator) is responsible to control the compliance with legal and regulatory obligations and has potentially a wide range of sanctioning powers (fines, suspension) against FT. The parliament also has a strong role to play as it is kept informed on a yearly basis of the CSA’s annual report, while the CEO of FT also needs to present to special parliamentary committees a report each year on the execution of the “contrat d’objectifs et moyens” ^Footnote34 .

In France, certain recognised organisations ^Footnote35 can also ask the CSA to start a formal notice procedure against FT for non-compliance with legal and regulatory obligations.

In Ireland, the regulator (BAI) holds the RTE to account to ensure it demonstrates transparency and accountability in its use of public funds and to make sure that it provides the level of service that the audience expects of them. The relevant minister and parliament also have important roles but of a different nature:

• RTE presents to the minister in charge a statement of strategy and a public service statement every five years which needs to be approved by the parliament;
• The parliament can also ask the director general of RTE to give an account of the general administration of the organisation. It can also request the chairperson of the board to attend a parliamentary committee meeting to represent the views of the board.

In Spain,the CNMC (regulator) carries the main responsibility to monitor the activities of RTVE and it has a broad range of information collection powers to help it exercise its supervisory functions.

The parliament also has a role to play as a joint special committee on the control of RTVE has been set up, which receives information on a yearly basis on the compliance of RTVE with its public service obligations. The parliament can also request RTVE to address the special committee every month, if need be.

In the UK, the governance system of the BBC has recently been overhauled (see below). The BBC Trust was replaced by Ofcom (regulator) as the regulatory authority in charge of the BBC. Ofcom has been given extensive supervision powers but is also itself subject to transparency obligations: Ofcom must publish an annual report setting out how it has carried out its functions as an independent regulator of the BBC.

Ofcom also has the power to carry out and publish two or more detailed periodic reviews addressing specific issues of concern identified by Ofcom.

It has the power to require the BBC and any other person to provide information to enable it to carry out its functions. It can also sanction the BBC, which includes imposing fines if the BBC fails to meet its regulatory obligations.

(3) Australia and Finland: parliament provides oversight

In Australia and Finland, parliament is mainly in charge and the oversight is quite minimal.

In Australia, ABC and SBS are mainly accountable to the parliament. The managing director, a representative of the management or of the board needs to answer questions/inquiries from the responsible parliamentary committees. The corporations need to present an annual report to the parliament. The regulator (ACMA) has a very minimal role ^Footnote36 , limited to hearing unresolved complaints from viewers but is unable to compel the corporations to abide by its findings. The minister’s role is limited to receiving the annual report, which is then sent to parliament. At the highest level, the board members are protected from any ministerial instruction.

In Finland the parliament receives a report each year from the administrative council of YLE on the implementation of its public service missions, but it does not exercise a detailed oversight.

Traficom (regulator) supervises the financial situation of YLE while also making sure that it differentiates its PSM services as opposed to its non-PSM activities. Traficom issues a statement to the government about the report submitted by YLE to Traficom which should also be submitted to the parliament committee.

b) Financial oversight

The financial oversight of the PSM in the nine countries is also very different. We have classified them into four groups, the countries where there are multiple levels of supervision, countries where the regulator has the main role, countries where the regulator has no role to play (despite the fact that in these countries those regulators are in charge of supervision of the content related activities of the PSM) and the last two countries where either the parliament is in charge (Australia) or where the umbrella organisation is in charge together with the court of auditors (Germany).

In Ireland, France and the Netherlands there are multiple levels of financial oversight: by the regulator, government, parliament, the state audit office and external auditors.

As an example of this, in France, the CSA (regulator) exercises indirect and direct control. The CSA indirectly controls the financials since CSA representatives are members of the board of FT and of its audit and financial committee. The CSA also assesses the financial situation through its annual report on the execution of FT’s terms and conditions ^Footnote37 . The ministry of finance detaches an economic and financial controller is to FT as a member of the board and of its audit and account committee. The parliament also exercises control through the adoption each year of the budget of FT, by having two representatives at the board and by publishing information reports on the accounts of FT to inform members of parliament. Court of Auditors controls all public undertakings and publishes non-binding reports covering their financial situation, which includes FT. External state auditors are appointed to control the accounts and they attend board meetings where the accounts are examined.

It is interesting to see that even though in Sweden and the UK, the regulator plays a (significant) role in the supervision of the PSB, Ofcom and MPRT have no role to play on the financial oversight. In Sweden, while the government appoints the auditors of the three PSBs, the umbrella organisation is responsible for the financial oversight of the three PSBs (including SVT). In the UK, the Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO) is almost entirely in charge of the financial oversight of the BBC since 2017. The Public Accounts Committee of the parliament examines the value for money of public spending in general.

As a contrast to this model, in Finland and Spain, the regulator exercises strong financial oversight. In Finland, although Traficom (regulator) does not exercise any control on the public service activities of YLE, it controls that the company has clearly separated its network related activities from its other activities. In Spain, the CNMC (regulator) supervises RTVE’s accounts and calculates the net cost of the provision of the public service. The court of auditors also reports on RTVE’s activities and the parliament can request representatives of RTVE to address questions on the accounts of the company.

E. Oversight of new digital services

1. General rules on oversight of new digital services in Europe

In the European Union, the extent to which PSM can launch new online services is very much for the member states to decide, except that EU level state aid rules come into play as PSM are financed by public money.

This state aid can be exempted under article 107.3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to the extent that the aid promotes culture and heritage conservation. It can also be exempted under article 106.2 of the TFEU as a service of general economic interest, i.e. a service of an economic nature which the member states or the Community subject to specific public service obligations by virtue of a general interest criterion.

The Commission published a Communication on the application of state aid rules for PSB in 2009 which details the exemption criteria in relation to new and pay services, for which the Commission gives quite specific guidance.

According to Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Competition Policy (at that time) the 2009 Communication was needed to consolidate the existing case practice and to take full account of the new media environment ^Footnote38 .

It suggests that member states should set up an ex-ante screening procedure to evaluate whether “significant new services”, including those with a pay element, can be part of the public service remit and receive state support. It is up to the member state to decide what qualifies as a significant new service. This is known as a public value (PV) or ex ante test. Paragraph 88 is the core part of the communication, which contains a number of best practices. It states that:

“In order to ensure that the public funding of significant new audiovisual services does not distort trade and competition, to an extent contrary to the common interest, member states shall assess based on the outcome of the open consultation the overall impact of a new service on the market by comparing the situation in the presence and an in the absence of the planned new service. In assessing the impact on the market, relevant aspects include, for example, the existence of similar or substitutable offers, editorial competition, market structure, market position of the public service broadcaster, level of competition and potential impact on private initiatives. This impact needs to be balanced with the value of the services in question for society. In the case of predominantly negative effects on the market, State funding for audiovisual services would appear proportionate only if it is justified by the added value in terms of serving the social, democratic and cultural needs of society, taking also into account the existing overall public service offer”.

Among the guidance given, the Commission also suggests that the ex-ante assessment should be carried out by an independent body and giving interested parties the opportunity to give their views.

At Council of Europe level one of the most important initiatives is the non-binding Recommendation 2007/3c adopted by the Council of ministers in 2007 on the remit of PSM in the information society. It recommends that the member states of the Council of Europe should enable PSB to ‘use technical means to better fulfil this remit of public service media. With this document, the Council of Europe assigns to PSBs a ‘renewed a substantial role in the new information society’ ^Footnote39 . In particular the governments of the member states should in particular:

• guarantee the fundamental role of the PSM in the new digital environment, setting a clear remit for PSM, and enabling them to use new technical means to better fulfil this remit and adapt to rapid changes in the current media and technological landscape, and to changes in the viewing and listening patterns and expectations of the audience;
• include, where they have not already done so, provisions in their legislation/regulations specific to the remit of public service media, covering in particular the new communication services, thereby enabling public service media to make full use of their potential and especially to promote broader democratic, social and cultural participation, inter alia, with the help of new interactive technologies;
• guarantee PSM, via a secure and appropriate financing and organisational framework, the conditions required to carry out the function entrusted to them by member states in the new digital environment, in a transparent and accountable manner;
• enable public service media to respond fully and effectively to the challenges of the information society, respecting the public/private dual structure of the European electronic media landscape and paying attention to market and competition questions; and
• ensure that universal access to public service media is offered to all individuals and social groups, including minority and disadvantaged groups, through a range of technological means.

Another recommendation (Recommendation 1878) was adopted in 2009 by the Council of Europe Parliament Assembly which also refers to a new role for PSBs. It is specified that they should diversify their services through thematic channels, on-demand media, recorded media and Internet-based media services in order to offer a comprehensive and competitive range of media services to the public at large in accordance with their public service mission. Technological progress in the field of audiovisual media and electronic communications means that public service broadcasters should also make use of new technologies.

In short, even though there are no binding requirements on the expansion of PSM to develop new online services, the Council of Europe has very much encouraged that the governments of European states should encourage this expansion.

2. The development of new online services is part of the public service obligations in all countries

In all countries, the provision of new online digital services is now part of the public service obligation of the PSM. The recognition of this extended remit was recognised at different moments and with different limits.

In Australia, the charters of both the ABC and the SBS were updated in 2013 ^Footnote40 to include the provision of digital media services in their respective functions. This update was the result of a government review (so-called Convergence Review) to examine the future of media and communications in Australia ^Footnote41 . The final report on the review was published in 2012.

In Germany and France, the legislation is very precise.

• In Germany, the legislation was amended in 2000, and has been progressively refined over the years until very recently in 2019. It is specified that the online services of PSBs must focus on moving images and sound to differentiate themselves from press publishers. Since the rules could lead to disputes between PSBs and press publishers, the law also foresees that a conciliation body would help to clarify, in borderline cases, whether the PSBs' online services comply with the provisions or not.
• In France the general broadcasting law ^Footnote42 clearly specifies that FT must offer services and national/regional/local programmes of all genres, including video on-demand services which comply with its public service missions. A decree on FT’s terms and conditions ^Footnote43 adopted by the government in 2009, specifies in detail the obligations of FT relating to its public service missions and the terms and conditions themselves specify in particular that FT should create (through its subsidiaries or not) on-demand and catch up services which allow the audience to benefit from new ways of accessing and complementing its (linear) TV programmes offer, in line with FT’s public service missions.

3. Country overview

The research shows that a public value (or ex-ante) test is carried out in six of the nine countries covered in the comparative benchmark (see table below).

Among the countries that have introduced a public value test, there are some similarities but there are also quite a few differences. Most of the laws were updated after the adoption of the European Commission communication to meet state aid concerns, except for the UK which carried out its first public value test in 2007.

In terms of similarities, in all countries, the process allows interested stakeholders to take part and the test involves examining the impact of the new services on competition.

In Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, the ministry or the regulator carry out the test:

• In Ireland, the test is carried out by the minister of communications, energy and natural resources and in practice, the minister seeks the view of BAI, the regulator.
• In the Netherlands, the test is carried out by the minister of education based on the advice of the regulator and Cultural Council.
• In Sweden, MPRT (regulator) is in charge.
• In the UK, Ofcom (regulator) is in charge.

In Finland, the Administrative Council of YLE carries out the test itself. In Germany, the test is carried out by the umbrella organisations: the broadcasting councils of the regional broadcasters forming ARD or the Television Council of ZDF.

In the three countries (Australia, France and Spain) where there is no ex-ante test, it is worth noting that:

• In Australia, where PSM are generally not subject to direction by, or on behalf of, the government (which includes policy statements like the 1996 Competitive Neutrality Policy Statement), ABC and SBS apply the competitive neutrality principles on a best-endeavours basis. In practice, because the ABC is not a trading corporation, the only activities to which the principles apply are those undertaken by its commercial arm, ABC Commercial.
• For France, the European Commission endorsed that FT does not have an ex-ante test in the context of the assessment of state aid granted to FT in 2009 because the public service missions of FT are clearly defined and ‘independently supervised’ by FT.

F. Performance measurement

This section focuses on how the performance of PSM in delivering on their public service obligations and remit is measured.

The first part provides an overview of the regulatory framework and identifies in particular whether in the different countries the PSM is obliged to report on the results of its performance measurement and if a specific methodology is set. It also identifies countries where the results of the measurement are verified, including though a separate measurement conducted by the relevant authority or body.

The second part focuses on:

• grasping how performance measurement has evolved to capture digital services;
• showing the indicators that are used in practice by the PSM and (where relevant) by the supervisory authorities.

1. Overview of performance measurement

In all the countries covered PSM are required to assess their overall performance against their public service purposes and/or specific obligations and to report to the institutions they are accountable to on the results of this assessment.

In Australia, Germany and Ireland the PSM must also submit a set of commitments which serve as targets to measure the performance of the following report.

The main body accountable for performance measurement within the PSM and the institution to which this body must report to, vary depending on the country as summarised in the table below and in line with each PSM’s governance structure (see details under Governance, section D). The frequency of the reporting is annual for all the countries with the exception of Germany.

a) In some countries PSM are bound by a performance measurement framework

All PSM are required to report on their performance but only in France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden, regulation details the methodology of the measurement by requiring the PSM to focus on specific indicators when they measure their compliance with the different public service obligations. In Spain requirements exist in the law but have never been implemented in practice.

In France, FT must measure its own performance by using a set of indicators included in:

• the agreement concluded between the PSM and the state;
• the annual performance plan (PAP), a document annexed to the annual financial law which sets out objectives to reach and indicators to measure the expected results.

FT terms and conditions (which define FT’s public service mission in such details that they in practice impose specific objectives), also set a large number of objectives and detail (explicitly or implicitly) the related indicators. For instance, to measure whether FT meets the expectations of all audiences, FT must focus on the audience’s:

• satisfaction;
• perception of impartial treatment of information;
• perception of how the diversity of opinions is expressed;
• perception of how the diversity of population living in France is expressed.

In Ireland, the Irish 2009 Broadcasting Act requires the RTE to include in its statement of performance commitments (which it must prepare every year) measures of:

• broadcast of (commissioned or produced) children’s programming, including animation and programming in Irish language;
• broadcast of Irish language programming;
• broadcast of science and technology programming;
• preparation, publication and distribution of magazines and books;
• compilation, publication and distribution of recorded audio material.

These minimum set of binding indicators does not specifically mention digital services.

In the Netherlands, the media law requires NPO to include (as a minimum) in its annual review measures of:

• hours of programming with an educational, cultural and informative purpose (on its TV channels and as far as possible on other services);
• the percentage of EU works, including Dutch and Frisian-spoken programmes and Dutch-speaking programs with subtitles.

A ministerial decree sets additional requirements on the content and organisation of NPO’s financial report.

In Sweden, SVT report on the fulfilment of its public service mission must contain at least measures of:

• share of different programmes categories;
• usage of resource in different programmes categories;
• reach of audience;
• people’s reactions to programmes.

The additional terms for SVT also require that statistics about programming content are formed in such a way that comparison over time is possible.

In the UK, the BBC Charter specifies that the BBC board must establish a framework to assess the performance of the BBC, including performance indicators and targets (where appropriate) but does not set any detailed obligation.

In Australia, there are no legislative requirements on the methodology of performance measures. However, when the current format of ABC and SBS Corporate Plans were introduced (following the adoption of Public Governance Performance and Accountability 2013 Act and 2014 Rules) the PSM engaged with the Department of Finance and considered its guidance on “good” performance information.

b) Countries where supervisory authority evaluates the results of the PSM’s report on performance measurement

In France, the Netherlands and Sweden the PSM’s self-assessment is reviewed by the supervisory authority, who provides an opinion. In Finland, the administrative council of YLE reviews the measurements.

In Spain and the UK, there are no specific obligations for the regulatory authority to evaluate the performance reports, but the regulatory frameworks go further by envisaging that these authorities undertake a separate measurement of the PSM’s performance on the top of its self-assessment.

c) Countries where supervisory authority also conducts its own separate measurement

In some countries a supervisory authority or body conducts its own measurement of the performance of the PSM (separately from the PSM’s own measurement). This is the case in France, Spain and the UK. In the Netherlands this is done by an independent commission established by NPO.

In the Netherlands, on the top of undertaking an annual review of its performance, NPO is required by the media law ^Footnote46 to set up an independent commission (consisting of at least five external experts) that needs to evaluate (at least every five years) on the basis of NPO’s reports and other information:

• how NPO and the national broadcasters have implemented their public media obligations at the national level;
• the extent to which their offer meets the interests and insights of the general public and of specific groups of population, including specific age groups;
• how the broadcasters with provisional recognition have contributed to increasing the diversity of the media offer of the national PSM.

In particular, the Commission must assess if the offer of each broadcaster:

• is balanced, diverse, varied and of high quality;
• provides a balanced picture of society and reflects its diversity;
• is aimed at and has a relevant reach among a wide and general public as well as among specific population and age groups;
• is independent from government and commercial powers;
• meets high journalistic and professional quality requirements;
• is accessible to everyone.

The commission must report to NPO about its findings and NPO must present the report to the Minister of Education and make it public.

In the UK, Ofcom must assess the BBC’s performance annually, according to its own performance measures.

Current performance measures, which were adopted by Ofcom in 2017 following a public consultation, cover four areas:

• availability (nature, type, quantity and range of content available across the BBC’s output, as well as the spend on this content);
• consumption (the extent to which audiences consumer the content provided by the BBC);
• impact (what audiences think about the BBC’s services and output, including their satisfaction);
• contextual factors (aspects of each public purpose that cannot be measured only with the above, may vary from year to year).

Ofcom uses sources from the BBC, the industry (e.g. audience measurement organisations) and from its own resources (e.g. BBC Performance Tracker, Ofcom’s news consumption survey, and Ofcom’s PSB Tracker).

On the top of this performance measurement, Ofcom must also conduct at least two in depth periodic reviews of the BBC’s performance during each charter period (10 years) and can carry out additional reviews where it feels it is appropriate.

In France and in Spain the relevant supervisory authority (CSA in France and CNMC in Spain) uses the PSM annual reports and any other data they find useful to measure the PSM’s compliance with their obligations and make their reports publicly available.

2. Performance measurement and digital services

The performance of all covered PSM is measured with a set of indicators which always relate (at a minimum) with their consumption, perception (among their audience and/or the general population) and quality. PSM efficiency in terms of financial performance is measured for all the PSM covered but this measurement is usually separate from the overall performance assessment.

Quality is measured (depending on each PSM’s public purposes) by the amount of local/domestic content, the percentage of programmes of certain genres (e.g. with education or information purposes), the degree of content diversity, or the impartiality/reliability of news.

Perception is measured (depending on the case) by trust, appreciation (e.g. in terms of quality, relevance, distinctiveness and community representation), fulfilment of public service mission, value to community/individuals, interaction with the audience, brand awareness, accessibility on the different devices, or technical quality.

Surveys can be carried out over a panel representative of the overall population or be directed at the PSM’s audience, and their frequency vary. For instance, France Télévisions measures the perception of its audience on the quality of its prime-time programming with a so-called impact rating survey system ^Footnote47 which is carried out daily by 1800-2000 viewers. After having watched a programme, the panel of viewers rate it according to four criteria: level of satisfaction, level of attention, intention to recommend and level of memory left by the programme.

a) The evolution of performance measurement to include digital services

The provision of digital services is mentioned within the remit or detailed obligations of all the PSM considered (see details under Governance, section D).

Therefore, digital services are usually captured in the PSM performance assessment, by indicators that specifically assess their performance and/or by cross-platform indicators that assess the overall performance of radio, TV and digital services that are accessible over the different PSM’s assets.

For instance, in Australia, the ABC’s performance statements assess digital services against each of the pillar set by the ABC Corporate Plan, including with specific indicators.

Source: From ABC Annual Plan

In countries where there is a strong regulatory oversight on performance measurement, the relevant framework has been (or might be) amended to take into account the provision of digital services.

In France, where performance indicators are set by law, France Télévisions (FT) negotiated a reduction in the number of indicators contained in the agreement with the state (from over 65 in the 2011-2015 agreement to 15 in the 2016-2020 agreement) to provide more flexibility to respond to the digital evolution.

The high number of very detailed indicators, which had to be assessed on a yearly basis, was considered too burdensome for the PSM and eventually resulted in a dilution of the public service missions and strategic objectives of FT.

Currently, FT’s digital offers are subject to the screening of the CSA (regarding compliance with FT’s terms and conditions) in terms of ^Footnote49 :

• organisation/ structure and development of the online offer;
• audience performance of this offer (in million views per year);
• new viewing practices (e.g. consumption of catch up services on the TV screen - number of viewers and share (%) of catch-up services in the total offer);
• consumption on other screens (PC, tablet and smartphone);
• digital services spend v. digital services revenues;
• digital services spend foreseen in the agreement v. actual digital services spend.

In the UK, before 2017 the BBC was granted a service licence for each individual BBC service. In 2017 the system was changed, and the BBC is now subject to a single licence (called Operating Licence) for all the BBC’s public services (television, radio and online).

This means that the BBC’s performance is measured according to each of the BBC’s public purposes.

For instance, on the requirement to provide impartial news and information (public purpose 1), Ofcom measures across all its assets the:

• reach of and time spent on news and current affairs;
• audience attitudes to the BBC’s delivery of news, including the importance of impartial news and information (also takes account of the wider market context of news consumption).

Despite this, the Operating Licence sets individual targets for each of the linear TV services of the BBC (e.g. BBC 1, BBC 2). The BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds are not taken into account in the achievement of these targets.

How the measurement framework should be further adapted is under discussion.

b) How are digital services measured and what challenges are PSM facing?

In some countries PSM can measure the consumption of their TV programmes over the long-tail (i.e. including on-demand viewing) and over different devices thanks to new systems developed by TV audience measurement organisations. Examples include OzTAM Video Player Measurement in Australia, Médiamétrie 4-screens audience measurement in France and BARB project Dovetail in the UK.

However, a shared industry currency to allow PSM to measure the consumption of their radio, TV and online content on the different platforms is not available yet.

Data sources used by PSM to measure the performance of digital services mainly include:

• web analytics to measure audience engagement with PSM’s content on its own digital platforms;
• analysis of programming schedule/content catalogues of digital services;
• population and/or audience surveys on consumption and/or perception;
• financial data (e.g. revenues and expenditures).

Only in some countries PSM can also rely on online ratings to measure (within the market) audience engagement with PSM’s content on both its own digital platforms and external platforms.

All the considered PSM measure users’ engagement with their own digital assets (online websites, apps and on-demand services) by using web analytics.

In some cases, to get accurate data on engagement and preferences across their online services and apps, PSM require (or allow) users to register. For instance:

In Finland, YLE’s users in Finland can (but are not obliged to) use the so-called YLE ID system when accessing online and mobile services. The system allows:

• users to continue watching programmes on the different devices from the same spot, and
• YLE to run personalised services and to undertake more targeted measurements.

In Australia, similarly, a mandatory registration system to access key digital services such as SBS On Demand and live events apps (e.g. 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia) was progressively rolled-out by the SBS in Australia in 2017-2018 to provide accurate data on users’ engagement and preferences across digital assets.

In the UK, a mandatory registration system is in place for the BBC iPlayer (on-demand service). However, difficulties exist in relation to the collection of data. For instance, age restrictions make it difficult to collect data on the online use patterns of children, which are particular target group for PSM.

Regarding PSM content on external platforms (such as Facebook and YouTube), none of the covered PSMs seem to face issues in accessing data on users’ engagement with this content. However, NPO in the Netherlands notes that the metrics it uses for tagging its own websites and apps are not 100% comparable with Facebook’s metrics. ZDF in Germany receives these data from external platforms operators but does not publish them since joint reporting standards among these platforms and broadcasters haven’t been developed yet.

As well summarised by a representative from France Télévisions, “the main question that needs to be answered yet is how much time is needed to consider that video content has been consumed online? […] How to compare 15 minutes watched on television with 3 minutes of video seen on YouTube? how to compare self-starting videos in Facebook’s news feed with those manually started by the user on YouTube”.

During the debate on a recently adopted EU regulation, PSM have called ^Footnote50 for legal requirements upon third-party digital platforms to grant PSM access to data on the use of their programmes and services (see box below).

In addition to these issues, in the UK, the BBC challenges the accuracy of some of the data provided by the online measurement company Comscore as it does not match up with its own server data. Ofcom therefore needs to consider both sources of information to make its assessment, which is problematic.

One of the more advanced models for digital measurement is the ABC in Australia but the corporation faces challenges in the measurement of audio streaming.

In terms of internal measurement system (i.e. of ABC’s own digital assets and content), the corporation has recently migrated all its digital assets and content management systems to Google Analytics 360, a digital analytics platform that measures usage and behaviour. In terms of external measurement system (i.e. within the market), ABC can rely on industry-wide currency that measures audiences across PSM’s own websites and apps as well as some external platforms, using a tagging-based (rather than panel-based) methodology (Nielsen Digital Content Ratings).

ABC faces challenges in the digital measurement of audio streaming, for which Digital Content Ratings could not be implemented. The ABC has developed its own tool for internal measurement of podcast downloads (Podsights), but and a shared industry report is still under development.

Appendix A

A. Public service media service offers - overview

1. Public service media: TV and radio broadcast channel offerings

The table below gives an overview of the traditional television and radio channels that are broadcast by public service media (PSM) in the selected countries. It also shows the type of channel (or who they are aimed at) and the year of launch.

2. Public service media: online offers

The table below shows the digital/online services offered by PSM in the selected countries and a short explanation of the type of service (e.g. video on-demand and catch-up services, web radios, online retransmission of linear TV channels…) and its purpose. The table also covers the commercial digital/online services that PSM have launched or are planning to launch.

Overview of the online offers for Germany (ARD or ZDF)

Focus on ARD

The nine regional corporations which form the ARD (together with DW) each provide online services (according to German law: “telemedia”) on top of their radio and television channels. Online retransmission of linear TV channels and radio programmes is common. The same applies to channels Das Erste, KiKA, Phoenix, 3sat and the digital linear channels One, Tagesschau 24 and ARD alpha. Also, the regional corporations provide preview services (i.e. content is made available online before it is broadcast on linear channels) and catch-up services (so-called “Mediatheken”). Further, there are joint telemedia offers as listed below. For most of them mobile apps developed by ARD (or Arte, or ZDF) are available.

3. Public service media: offers aimed at linguistic, indigenous and ethnic minority communities

The table below shows if there is a clear mandate for PSM to offer services/programmes aimed at linguistic, indigenous and ethnic minority communities. The table also gives the name and type (television, radio, online) of the service(s), the type of community/group targeted (linguistic, indigenous, ethnic) and details on the requirements applicable to provide these services (including quotas where any).

• A linguistic community is a group of people who share the same language/dialect.
• An ethnic community is a group made up of people who share a common cultural background or descent, or other similarities such as a common language/dialect.
• An indigenous community is a (ethnic) group of people who are the original settlers of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonised the area more recently.

4. Public service media: accessibility requirements

The table below shows if in the selected countries PSM are obliged by law to make their services (linear channels, on-demand services, electronic programmes guides…) accessible to people with disabilities (sign language, subtitling and audio description). Where any, it also shows whether there are specific accessibility requirements in relation to linguistic, indigenous and ethnic communities.

a) Subtitling

b) Sign language

c) Audio description

Appendix B

A. Governance

1. Governance general overview

The description below lists the body within the PSM that incurs responsibility to carry out its mission, the various external supervisory actors, their main powers and roles. The main supervisory actor is marked with a (1).

a) Overview of governance in Australia (ABC)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

The ABC board is the body responsible for the ABC’s operations.

In particular, the board prepares the corporate plan, which sets the overall strategies and forecast ABC’s revenues and expenditures, and publishes an annual report which measures ABC’s annual performance against the plan.

The managing director (which is a member of the board) attends parliament hearings on budget estimates.

See details in next paragraphs.

(Section 8 of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983, ABC Act, on ABC board duties; Paragraphs 35, 39 and 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, PGPA).

(2) Accountable to the regulator

No.

The board must develop a code of practice relating to programming matters (radio and TV) and lodge the code with the ACMA but (unlike for commercial broadcasters) ACMA has no power to approve or review the code.

Viewers can complain directly to the ABC if they believe the broadcaster may be in breach of its code of practice. If they are dissatisfied with responses from the ABC (or do not receive a response to their complaint within 60 days) they are still able to take their complaints to ACMA but ACMA is not empowered to compel the ABC to take actions following an adverse finding from its review. ACMA can under certain conditions only recommend the ABC to take action and if the ABC fails to do so it can report to minister, who must lay a copy of the report to parliament ^Footnote63 .

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

The ABC Act sets that:

• the ABC is not subject to directions by the government, except for the fact that the minister can broadcast on the ABC a matter determined by the minister to be in the national interest, which in practice never happens (section 79);
• the ABC board must consider matters of government policies that are relevant to the performance of the functions of the ABC but the board is not compelled to apply them (section 8(2)).

The ABC board must submit an annual report to the Minister for Communications for presentation to parliament.

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes (1).

The ABC managing director and other officers attend and answer questions at Budget Estimates hearings conducted by a senate committee three times each year, i.e. in the weeks after:

• government hands down its annual budget;
• ABC annual report is tabled, and
• government publishes mid-year additional budget measures.

The ABC management or (more rarely) its board is called to answer questions in relation to specific inquiries from parliamentary committees from time to time.

ABC board must present an annual report to parliament.

(5) Accountable to other bodies

No.

b) Overview of governance in Australia (SBS)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

The SBS board is the body responsible for SBS’s operations.

In particular, the board prepares the corporate plan, which sets the overall strategies and forecast SBS’s revenues and expenditures, and publishes an annual report which measures SBS’s annual performance against the plan and details how the programming fulfilled the Charter obligations and responded to the advice of the community.

(Sections 9 and 10 of Special Broadcasting Service Act 1991, SBS Act on the duties of SBS board)

(Section 9 of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 and Sections 48 and 73 of the SBS Act)

(2) Accountable to the regulator

No.

The SBS is required to develop a code of practice on programming and to lodge the code with the ACMA but (unlike for commercial broadcasters) ACMA has no power to approve or review the code. Formal complaints alleging breaches to the SBS code are forwarded to the SBS Ombudsman. Complainants in relation to SBS TV or radio content, who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the SBS Ombudsman’s investigation, may refer their complaint to the ACMA for external review but ACMA is not empowered to compel the SBS to do anything as a result of adverse finding from its review. ACMA can under certain conditions only recommend the SBS to take action and if the SBS fails to do so it can report to the minister, who must lay a copy of the report to parliament ^Footnote64 . (section 10(1)(j) of SBS Act)

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

SBS Act (sections 11-13) sets that:

• the SBS is not subject to direction by the government, except for the fact that the minister can broadcast on the SBS a matter determined by the Minister for Communications to be in the national interest, which in practice never happens;
• the SBS must consider government policies that are relevant to the performance of the functions of the SBS but the board is not compelled to apply them.

The board must submit annual reports to the minister for presentation to parliament.

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes (1).

See answer for the ABC, above.

(5) Accountable to other bodies

No.

c) Overview of governance in Finland (YLE)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

There is a split responsibility between the board of directors and the administrative council. For instance, the board of directors submits the annual report of the company’s operations that are under the supervision of Traficom (see next section), while one of the administrative council’s tasks is the review and approval of the annual report of the board of directors. The administrative Council also submits to Parliament a report on the implementation of its public service obligations. (Act on Yleisradio, sections 4-6)

(2) Accountable to the regulator

Yes by Traficom.

Traficom has supervisory duties related to financial supervision and differentiation of services of YLE as a PSM compared to non-PSM activities.

By the end of April every year the company must submit to Traficom:

• a report on the service provided during the previous calendar year.
• its financial statements, profit and loss statements and balance sheets of differentiated operations with notes and company auditors’ report on the separation calculations.

(Act on Yleisradio, sections 12 a- 12 b)

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

Traficom issues a statement to the Government about the report on the basis of the financial statements by the end of September each year. The statement also needs to be reported for information to the parliamentary committee that handles issues concerning the Finnish Broadcasting Company Oy. (Act on Yleisradio, sections 12 a- 12 b)

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes (1).

By the end of April each year the administrative council submits to Parliament a report on the implementation of its public service obligations and on its guidance and supervision activities during the previous calendar year. Prior to submitting the report, the administrative council must consult the Sámi Parliament. (Act on Yleisradio, sections 6)

(5) Accountable to other bodies

No.

d) Overview of governance in France (France Télévisions)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

The board.

The board in particular:

• approves the draft agreement (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”) ^Footnote65 with the state (which sets out the objectives of the PSM and the means to achieve them) and deliberates on its annual implementation
• is consulted on the terms and conditions (“cahier des charges”’) ^Footnote66 agreed with the government, and on any modification to them.

(France Télévisions statutes, art. 7; Broadcasting law, art. 53.II)

(2) Accountable to the regulator

Yes (1)

The CSA is the responsible regulator.

Each year before 30 April, the CSA receives from FT a report detailing how the obligations set out in the terms and conditions have been met by each FT’s department (not publicly available). (France Télévisions terms and conditions, (“cahier des charges”, art. 70)

Each year, the CSA adopts a report on the execution of FT’s terms and conditions (“cahier des charges”), based on FT’s annual report mentioned above. The report is published in the Official Journal. (Broadcasting law, art. 48)

The CSA controls the compliance with legal and regulatory obligations, with sanctioning powers (fines, suspension of programmes…) in case of non-compliance, after unsuccessful formal notice. (Broadcasting law, art. 48-1, 48-2, 48-3)

Each year, the CSA delivers an opinion on the report on the execution of the agreement by FT (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens” - see section 4). The CSA’s opinion is made public. (Broadcasting law, art. 53.II)

Also, before it is signed, the agreement (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”) is transmitted to the CSA. The CSA delivers a report on the agreement within four weeks. (Broadcasting law, art. 53)

The CSA appoints the CEO of FT for five years. Four years after the appointment of the CEO, the CSA delivers opinion on the results of FT’s strategy. (Broadcasting law, art. 47-4)

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

Not beyond the fact that FT is bound by an agreement (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”) concluded with the state (for maximum five years). (Broadcasting law, art. 53)

Terms and conditions (“cahier des charges”) to be agreed with the government and published in the Official Journal. (Broadcasting law, art. 48)

Each year before 30 April, the ministry in charge of culture and communications receives from FT a report detailing how the obligations set out in the terms and conditions have been met by each FT’s department (not publicly available). (France Télévisions terms and conditions, (“cahier des charges”, art. 70)

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

FT sends an annual report on compliance with the public service missions put forward in article 41-11. (Broadcasting law, art. 43-11)

The CEO of FT presents each year a report on the execution of the “contrat d’objectifs et de moyens” to the culture and finance committees of the National Assembly and to the Senate. This includes the presentation of a report on the activities of the viewers’ consultative committee (see below). (Broadcasting law, art. 46, 53.II)

The CSA’s opinion on the results of FT’s strategy is transmitted to relevant Parliamentary committees. (Broadcasting law, art. 47-4)

Two months after the beginning of the CEO’s term of office, the CEO sends an orientation report to the presidents of the two parliamentary assemblies and relevant committees (see above). Audition of the CEO by the culture committees of the two assemblies on the basis of that report is possible. (Broadcasting law, art. 47-4)

The CSA sends its annual report on the execution of FT’s terms and conditions (see section 2) to the culture committees of the two assemblies. (Broadcasting law, art. 48)

Further:

• Before it is signed, the agreement (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”) is transmitted to culture and finance committees of the national Assembly and Senate and can be debated in Parliament. Committees can deliver an opinion within six weeks. (Broadcasting law, art. 53)
• Public funding of FT must be approved by Parliament in the annual finance law. (Broadcasting law, art. 53.III)

(5) Accountable to other bodies

Yes.

Professional and trade union organisations representing the audiovisual communication sector, recognised organisations defending the freedom of information, associations contributing to the promotion of (regional) languages and cultures and family and women's rights associations can ask the CSA to start a formal notice procedure against FT for non-compliance with legal and regulatory obligations. (Broadcasting law, art. 48-1)

e) Overview of governance in Germany (ARD or ZDF)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

The director general (Intendant) is responsible for conducting the business of the PSM including the fulfilment of its remit (so-called “Intendanten-Prinzip”)

NB: Broadcasting and television councils can also be regarded as bodies within the PSMs. However, their main task is to supervise the broadcasters (see under “accountable to other bodies”).

(2) Accountable to the regulator

No.

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

Example: ZDF

The governments of the federal states are responsible for ensuring the proper implementation of the provisions of the ZDF interstate treaty and on the compliance with general legislation. The supervisory function moves to another state government every two years.

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes

Example: ZDF

Every two years, a written report is sent to all parliaments of the Länder. Reports need to cover the economic and financial situation.

Also, the PSMs publish every two years reports on the fulfilment of their respective tasks, on the quality and quantity of the existing offers and on the focal points of the planned offers. This report is published on their websites (example: ARD report).

The parliaments of the Länder take formal note of the reports.

(5) Accountable to other bodies

Yes (1).

ARD is accountable to the Broadcasting councils of the regional broadcasting corporations (Rundfunkräte, RR). ZDF is accountable to the Television council (Fernsehrat, FR)

Competences:

• Monitoring and advising the director general of the broadcaster on programming
• Supervising the legality of programs (and digital services)
• Determining general PSM rules and guidelines
• Agreeing on programme and advertising guidelines
• Electing and dismissing executive staff
• Approving annual budgets
• Supervising the general management
• Approving new digital services (three-step test: the RRs are empowered to conduct ex ante examinations)

f) Overview of governance in Ireland (RTE)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

The Board guides the corporate direction and strategy of RTÉ and represents the interests of viewers and listeners, ensuring that RTÉ fulfils its statutory responsibilities in an efficient and effective manner.

As of 31 December 2018, the Board has established four permanent subcommittees to assist in the execution of its responsibilities:

• Audit and Risk Committee
• Remuneration and Management Development Committee
• Programme Committee and
• Fair Trading Committee

(RTE annual report 2018)

(2) Accountable to the regulator

Yes (1).

BAI holds PSMs to account to ensure they demonstrate transparency and accountability in their use of public funds, in accordance with the requirements of Irish and European law, and that they continue to provide the level of service that the audience expects of them.

In particular each year, BAI is required to carry out a review of both RTE (and TG4) which reviews:

• The extent to which the PSM has during the previous financial year fulfilled its commitments as set out in the broadcaster’s annual statement of performance commitments.
• The adequacy of public funding.

(Report and Recommendations from BAI)

(Section 124(2) and 124(5) of the Broadcasting Act 2009)

Every five years, BAI is required to conduct a review of the adequacy of the public funding of PSM 2018

(Report and Recommendations from BAI, in accordance with Section 124 (11) (12) of the Act)

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

Every five years RTE prepares and presents to the minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment a statement of strategy. The statement sets out the strategy of the board of RTE for achieving its objects under the Broadcasting Act of 2009. As soon as possible, the Minister lays down before each of the House of the Oireachtas (the parliament) a copy of the statement of strategy.

(Section 99 of the Act.)

(RTE statement of strategy 2015-2019, Statement of Strategy 2018-2022, RTE 2020-2024 Strategy)

Every five years or as required by the minister, following a public consultation, RTE prepares a public service statement setting out the principles to be observed and the activities to be undertaken in order to fulfil its public service objectives. The Minister needs to approve the statement and presents it to the Parliament.

(Section 101 of the Act)

(RTE public service statement 2015)

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

On request from the Parliament

The director general of RTE’s Board (the Board is referred in the law as corporation), at the written request of the Committee appointed by either House of the Oireachtas or jointly by both Houses of the Oireachtas, shall attend before it to give account for the general administration of his/her corporation.

The chairperson of the Board shall, at written request from the Committee, attend before it to represent the views of the Board.

(Section 92 of the Act)

(5) Accountable to other bodies

No.

g) Overview of governance in the Netherlands (NPO)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

The Dutch PSM service is very specific. It consists of the Dutch Public Broadcasting Foundation (NPO) which is the umbrella governance body and a number of broadcasters. There are two types of broadcasters: those that are mandated by law (NOS and NTR) and those to whom the Minister of Education grants recognitions (provisional recognitions) for five years.

NPO can ask the minister to withdraw a recognition when NPO imposes sanctions on the broadcaster at least twice during the concession period or when NPO is of opinion that the broadcaster is not cooperating in favour of PSM.

(Section 2, Media Law, NPO website)

(2) Accountable to the regulator

Yes.

CvdM (media regulator) evaluates the annual reports of NPO and supervises the implementation of the performance agreement. CvdM reports on its findings every year to the minister.

CvdM gives advice to the minister on the policy plan and on the annual budget of NPO.

CvdM has some powers in relation to new services of NPO (see below).

(Art.2.58, Art. 2.61, Art. 2.68, Art. 2.132 Media Law, Annual report CvdM 2018)

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

NPO sends to the minister its policy plan and the minister gives a concession to NPO for ten years. The policy plan is updated after five years. (See: Policy plan 2016-2020)

Based on the policy plan, NPO and the minister reach a performance agreement for five years. In the latter document NPO and the minister agree on the media offer and reach. According to the 2017-2020 performance agreement, NPO has to report annually (in its annual review) to the minister on:

• classification of radio and TV content (informative, cultural, educational, entertainment), children’s programs in accordance with performance indicators;
• extent to which entertainment content is used to reach particular target groups and to what extent such target groups are also watching educational, cultural and informative content on PSM;
• public’s opinion on the quality, on public value of TV and radio offer representation of women and people with a non-western-European migration background;
• actions NPO undertook in discovering talented program-makers.

(See: Performance agreement 2017-2020)

NPO presents its annual budget to the minister for approval. The budget should contain:

• description of the manner in which NPO and PSM organisations implemented intended media supply on various channels, taking into account requirements of the Media Law;
• overview of the nature and number of the PSM channels;
• financial resources required for the following calendar year and an estimate for the following four years;
• description of the cooperation with regional and local public media institutions and others.

(See: Budget 2020)

(Art. 2.147 Media Law)

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

Parliament (Committee for Education, Culture and Science—OCW)

The minister of education reports to the parliament on measures taken in relation to NPO.

(Art. 2.16, Art. 9.15 Media Law)

Minister of education presents an annual review, the budget and evaluation report conducted by the independent commission to the parliament.

(Art. 2.188 Media Law)

(5) Accountable to other bodies

Yes (1).

The Dutch Public Broadcasting Foundation (NPO) is the steering and cooperation body for the implementation of the PSM obligations at national level.

NPO comprises a board of directors, a supervisory board and college of broadcasters (representatives from all national PSM organisations).

PSM organisations should upon request provide all the necessary information to NPO.

NPO presents each year to the CvdM, the Cultural Council and the minister of education:

• Annual reports (management report and review)
• Financial statements
• Budget

In its annual review NPO reports on the implementation of the budget goals and of the agreements with the minister (i.e. performance agreement).

(Annual review 2018)

(Art. 2.58, 2.59, 2. 184-2.188 Media Law)

h) Overview of governance in the Netherlands (NOS and NTR (special status))

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

NOS and NTR have special status in comparison with broadcasters with recognition from the minister. They both have their supervisory boards and directors.

Supervisory boards of NTR and NOS are collectively responsible before the minister of education for fulfilling PSM obligations of NTR and NOS.

NTR and NOS as well as all other broadcasters are represented in the college of broadcasters of NPO.

(Art. 2.34a—2.41 Media Law)

(2) Accountable to the regulator

See “Overview of governance in the Netherlands (NPO)—Accountable to the regulator”.

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

NOS and NTR provide annual reports to the minister of education.

(Art. 2.34i, 2.40 Media law)

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

See “Overview of governance in the Netherlands (NPO)—Accountable to the parliament (or committee)”.

(5) Accountable to other bodies

See “Overview of governance in the Netherlands (NPO)—Accountable to other bodies”.

i) Overview of governance in Spain (RTVE)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

In July 2018 the Parliament appointed an (interim) “Single Administrator” for RTVE. Since, this administrator is the main responsible person for RTVE activities, together with the Board of Administration.

RTVE must issue an annual report on its activities and on its annual accounts. This report is intended for the Parliament.

RTVE publishes annually a report on the compliance with its public service mission.

(Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned)

(2018 RTVE Annual report on accounts and management activities)

(RTVE Annual Report on Public Service 2017 (published in 2018))

(2) Accountable to the regulator

Yes (1).

CNMC is responsible for monitoring compliance with the public service mission of radio and television by RTVE Corporation.

CNMC may request from RTVE Corporation and its companies the data and reports necessary for the exercise of its functions. The information obtained is confidential and may not be used for purposes other than to exercise its powers.

(Art. 40 of Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned about RTVE and the Audiovisual Authority)

Act 3/2013 on the creation of the National Commission of Markets and Competition. Art. 9.8. “Supervision and control in the field of audiovisual communication market”, establishes that the CNMC is responsible for “Monitoring the fulfilment of the public service mission entrusted to the providers of public service of audiovisual communication at the state level, as well as the adequacy of the public resources allocated for this, in accordance with the provisions of Title IV of Law 7/2010.

According to the obligations established, the CNMC issued in 2018 the CNMC’s Report on Compliance of Public Service Obligations by RTVE and on its Financing analysing activities during 2015 and 2016.

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

Not beyond the fact that RTVE must negotiate and sign with the Government a Program contract to develop the Framework Mandate, which contains the specific objectives to be developed in the exercise of the public service function.

(Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned. Art. 4.)

(Framework Mandate to RTVE. 2017)

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

The Parliament is responsible for monitoring RTVE’s annual activities and accounts through a Joint Committee on the Control RTVE (composed of members from the Congress and Senate members).

RTVE informs each year this Committee of the execution of the Framework Mandate, Contracts- Programs and the compliance of public service obligations.

Moreover, Parliament can require RTVE representatives to ‘address‘ the Committee at least monthly. (A chronological list of the addresses is accessible in RTVE website, in video and pdf format: ‘Comparecencias parlamentarias RTVE’)

(Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned)

(5) Accountable to other bodies

No.

j) Overview of governance in Sweden (SVT)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

Each of the three companies (SVT, UR and SR) of the public service broadcaster have their own boards and CEOs. The boards of the three companies elect the CEOs of the individual companies.

The three companies are owned by an independent foundation, Förvaltningsstiftelsen för Sveriges Radio AB, Sveriges Television AB och Sveriges Utbildningsradio AB. The foundation is in charge of appointing the boards in the three companies and for the supervision of their governance.

According to the articles of association of the three companies, the companies’ articles of association may not be amended without the permission of the Government.

(Culture committee’s memorandum, Annual report of the foundation, SVT website, SVT articles of association)

(2)Accountable to the regulator

Yes.

The Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority (MPRT) is the responsible regulator.

Regulator is responsible for giving an annual evaluation on how the public service mission has been fulfilled. The evaluation is given based on the written reports on carried public service activities provided by SVT, SR and UR.

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

Not beyond the fact that the government is responsible for:

• granting licences to PSMs
• appointing the chair of the foundation (Förvaltningsstiftelsen)
• appointing the other members of the board of the foundation based on a presentation made by the parliament
• authorising amendments to the articles of association of the companies

(Act on Radio and TV, Chapter 4, Section 3.)

(SVT articles of association)

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

No.

Not beyond the fact that parliament is responsible for making the government a proposal for members of the board of the foundation.

(5) Accountable to other bodies

Yes (1)

SVT, UR and SR are owned by an independent foundation, Förvaltningsstiftelsen för Sveriges Radio AB, Sveriges Television AB och Sveriges Utbildningsradio AB

The foundation has a board that consists of a chair and 12 members. It is suggested that as of 1.1.2020 members of the Parliament are not allowed to act as board members, to avoid any political steering of the board.

The foundation describes itself as a buffer between state and the public service broadcasters.

(Annual report of the foundation)

k) Overview of governance in United Kingdom (BBC)

(1) Main organ/body within the PSM that incurs responsibility

The Board which has a collective responsibility to ensure that the BBC acts in the public interest and meets its Charter obligations.

It must issue an annual report covering:

• how it has delivered its creative remit and work plan
• significant changes to its activities including any material changes to the UK public services and commercial activities
• how it has complied with each of its general duties and regulatory obligations in the operating framework
• the provision for the UK’s nations and regions
• the provision for the world service
• how it has set, reviewed and met high editorial standards, and how complaints have been handled and the BBC has learned
• financial auditing
• remuneration of how senior executive pay is determined
• nominations of senior executives and non-executive board members
• how it has met its regulatory obligations and delivered against Charter objectives
• how it has made its output and services available to the public
• expenditure on the UK public television services by genre
• a report from the nomination committee, the remuneration committee and the audit and risk committee.

(Charter (broad objectives of the BBC) Agreement (between the Secretary of State and the BBC), Operating Licence for the BBC’s UK public services)

(2) Accountable to the regulator

Yes (1).

Ofcom must publish an annual report setting out how the regulator has carried out its functions as an independent regulator of the BBC and how the BBC has complied with the requirements of its Operating Framework, Operating Licence and associated documents. Ofcom also needs to report at least every year on the BBC’s performance against measures.

Ofcom’s first annual report covering April 2017 to March 2018 was published in Oct. 2018. Its second report was published in Oct. 2019.

Ofcom also has the power to carry out and publish two or more detailed periodic reviews addressing specific issues of concern identified by Ofcom.

Ofcom may require the BBC and any other person to provide information for the purposes of the carrying out by Ofcom of their functions.

It may also conduct research, provide information to any person for the purpose of facilitating the carrying of its functions, and publish information that it considers conducive in the carrying out of its functions.

Ofcom also has a role to play in the assessment of the public value test for the BBC’s online services (see “Oversight of digital services in United Kingdom (BBC)”).

(Section 198 of the Communications Act 2003 (functions of Ofcom))

(3) Accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

The minister in charge (Secretary of State for Digital, Culture Media and Sport) must undertake a mid-term review to be undertaken not before 2022 but to be completed by 2024. It must not consider the mission, public purposes or licence fee funding model of the BBC.

On top of that, the BBC’s Charter and Framework Agreement are entered into with the government.

(4) Accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport presents the BBC’s annual report to the Parliament.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the Parliament examines the BBC’s annual report each year. It may also consider other areas.

(5) Accountable to other bodies

No.

2. External financial supervision

This section covers the way in which PSM’s accounts are supervised/audited externally.

a) Overview of external financial supervision in Australia (ABC)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

No.

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

But the government can undertake efficiency reviews. The latest are:

• 2018 National Broadcasters Efficiency Review in view of funding triennium starting from July 2019 (terms of reference);
• 2014 Review to flag outdated business and administrative practices (so-called Lewi Review, draft report)

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

The ABC managing director and other officers attend and answer questions at Budget Estimates hearings conducted by a senate committee three times each year, i.e. in the weeks after:

• government hands down its annual budget;
• ABC annual report is tabled, and
• government publishes mid-year additional budget measures.

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

Yes.

Financial Statements are audited by the Australian national Audit Office (ANAO). The ANAO is an independent body established by its own Act of Parliament.

(See latest opinion at p.149 of 2018 ABC Annual Report)

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

No.

b) Overview of external financial supervision in Australia (SBS)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

No.

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

See “Overview of external financial supervision in Australia (ABC) - financially accountable to the government/ministry”

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

The SBS managing director and other officers attend and answer questions at Budget Estimates hearings conducted by a senate committee three times each year, i.e. in the weeks after:

• government hands down its annual budget;
• SBS annual report is tabled, and
• government publishes mid-year additional budget measures.

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

Yes.

Financial Statements are audited by the Australian national Audit Office (ANAO). The ANAO is an independent body established by its own Act of Parliament.

(See latest opinion on the 2017-2018 Financial Statements at p.92 of 2018 SBS Annual Report)

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

No.

c) Overview of external financial supervision in Finland (YLE)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

Yes.

By the end of April each year YLE submits to Traficom its financial statements, profit and loss statements and balance sheets of differentiated operations with notes and company auditors’ report on the separation calculations.

If the company provides a network service as referred to in Act on Electronic Communication Services (broadcasting networks etc.), it differentiates for accounting purposes the operations related to network service provision from other operations. Traficom is responsible for the supervision of the differentiation.

Traficom is also responsible for supervising that no price undercutting or cross-subsidisation is practised.

Traficom issues a statement to the Government about the report on the basis of the financial statements by the end of September. The statement is also reported for information to the parliamentary committee that handles issues concerning the Finnish Broadcasting Company Oy.

(Act on Yleisradio, sections 12a and 12 b)

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

Traficom issues a statement to the government about the report on the basis of the financial statements by the end of September.

To date, the government has not objected to the report.

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

No.

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

Yes.

In 2018, YLE’s financials were audited by KPMG.

(Act on Yleisradio, sections 5-6)

(YLE annual report 2018)

d) Overview of external financial supervision in France (France Télévisions)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

Yes.

Indirect control through the representatives of the CSA who are members of France Télévisions’ (FT) board and of the audit and account committee set up by the board. The committee monitors matters relating to the preparation and control of accounting and financial information. In particular it examines:

• the annual and half-yearly accounts, and gives an opinion on the draft budget
• the work programme, the conclusions and the recommendations of the auditors (see section 5), and assess compliance with the principle of separation of advisory and auditing activities.

The committee is also responsible for:

• reviewing the annual internal auditing programme and the follow-up given to the recommendations of the internal control bodies, and
• assessing the quality and cost-effectiveness of the internal audit services.

The CSA also assesses the economic and financial situation of FT in its annual report on the execution of FT’s terms and conditions (see report 2018, p. 96).

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

An economic and financial controller is detached by the Ministry of finances to FT who is member of the board, and of the audit and account committee set up by the board (see above).

An agreement (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”) is concluded for five years between FT and the State which sets out the commitments made by FT (in terms of type of content broadcast and development) to reach objectives and the financing that the state is granting to meet these objectives.

Each year, the ministers of culture/communications and of finance (under the authority of the Prime Minister) propose in the finance law the budget to be allocated to FT for the year to come. The budget proposed in law can be different from the financing planned (over five years) in the agreement. This is often driven by a change of political majority in the government.

Representatives of the state are members of FT’s board and of the audit and account committee set up by the board (see “Overview of external financial supervision in France (France Télévisions)—financially accountable to the regulator”).

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

Each year parliament votes on the finance law which sets out the amount of the budget that will be granted to France Télévisions in the year to come (see “Overview of external financial supervision in France (France Télévisions)—financially accountable to the Government/Ministry”).

FT’s board is composed of two representatives of the Senate and the National Assembly.

In 2010, the Senate published an information report on the accounts of FT. Information reports aim to support/inform the members of Parliament in their missions to control the government.

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

Yes.

The Court of Auditors controls public undertakings.

(Code on financial jurisdictions, art. L 111)

It publishes reports which are non-binding. In 2016 the court published a public thematic report on FT (covering the 2009-15 period).

The court supports the government and the parliament in the control of the execution of the finance law (Constitution, art. 47).

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

Yes.

Two external auditors (PWC/Ernst & Young) have been appointed since 2012 to control the sincerity and regularity of FT’s annual accounts. They attend board meetings in which annual accounts are set and semi-yearly accounts are examined. Their mandate was renewed in 2018.

They also present a report on the agreement (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”) to the general assembly of FT, which then decides on this report.

(France Télévisions statutes, art. 14; Broadcasting law, art. 47-6)

e) Overview of external financial supervision in Germany (ARD or ZDF)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

No.

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

No.

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

Yes.

Example: ZDF

Budgetary and economic management is subject to audit by the audit court of the federal state in which the headquarter of the ZDF (Rhineland-Palatinate).

ZDF's annual financial statements comprise the operating statement (settlement of the operating budget), the investment statement (settlement of the investment budget), the balance sheet (asset statement) and the profit and loss account. Pursuant to art. 30a of the ZDF Interstate Treaty, ZDF is obliged to prepare annual financial statements in accordance with the provisions of the German Commercial Code (HGB) applicable to large corporations as well as a management report and to publish these in accordance with art. 316 et seq. of the HGB to have them audited. According to art. 30a (5) of the treaty, ZDF also has to publish the remuneration paid to the director-general and the other directors for their activities during the financial year.

ZDF’s latest annual financial statements: 2017, 2016

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

Yes.

Example: ZDF

The Director general submits the annual budget and annual financial statement to the administrative council, who checks it, while the television council has to give final approval.

f) Overview of external financial supervision in Ireland (RTE)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

Yes.

BAI carries out each year a review of the extent to which a corporation has during the previous financial year fulfilled the commitments in respect of its public service objects stated in an annual statement of performance commitments for that financial year and the adequacy or otherwise of public funding to enable the corporation to meet its public service objects.

(Section 124 (2) of the Act)

The BAI carries out every 5 years or as directed by the minister, a review of the adequacy or otherwise, of public funding to enable a corporation to meet its public service objectives.

(Section 124 (8) of the Act)

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

RTE must submit estimates of income and expenditure to the minister in such form, in respect of such periods and at such times, as may be required by the minister. It must provide to the minister any information which the minister may require in relation to such estimates, including proposals and future plans relating to the performance by the corporation of its functions over a period of years, as required.

(Section 109 (1) of the Act)

According to the law, a copy of the accounts for each financial year and the report of the auditors appointed by the board of RTE or the Comptroller and Auditor General, as the case may be, must no later than 6 months after the end of the financial year to which they relate, be presented to the RTE’s board and to the minister.

(Section 109 (4) of the Act)

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

Not later than 30 June in each year, RTE must make a report to the minister (referred to as the “annual report”) in such form as the minister may approve, on the performance of its functions and activities during the preceding year, and the Minister shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament).

Whenever the minister so directs, the annual report must also include such additional information on the performance of the corporation’s functions and activities during the preceding year as the Minister may specify.

(Section 110 (1) (2) of the Act)

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

Yes.

The Comptroller and Auditor General as an alternative to auditors, see “Overview of external financial supervision in Ireland (RTE)—financially accountable to other bodies”))

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

Yes.

Auditors appointed by the board, as an alternative to Comptroller and Auditor General.

g) Overview of external financial supervision in the Netherlands (NPO)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

Yes.

The Commissariaat voor de Media (CvdM—media regulator) is responsible for financial supervision of national, regional and local PSM organisations.

Financial supervision is exercised ex post based on among others annual reports that media organisations submit to CvdM.

(Art. 2.171-2.173a Media law)

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

CvdM provides a financial report on managing general media resources every year to the minister. The report on monitoring the legality of spending of PSM organisations is a part of this report.

(See: Annual report CvdM 2018)

(Art. 2.173 Media law)

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

The minister presents the annual budget of NPO and RPO to the parliament committee for a debate.

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

Yes.

The Court of Audits is an independent body that audits the spending of the national government on its efficiency and legitimacy.

In Dec. 2018 the Court of Audits started audit of PSM expenditure and the legal obligation to effectively deal with public money. Publication of the results is expected in December 2019.

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

Yes, to independent accountants.

Financial report of NPO should be accompanied by the report of independent accountants.

(Handbook on financial accountability of NPO 2016)

Local communities are responsible for supervising the efficiency of spending of local PSM.

(Annual report CvdM 2018)

h) Overview of external financial supervision in Spain (RTVE)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

Yes.

CNMC supervises RTVE’s accounts. This task is included in the CNMC’s Report on Compliance of Public Service Obligations by and on its Financing.

In addition, CNMC is in charge of calculating the net cost of the provision of the public service. (see p. 11 and following of the CNMC Report).

(Art. 9.8 Act 3/2013 on the creation of the National Commission of Markets and Competition)

(Art. 40 of Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned about RTVE and the Audiovisual Authority)

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

No.

Not specifically. But as far as RTVE’s budget is included in the General State Budget it is managed by the Treasury Minister (Ministerio de Hacienda).

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

On the basis of the Court of Auditors Supervision Report (Informe de Fiscalización), the RTVE control Committee monitors RTVE’s accounts and provides its advice.

RTVE representatives can also be required to address the Parliament on the status of the RTVE account.

(Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned. Art. 39. Control by Parliament. And Art. 37.4. (…) Once the annual accounts have been approved, they will be sent to the Parliament for information.)

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

Yes.

The General Intervention of State Administration (IGAE) entrusts the work of controlling RTVE to a Delegated Intervention of RTVE. Reports are made in accordance with public sector auditing standards.

(Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned. Art. 37. 3. Accounting and external audit. IGAE shall exercise the control functions provided for in Title VI of Law 47/2003 (General Budget), for state-owned commercial companies. In particular, it will carry out the review of the annual report on the management of RTVE (…), as well as reports on the fulfillment of service missions publicly entrusted, the program contract with the State and any other obligations of an economic-financial nature assumed by RTVE due to its public nature.)

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

Yes.

The Court of Auditors, as the supreme supervisory body for the economic financial management of the public sector, reports on RTVE’s activity.

Latest ‘Supervision’ Report published: Informe de Fiscalización 2014-2016 (2018)

(Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned. Art. 41. Control by the Court of Auditors. The Court of Auditors is responsible for the external control of RTVE (…).)

i) Overview of external financial supervision in Sweden (SVT)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

No.

The Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority (MPRT), the regulator, is responsible for the supervision of programming content in public service broadcasting and the compliance with public service mission, but regulator does not have powers to supervise the financials of public service broadcasting companies.

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes.

The Government is responsible for appointing the auditors for the three companies.

(SVT articles of association section 10)

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

No.

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

No.

(5) Financially accountable to other bodies

Yes.

The independent foundation, Förvaltningsstiftelsen för Sveriges Radio AB, Sveriges Television AB och Sveriges Utbildningsradio is responsible for the supervision of governance and financials of the three companies that it owns.

The foundation is also responsible for the consolidated financial statements of the three companies that it owns.

j) Overview of external financial supervision in United Kingdom (BBC)

(1) Financially accountable to the regulator

No.

(2) Financially accountable to the Government/Ministry

Yes

(see below)

(3) Financially accountable to the Parliament (or committee)

Yes.

The Secretary of State lays before Parliament any response of the BBC to the Public Accounts Committee in relation to any inquiry by that Committee into value for money examination.

(BBC Agreement (art. 55 (9))

(4) Financially accountable to State audit

Yes.

Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO) (see memorandum of understanding between NAO and the BBC of June 2017) does not examine the merits of the policy objectives but the efficiency and effectiveness with which the BBC and subsidiaries use resources.

(Charter and Framework Agreement (art. 54 and 55))

See for instance Report by the NAO on Managing the BBC’s pay-bill (May 2019)

(4) Financially accountable to other bodies

No.

3. Oversight of digital services

This section provides an overview of how new online services developed by PSM are scrutinised, whether a public value (ex-ante) test ^Footnote67 is carried out and if so, the services covered, the parties involved, the overview of the test, and information on the main services scrutinised in the last three years (including outcome).

a) Oversight of digital services in Australia (ABC)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

No.

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

Not applicable.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

Not applicable.

(4) Overview of test

Not applicable.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

Not applicable.

(6) Outcome

Not applicable.

(7) Legal source and further links

Not applicable.

b) Oversight of digital services in Australia (SBS)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

No.

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

Not applicable.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

Not applicable.

(4) Overview of test

Not applicable.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

Not applicable.

(6) Outcome

Not applicable.

(7) Legal source and further links

Not applicable.

c) Oversight of digital services in Finland (YLE)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

Yes.

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

A prior evaluation is carried out of such new services and functions that have a more than insignificant influence on the available content services as a whole and that are considerable in terms of significance, duration and cost.

In addition, prior evaluation may be conducted whenever it is deemed necessary on reasonable grounds based on the decision of the Administrative council of YLE.

A prior evaluation may also be conducted at the request of the YLE or another legal or natural person submitted for reasonable grounds, or on the initiative of the administrative council.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

The Administrative council.

The competition and consumer authority and key operators in the sector have to be heard during the process.

(4) Overview of test

An evaluation shall include an estimate of the impacts of the planned service or function on the market and competition, along with any other impacts.

In drafting an evaluation, the competition and consumer authority and key operators in the sector shall be provided with the opportunity to present their opinion either in writing or verbally. Any other experts deemed necessary may also be consulted.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

In 2017 YLE carried our prior evaluation of regional news services in internet and personalised internet services.

(6) Outcome

The conclusion was that these services can be developed further and that personalisation serves the aims of democracy and enhances access to services.

(7) Legal source and further links

Act on Yleisradio, section 6 a Press release on prior evaluation of regional news services in internet and personalized interned services.

Formulas for submitting requests for prior evaluation.

d) Oversight of digital services in France (France Télévisions)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

No.

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

Not applicable.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

Not applicable.

(4) Overview of test

Not applicable.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

Not applicable.

(6) Outcome

Not applicable.

(7) Legal source and further links

Not applicable.

e) Oversight of digital services in Germany (ARD or ZDF)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

Yes (called “three-step-test”).

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

All new online services (telemedia according to German law) or significant changes to existing online services.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

Competent body within the PSM (broadcasting council for regional broadcasters forming ARD or television council for ZDF).

(4) Overview of test

The broadcasting corporation must demonstrate to its competent council that the planned telemedia offer is covered by the remit of the PSM. In doing so, first it has to present a so-called telemedia concept to the council.

The proceedings cover three areas (steps); statements must be made on

• how the service is relevant to the democratic, social and cultural needs of society;
• its qualitative impact on competition;
• the financial costs in providing the service.

The competent council offers the opportunity to third parties to comment on the new telemedia service.

For the purpose of preparing its decision, the council may commission opinions by independent experts at the expense of the respective broadcasting corporation; expert opinion must be sought regarding the economic impact of the offer on the relevant markets.

The decision as to whether the telemedia offer is in line with the provisions of the law must be taken with a majority of two thirds of the votes by the members present, at least with the majority of the votes by the legal members of the competent council.

The reasons for the decision must address the question whether the telemedia offer is covered by the remit, taking into account the comments received and expert opinions sought.

All information required for a legal assessment must be submitted to the authority in charge of legal supervision (Rechtsaufsicht). After the assessment by this authority, the description of the telemedia offer must be published on the websites of the respective PSMs.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

• All main public value tests were carried out between mid-2009 and the end of 2010. During this time, all then existing online services of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio had to pass the test.
• From 2015 to 2017 the Bayerische Rundfunk (BR) executed two public value tests regarding an adjustment of the allowed retention times (“Verweildauer”: how long may audiovisual content be available online) for fictional format categories on BR.de and DasErste.de to the ARD retention concept.

In September 2019, the television council ZDF started a public value test regarding significant changes of its telemedia concept.

(6) Outcome

All telemedia services of ARD and ZDF passed the public value test successfully and were approved, only minor changes were required with regard to a few offers.

(7) Legal source and further links

• Art. 11f of the interstate broadcasting treaty
• Former public value tests of ARD
• Former public value tests ZDF
• Public value tests BR
• Current public value test of ZDF

f) Oversight of digital services in Ireland (RTE)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

Yes.

The test is not specific to online services but applied in general to all new services launched by the PSM.

The launch of a new service requires the consent of the minister under section 103 (2) (3) of the Broadcasting Act 2009.

A corporation, may with the consent of the minister, vary the number of television or sound broadcasting channels it operates and undertake ancillary services.

Pursuant to section 100 of the Act, the Minister of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources may ask BAI to undertake a sectoral impact assessment (SIA) of the proposed new broadcasting service.

In addition, the minister is required to undertake a public value test (PVT) of the proposed new service.

Section 103 (4) (8) of the Act.

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

Not specified, the test applies to all new services launched by the PSM.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

The minister of communications, energy and natural resources and BAI.

It has been practice to date for the minister to seek the view of BAI in this regard. When the authority prepares its view for the minister, it undertakes its own public value test as set out in Section 103 (8) of the Act.

(4) Overview of test

SIA

The methodology for undertaking a SIA broadly follows a standard format. This includes the assessment of the effects of the proposed services on the other services in the market. Key activities include:

• desk research into the market
• identification and consultation with the parties likely to be impacted
• face-to-face interviews and written submissions from stakeholders if necessary
• final report

PVT

• the importance of the proposal in pursuance of the public service objectives
• compatibility of the proposal with the European rules;
• cost and revenues
• the contribution of the proposal to media pluralism
• the contribution to the Irish social needs and community and under-served audience any other relevant matter.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

• Extension of permitted broadcasting hours of RTE one+1.
• The introduction of a new services RTE2+1.

RTE enhanced service proposal results of analysis and consideration of 22 Dec. 2018.

(6) Outcome

Approved by the minister

RTE enhanced service proposal results of analysis and consideration of 22 Dec. 2018.

(7) Legal source and further links

Section 100, 103 (2) (3) (4) (8) of the Broadcasting Act of 2009.

g) Oversight of digital services in the Netherlands (NPO)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

Yes.

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

New or significantly changed services.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

Minister of education based on the advice of the regulator and cultural council and the consultation with the stakeholders.

A bill of 25 Sep. 2018 (currently in the First Chamber) proposes to change the procedure for getting a permission for a new or “significantly changed” service. The competition authority (Authority for Consumers and Markets, ACM) would map out the impact of the new service on other players in the market and these players would be given additional possibilities to express their opinion.

(4) Overview of test

The NPO presents a policy plan to the minister. The policy plan includes information on the type and number of PSM program channels and other channels where PSM is offered. The policy plan needs to be approved by the minister in part regarding program and supply channels.

NPO makes the policy plan public.

The minister asks for advice to the regulator and the cultural council (in practice they evaluate legality and public value of the new or significantly changed service) and holds a consultation with stakeholders.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

Launch of NPO Start Plus (2017) which is a paid on-demand service where content is available longer than 1 week.

(6) Outcome

Approved by the minister.

(7) Legal source and further links

• NPO Budget 2016-2020
• Decision of the Minister of Education from 4 April 2016 to approve NPO Start Plus;
• Art. 2.20-2.21 Media Law
• Bill of 25 Sep. 2018 on amending the new service procedure

h) Oversight of digital services in Spain (RTVE)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

No. An ex-ante test is mentioned as a desired future requirement by RTVE-UGT representatives (a national trade union) in the document Strategic Plan for RTVE, June 2018 (see p.22).

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

Not applicable.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

Not applicable.

(4) Overview of test

Not applicable.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

Not applicable.

(6) Outcome

Not applicable.

(7) Legal source and further links

Not applicable.

i) Oversight of digital services in Sweden (SVT)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

Yes.

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

Prior evaluation is required if the service has large impact on the core activities of the PSM or on additional services offered.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

SVT is responsible for notifying new services to the Government as well as to regulator (MPRT).

MPRT is responsible for the prior evaluation. Typically MPRT also consults external experts.

(4) Overview of test

The notification must contain the following elements:

• Description of the services, including the value offered to the public and relevance to public service mission
• Evaluation of the service’s relation to own services and to the services of others
• Service’s impact on other services of PSM
• Services target group and expected usage among populations
• Information on launch and expansion

Evaluation of service’s effect on the market including which actors are affected and how they are affected.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

No new services have been evaluated during 2016-2018. According to annual reports regarding public service, the focus has been on the further development of existing services.

Four digital services were evaluated in 2015.

(6) Outcome

There has been no objection in the past.

(7) Legal source and further links

Additional terms for SVT.

j) Oversight of digital services in United Kingdom (BBC)

(1) Public value test (or similar) applied to online services offered by PSMs?

Yes. The BBC needs to conduct a Public Interest Test (PIT).

(2) If yes, which services need to be scrutinised?

Any material changes to the UK public services.

(3) If yes, who is it carried out by?

The regulator (Ofcom) and the BBC.

(4) Overview of test

There are essentially two stages:

Assessment by the BBC - This phase involves a development phase, a public interest test (PIT), the publication of the decision by the BBC and information to be sent to Ofcom. A PIT will be carried out for any material change to its UK public services, i.e. the introduction of a new public service, or any change to an existing public service which may have a significant adverse impact on fair and effective competition. The PIT will assess the expected public value of the proposal over a three-year forecast period. The BBC's policy explains the details of these steps.

Assessment by Ofcom - Ofcom needs to consider whether or not the proposed change is material or not, compared to its public service and commercial activities. If it considers it is not, or if Ofcom fails to take a decision within 6 weeks, then the BBC can implement the proposed changes. If Ofcom considers that the change is material, it will either conduct a Competition Assessment (called a BCA, BBC Competition Review) or a shorter assessment. It will carry out a BCA in a number of cases, in particular if stakeholders request one. If it does, Ofcom usually consults for two weeks to frame the scope of the investigation. Once scoped, the investigation involves gathering information, with information requests sent to the BBC and third parties. Ofcom usually publishes its provisional view (although it is not obliged to do so), and asks the BBC and third parties for comments.

(5) Main services scrutinised in last 3 years

• Launch of BBC Scotland channel (2017);
• Extending the availability of content on the BBC iPlayer (online catch up).

(6) Outcome

• BBX Scotland was approved by the BBC and Ofcom;
• Changes to the BBC iPlayer were approved by Ofcom (the BBC was forced by Ofcom to conduct a PIT, whereas the BBC considered that the changes proposed were not material).

(7) Legal source and further links

Art. 45 (2) of the Royal Charter of the BBC provides that Ofcom must when supervising the BBC consider among other things the protection of fair and effective competition in the UK. Art. 46 of the Royal Charter provides that Ofcom must set requirements in the BBC’s operating licence to protect fair and effective competition in the UK in relation to changes proposed by the BBC to the carrying out its public service activities.

Ofcom’s guidance ‘Assessing the impact of proposed changes to the BBC’s public service activities’, dated 29 March 2017 (see here).

Appendix C

A. Performance measurement

1. Methodology and reporting

PSMs are accountable for delivering their public purposes and wider responsibilities. Therefore, they are usually required to assess their overall performance against these purposes and obligations.

This section provides an overview of the regulatory framework on performance measurement and identifies in particular whether in the different countries the PSMs are obliged to report on the measurement of their performance and whether a specific methodology is set.

It also shows if the results of the measurement are subject to an external review (e.g. evaluation by the regulatory authority) and whether a separate measurement of PSMs performance is conducted by the relevant authority or body.

a) Australia (ABC)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

ABC must prepare an annual report, which must be submitted to the relevant minister for presentation to parliament. The report must include annual performance statements by ABC board to provide information about ABC performance (within the reporting period) in achieving its purposes.

These statements must measure performance against the relevant Corporate Plan (and the financial planning document, so-called Portfolio Budget Statements), which must be prepare by the board to set the overall strategies and policies to ensure fulfilment of the board’s duties and forecast revenues and expenditures.

(paragraph 35, 38, 39 and 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, PGPA; Section 16(F) of PGPA Rules; Section 8 of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983, ABC Act).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

No.

Criteria that set a minimum standard for the quality of performance information are not defined by relevant law (2013 PGPA Act and 2014 PGPA Rules) but government has provided guidance (see also quick reference) on the characteristics of ‘good’ performance information (relevant, reliable and complete).

(3) Latest report

Annual report 2019 (activities from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019) includes annual performance statement (p.87) as required by law, measured against Corporate Plan 2018-2019 ^Footnote68 and Portfolio Budget Statements 2018-2019.

b) Australia (SBS)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

SBS must prepare an annual report, which must be submitted to the relevant minister for presentation to parliament. The report must include an assessment of the extent to which the operations of the SBS and its subsidiaries during the year have achieved the objectives of the SBS and its subsidiaries under the Corporate Plan (and the financial planning document, so-called Portfolio Budget Statements) and fulfilled the functions of the SBS. It must also include annual performance statements by SBS board to provide information about SBS performance (within the reporting period) in achieving its purposes. These statements measure performance against the relevant Corporate Plan.

(paragraph 35, 38, 39 and 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, PGPA; Section 16(F) of PGPA Rules; section 9 of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997; Sections 48 and 73 of the SBS Act).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

No.

Criteria that set a minimum standard for the quality of performance information are not defined by relevant law (2013 PGPA Act and 2014 PGPA Rules) but government has provided guidance (see also quick reference) on the characteristics of ‘good’ performance information (relevant, reliable and complete).

(3) Latest report

Annual Report 2019 (activities from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019) includes annual performance statement (p.96) as required by law, measured against Corporate Plan 2018-2019, and the 2018-2019 Portfolio Budget Statements.

c) Finland (YLE)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

By the end of April every year the administrative council of YLE has to submit to parliament a report on the implementation of public service obligations.

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

No specific rules on measurement and assessment.

(3) Latest report

Administrative council’s report to parliament for the performance in 2018.

d) France (France Télévisions)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

Each year, the CEO of France Télévisions (FT) must present to culture and finance committees of the National Assembly and Senate a report on execution of the agreement between FT and the state (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”).

Each year before 30 April, FT must send to the minister in charge of culture and communications and to the CSA, a report detailing how the obligations set out in the terms and conditions have been met by each FT’s department (not publicly available).

(France Télévisions terms and conditions, art. 70).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

Yes.

FT must seek to meet expectations of all audiences. It publishes barometers on the quality of its programmes on a regular basis. Measurement must focus in particular on audience’s:

• satisfaction;
• perception of impartial treatment of information;
• perception of how the diversity of opinions is expressed;
• perception of how the diversity of population living in France is expressed.

FT seeks to bring together a large and balanced audience (covering all publics). Audience measurement must in particular take into account:

• the number of viewers having watched FT’s programmes;
• the viewing time;
• the performance of the same programmes shown on other media;
• the structure of the audience compared with the audience of all television services.

According to technical availability, audience measurement also takes into account the audience measurement on other media.

(France Télévisions terms and conditions (“cahier des charges”), art. 20).

Main indicators are set out in the agreement between FT and the state (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”—not publicly available) and in the annual performance plan (PAP), a document annexed to the annual financial law which sets out objectives to reach and indicators to measure the expected results (see section on ‘Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in France (FT)’).

(3) Latest report

The latest is not publicly available. Only the CSA’s reports and the PAP 2018 are available:

• CSA opinion on report on execution of the agreement (year 2018);
• CSA assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions (year 2018);
• PAP 2018 (for the finance law 2019).

e) Germany (ARD or ZDF)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

All broadcasters must publish a bi-annual report on the fulfilment of their remit, on the quality and quantity of existing offers and on the focus areas of planned offers.

PSM (all ARD broadcasting corporations, ZDF and Deutschlandradio) are required to establish and publish statutes further defining their work.

The ZDF statute requires the corporation to publish statements of performance commitments on the areas to be assessed by the bi-annual report. Reports and statements of performance commitments are discussed by the supervisory body, the television council (Fernsehrat). In addition, the director general presents a detailed report in each of the so-called Fernsehrat’s sessions (four per year) on main characteristics of the programmes, audience response, awards and other general issues (e.g. audience trustworthiness).

(§11e(2), §11e(1) of Broadcasting Treaty; §3(4) of ZDF statute (Satzung)).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

No.

(3) Latest report

• ZDF 2017-2018 report (“Bilanz der Selbstverpflichtungserklärung 2017-2018“; see sub-section “Positionen und Publikationen”).
• ZDF annual yearbook.

f) Ireland (RTE)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

The PSM shall prepare not later than 30 June in each year a report to the relevant minister on the performance of its functions and activities during the preceding year, and the minister shall present copies of the report before each House of the Oireachtas (parliament).

The minister can ask the PSM to also include in the annual report additional information on the performance of the PSM functions and activities during the preceding year as specified.

(Section 110 (1) (2) of the Broadcasting Act 2009).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

Yes.

The PSM shall prepare by 31 January each year an annual statement of performance commitments in accordance with:

• its objectives;
• the statement of strategy;
• the public service statement;
• the activities the broadcaster intends to commit in that financial year and associated performance indicators.

(Section 102 (1) of the Broadcasting Act 2009).

The statement of performance shall include:

• original children’s programming, commissioned or produced by the PSM, relevant to the social and cultural needs and interests of children in Ireland and including animation and children’s programming in the Irish language to be broadcast;
• Irish language programming to be broadcast by the PSM;
• science and technology programming;
• magazines and books to be prepared, published and distributed in pursuance of the PSM’s public service objects; and
• the recorded audio material to be compiled, published and distributed in pursuance of the PSM’s public service objects.

(Section 102 (2) of the Broadcasting Act 2009).

(3) Latest report

• RTE annual report 2018.
• RTE 2017 performance commitments (See also RTE 2019 performance commitments).

g) Netherlands (NPO)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

NPO must report every year to the media regulator (CvdM) and the relevant minister on:

• how PSM organisations have implemented the public media objectives on all services;
• composition of its offer on its linear channels and (as far as possible) on other services, including programming hours spent with education, culture and information purposes;
• achievement of the objectives of the performance agreement;
• compliance with the code of conduct;
• percentage of EU works and quotas of Dutch and Frisian-spoken programmes and of Dutch-speaking programmes with subtitles.

(Art. 2.58 Media Law).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

Yes (financial performance).

Handbook on financial accountability of NPO 2016 is a ministerial decree and contains requirements on content and organisation of financial report of NPO.

(3) Latest report

NPO Annual Review 2018 (Terugblik).

h) Spain (RTVE)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

RTVE must present every year to parliament two reports, respectively on:

• the execution of the Program Contract and the Framework Mandate, and
• the fulfilment of the public service mission that it was entrusted, referring to all its activities, schedules, services and broadcasts.

(Art. 54 of Framework Mandate).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

Requirements exist in the law but they are not implemented in practice.

According to article 42.6 of the Framework Mandate “for the evaluation of the fulfilment of RTVE commitments, the Program Contract should include a system of indicators of RTVE management, public service and audiovisual quality. These indicators should be objectively quantifiable parameters”. However, until now, a Program Contract has never entered into force.

(3) Latest report

• 2017 Annual Report on Public Service.
• Annual report on accounts and management activities of Dec. 2018.

i) Sweden (SVT)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes.

The additional terms for SVT require that SVT submit a report to describe how SVT has fulfilled its public service mission. The report must be submitted to the government (Ministry of Culture) and to the regulatory authority (MPRT).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

Yes.

The report has to contain at least the following:

• share of different programmes categories;
• usage of resources in different programme categories;
• audience reach;
• audience reactions to programmes.

The additional terms for SVT require that statistics about programming content are formed in such a way that comparison over time is possible.

(3) Latest report

SVT report on public service in 2018.

j) United Kingdom (BBC)

(1) Does the law require the PSM to report on its performance?

Yes (see below).

(2) Does the regulation specify methodology of performance measurement?

Not in detail. The Charter specifies that the board must establish a framework to assess the performance of the BBC in ‘delivering its strategies and creative remit, and obligations under this Charter and the Framework Agreement, including performance measures (and targets for those measures, where appropriate) to assess the performance of the UK Public Services in fulfilling the mission and promoting the public purposes’.

A framework to assess the performance of the World Service should also be established by the board.

(Charter, art. 20 (3)).

(3) Latest report

BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2018/19.

2. Verification and accountability

a) Australia (ABC)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

The ABC board is the accountable authority for ABC annual performance statements (including financial statements).

(Paragraph 38 (1) (a) of the PGPA Act).

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

No.

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

No.

b) Australia (SBS)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

The SBS board is the accountable authority for SBS annual performance statement and financial statements.

(Paragraph 38 (1) (a) of the PGPA Act).

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

No.

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

No.

c) Finland (YLE)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

The board of YLE is responsible for the measurements.

Administrative council publishes reports on the compliance with public service mandate.

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

No.

Prior to submitting the report, the administrative council shall consult the Sámi Parliament (which gives opinion on how YLE has served the Sami speaking population).

No specific audits required for YLE measurements, but several of the surveys are carried out by external independent providers, who are members of Finnish Association of Marketing Research Agencies (FAMRA) and subject to quality certification programmes.

For example, YLE issues a survey twice per year on its channels and services. The survey is carried out by an independent subcontractor.

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

No.

d) France (France Télévisions)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

Department of public relations within FT (other specific service departments exist, e.g. on audience measurement).

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

Yes.

The CSA delivers an opinion on FT report on execution of the agreement between FT and the state (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”). (Broadcasting law, art. 53.II).

The economic and financial controller detached by the Ministry of Finance to FT who is member of the board verifies the results of all the measures defined by FT’s agreement with the state.

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

Yes.

The CSA uses FT annual reports and any other data it finds useful to deliver an opinion on FT’s compliance with its obligations and makes it publicly available.

(Broadcasting law, art. 48, 53.II; CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions—“cahier des charges”; CSA 2018 opinion on report on execution of the agreement—“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”).

e) Germany (ARD or ZDF)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

Director General.

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

No.

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

No.

f) Ireland (RTE)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

The Audit and Risk Committee (which is a permanent committee established by the board and made of four board members) oversees audit and risk management including performance against strategic objectives, strategic risks, tracks the main KPIs etc.

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

No.

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

No.

g) Netherlands (NPO)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

Board of directors is the accountable authority for NPO policy plan, performance agreement, management report including financial report.

Supervisory board (Audit Committee) prepares financial statements and financial part of the NPO annual budget.

(Art 2.10 Media Law and Annual report 2018).

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

Yes.

CvdM evaluates the annual reviews of NPO.

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

Yes.

Not a supervisory authority but an independent commission established by the Supervisory Board evaluates NPO performance every five years on the basis of self-evaluation reports by NPO. Criteria for evaluation by the independent commission are contained in art. 3a-3c of Media decree 2008.

(Art. 2.184 Media law; Art. 3a, Art.3c Media decree 2008, Evaluation report 2013-2017, Annual report 2018).

h) Spain (RTVE)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

The Single Administrator (acting as chairman) and the Board of Administration (board) are the main responsible bodies.

“The chairman shall (…) prepare the annual report on the management of the RTVE Corporation (…) and on the fulfillment of the entrusted public service missions. RTVE board must approve the annual report on the management of RTVE (…) and on the fulfillment of the public service missions entrusted”.

(Articles. 16.4 l) and Art. 20.2.d of Act 17/2006 on Radio and Television Public State Owned).

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

Not specifically (see below).

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

Yes.

CNMC reports on RTVE compliance with its public service obligations and financing obligations on the basis of data provided by RTVE as well as from other sources (e.g. audience measurement organisations).

(See latest CNMC’s Report on Compliance of Public Service Obligations by CRTVE and on its Financing 2015-2016 published in Dec. 2018).

i) Sweden (SVT)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

SVT board.

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

Yes.

MPRT reviews SVT reports on how SVT has fulfilled its public service mission and published its evaluation on them (MPRT evaluation on report from 2017).

No specific audits required for SVT measurements, but several of the surveys are carried out by external independent providers, who are members of Swedish Market Research Association (SMIF) and subject to quality certification programmes.

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

No.

j) United Kingdom (BBC)

(1) Which body takes responsibility for measurement?

BBC board.

(Charter, art. 20 (3)).

(2) Are measurements results (beyond financial results) subject to external review?

Not specifically (see below).

(3) Is the supervisory authority also measuring the PSM’s performance according to its own set of indicators?

Yes.

Ofcom is obliged to do an annual assessment of the BBC’s performance in meeting its mission and public purposes. It is also obliged to conduct at least two in depth periodic reviews of the BBC’s performance during the course of the charter period (2017-2027) and can carry out additional reviews where it feels it is appropriate.

Ofcom sets its own performance measures to provide a broader picture of how well the BBC is delivering its remit.

Ofcom adopted performance measures in 2017. Performance data needs to be published annually (clause 14 of the BBC agreement).

Ofcom’s current performance measurement framework covers four measures:

• Availability (nature, type, quantity and range of content available across the BBC’s output, as well as the spend on this content).
• Consumption (the extent to which audiences consume the content provided by the BBC).
• Impact (what audiences think about the BBC’s services and output, including their satisfaction).
• Contextual factors (aspects of each public purpose that cannot be measured only with the above, may vary from year to year).

Charter, art 46 (4).

The performance measures may evolve over time. Before setting or amending performance measures, Ofcom must organise a consultation.

Ofcom uses sources from industry and from its own resources. Industry sources are from, the BBC, BARB (Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board), RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research), UKOM (comScore, the UK Online Measurement Company) and TouchPoints (annual survey commissioned by the Institute of Practioners in Advertising, IPA). Ofcom’s own measurement sources include the BBC Performance Tracker, Ofcom’s news consumption survey, and Ofcom’s PSB Tracker.

3. Digital services

This section shows whether performance measurement indicators and related data sources used by the different PSMs have evolved to include digital service.

a) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in Australia (ABC)

ABC 2019 report was published in the course of compilation of this study. The information below takes as a reference the performance statement included in ABC 2018 report but information on the latest developments is provided in the summary report.

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

To provide digital media services is one of ABC functions set by section 6(1) of the ABC Act.

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

Measures of community satisfaction (value of service, meeting Charter’s obligations and efficiency of service, quality of news and current affairs) and estimated audience reach are cross-platform (ABC Corporate Tracking Program).

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes.

All measurement areas identified in the section on ‘Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Australia (ABC)’ capture digital services.

Data sources to measure performance of digital services include:

• ‘Long-tail’ TV viewing measurement (28-day time-shift) and Video Player Measurement;
• Google analytics to measure engagement with ABC website;
• Nielsen online metrics;
• an apps internal digital measurement system (Flurry Analytics) to measure engagement with ABC apps;
• internal podcast intelligence tool (Podsights) to measure podcast downloads.

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes.

The ABC measures:

• engagement with websites, apps and podcast downloads;
• third-party reach-through platforms like Apple News and Facebook, by online surveys (ABC Corporate Tracking Program);
• ABC Facebook pages by pages likes and ABC Facebook Dashboard.

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

b) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in Australia (SBS)

SBS 2019 report was published in the course of compilation of this study. This section takes as a reference the performance statement included in SBS 2018 report but information on the latest developments is provided in the summary report.

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

The SBS Act includes the provision of (multilingual and multicultural) digital media services in SBS functions.

(Section 6(1) of SBS Act).

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

According to the latest SBS Corporate Plan, SBS currently uses a range of metrics across platforms to assess the distinctiveness/diversity of content activities, and audience consumption and engagement.

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

No.

None of the key performance indicators included in the latest performance statement aims to specifically measure the performance of digital services.

However, SBS 2018 Annual Report mentions measures of performance of digital services such as:

• consumption of SBS Radio’s suite of audio and language websites (measured in average monthly million unique visitors, and millions of audios pays and downloads);
• hours (and share) of CALD and LOTE exclusive content available on SBS On Demand service;
• list of award-winning online content.

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes. SBS 2018 Annual Report mentions:

• A new mandatory registration to access key digital services (SBS On Demand and live events apps) that was rolled out progressively in 2017-2018 to provide accurate data on engagement and preferences across SBS platforms.
• That ”In 2017-18, additional efforts were directed to delivering high-quality, extended social audience relations during big events (e.g. 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, Eurovision, simulcast of world news specials) ensuring audience feedback was taken into consideration and responded to in a timely manner”.
• data on certain programmes’ websites unique browser visiting, SBS On Demand weekly views, SBS Facebook pages/YouTube Channels subscribers and views.

(2018 Annual Report).

c) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in Finland (YLE)

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

YLE has the legal obligation to provide services also on internet and mobile platforms. There are no separate provisions on digital TV, since all TV broadcasts in Finland are digital. Analogue broadcasts ended in 2007.

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

General score given to YLE services and score on people’s trust towards YLE are given cross-platform.

(See next section on ‘Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Finland (YLE)’).

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes.

All measurement areas identified in the section on performance indicators capture digital services.

YLE is also measuring the weekly reach of its online services among different target groups.

YLE has launched YLE ID (YLE Tunnus), which people can use when accessing YLE’s online and mobile services. The YLE ID enables a better personalization of services and enables more targeted measurements. It also allows people to continue watching programmes from the same spot. YLE is measuring the number of YLE IDs that are created and the number of logins.

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes.

YLE is measuring the usage of its internet and mobile services with Adobe analytics.

YLE is also using the data from FIAM (Finnish Internet Audience Measurement).

(Administrative Council’s report to Parliament 2018).

d) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in France (France Télévisions)

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

France Télévisions (FT) must seek to exploit the opportunities offered by digital technologies (in terms of format, image and sound quality and distribution), and develops an offer of online public communications services which expand, complete and enrich its programmes offer.

It also provides (through its subsidiaries or not) on-demand and catch-up services which allow the audience to benefit from a new way to access and complete its (linear) TV programmes offer, in line with FT’s public service missions. These services seek to expose and allow access to all genres of programmes (fiction, series, news, etc.).

(FT terms and conditions - “cahier des charges”, art. 1 and 3.6, 22).

FT must also develop new programmes and services on different audiovisual communication media to make accessible (in mobility situations), complete and enrich its programme offer.

It eases the relationship with the audience by using any interactivity technique. In particular FT exploits any electronic communication service to the public allowing to complete and enrich (including at regional and local level) its programmes.

It participates to the development of audiovisual communication technology.

(FT terms and conditions, art. 21).

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

The 4-screens audience measurement system developed by Médiamétrie (of which FT is shareholder) in 2016 brings together and compares the results for TV watched on a TV set with viewing on other screens. These audiences are available for all TV content tagged on the internet via the “eStat' Streaming” solution, a tool for real-time measurement of audio and video streamed flows across all device types.

On a daily basis, Médiamétrie gives to its clients the results for their programmes across the 4 screens, calculated:

• as an average number of viewers per screen type, and
• by viewing mode (live, pre-recorded or catch-up).

Results are available daily via the “Restit'TV, Médiamat's audience reporting interface”.

(Médiamétrie website).

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes.

FT measures digital audiences (% of population above 15 years covered and amount of FT videos watched on all platforms/media).

(FT draft agreement 2016-2020—“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens”—final version not available); CSA 2018 opinion on report on execution of the agreement).

Médiamétrie proposes audience measurement systems specifically designed for digital services (see section on ‘Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in France (France Télévisions)’).

CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions shows that FT’s digital offers are subject to the screening of the CSA in terms of:

• organisation/ structure and development of the online offer;
• audience performance of this offer (in million views per year);
• new viewing practices (e.g. consumption of catch up services on the TV screen - number of viewers and share (%) of catch-up services in the total offer);
• consumption on other screens (PC, tablet and smartphone);
• digital services spend v. digital services revenues;
• digital services spend foreseen in the agreement v. actual digital services spend.

(CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions, p. 90).

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes.

FT proposes services on its own platforms and external platforms (Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat). In 2018, the number of videos seen on external platforms amounted to 79% against 21% on proprietary platforms.

No particular issue raised.

(CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions p. 93).

e) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in Germany (ARD or ZDF)

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

The Interstate Broadcasting Treaty (§11d) sets that PSM must enable all population groups to participate in the information society, promote media literacy and offer opportunities for interactive communications.

PSM’s online services (so-called telemedia) must help people to generally manage their lives (e.g. as citizens, consumers, parents; in politics, education, culture, etc.).

PSM must network with each other in particular by linking and should link to content offered by scientific and cultural institutions which are suitable for online offerings.

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

TV (ZDF, ARD) and radio ratings (ARD members, Deutschlandfunk) include reach of programmes across linear and on-demand platforms/transmission networks as well as digital and analogue (radio) transmission.

(See Arbeitsgemeinschaft Videoforschung—AGF for tv, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media Analyse—agma for radio).

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes.

Average daily use of online offerings and monthly average of visits and views.

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes.

ZDF measures visits and programme views on its own websites and VOD portal (“Mediathek”).

Third party data (e.g. from Facebook, Apple, cable or OTT platform providers) are received, but since there is no joint reporting standard, data are hardly comparable. They are not published.

f) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in Ireland (RTE)

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

One of the objectives or RTE is to establish and maintain a website and teletext services in connection with the services of RTE as specified under section 114 of the Act.

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes (internal information).

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes.

One of the indicators of RTE 2019 performance commitments is: grow RTE’s average weekly reach via mobile and online to 55%.

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes (internal information).

g) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in the Netherlands (NPO)

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

One of PSM obligations is to stimulate innovation in media distribution. (Art. 2.1 Media law).

During the concession period NPO will offer its linear content on at least one free on-demand service. (Art 2.50 Media Law).

90% of original Dutch-spoken content should be available on NPO Start (VOD service) for at least 1 week. (Performance agreement 2017-2020).

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

NPO measures the combined national audience net reach (average weekly) across TV, radio and online (fusion of data of TV panel and online panel) excl. third-party platforms (as from July 2017, stopped per 2019).

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes.

According to the Stichting Onderzoek (SKO) website, the weekly, monthly and annual overview of viewing data contain among others:

• top list of the most watched programmes;
• reach per publisher;
• reach per device (desktop/laptop, tablet and smartphone);
• most watched programs from 7 until 27 days after TV broadcast;
• report on the number of programmes, part of the programmes, videos that are only available online and not on linear TV.

In the period from 21 April 2017 to 31 Dec. 2018, merged TV and online ratings were also made available.

(NPO independent commission Evaluation Report 2013-2017).

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes.

NPO is tagging its own websites/apps and players. NPO has access to social media data. NPO noted that the metrics NPO uses for its own tagged content is not 100% comparable with Facebook metrics.

h) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in Spain (RTVE)

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

It is part of the public radio and television service functions to contribute to the development of the information society. For this purpose, the PSB will participate in technological progress, using the different technologies and distribution means, and will develop new related or interactive services, capable of enriching or completing its programming offer.

(Art. 3.3 of Act 17/2006 on Public Service Radio and Television).

RTVE must provide a platform that serves the audience, gradually offering interactive content, with special interest in internet protocols (IP), internet, and mobility devices. The platform will act as a meeting point for the exchange, distribution and dissemination of content.

(Art. 31 of Framework Mandate to CRTVE).

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

Estimated audience is measured cross platform. The first experience dates back to 2018 when RTVE, YouTube, Kantar Media, ComScore and the Cocktail Analysis agreed to measure the cross-platform performance of a specific programme (Operación Triunfo). Multiplatform consumption 24 hours over 7 days a week along the programme duration was measured in an aggregated way.

(See detailed information in Spanish).

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes. Main indicators are:

• unique viewers;
• reach;
• pages viewed;
• video start;
• session average;
• mobile apps;
• digital TV.

(See section on ‘Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Spain (RTVE)’).

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes.

• To measure engagement with websites, apps and podcast downloads RTVE uses Adobe and Google analytics, Chartbeat (real time) and Chrysalis for social media. RTVE also uses You Tube and Facebook Insights and Twitter analytics.
• RTVE (via an agreement with a Carlos III University) uses social metrics tools (Spark, Cake, Python, Microsoft Azure) to study the sentiments of its audience.
• A specific app to measure audience in mobile phones was used for a specific programme (Operación Triunfo) (cross-platform measurement by Cocktail Analysis, Orpheus of Netquest)
• RTVE has implanted a data lake to host tracking information.

i) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in Sweden (SVT)

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

In the additional terms that the government has set for the public service broadcasters (SVR, SR and UR), the government requires that PSM are involved in technical development of production and distribution technologies. The government requires that programmes are distributed in such a way that as many people as possible can access the programmes and the services.

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

General score given to SVT services is given cross-platform.

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes.

All measurements indicators detailed in the section on ‘Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Sweden (SVT)’ capture also digital services.

SVT also measures the share of viewers that is accessing SVT services only via new platforms (internet and mobile), the share of viewers who is using old and new platforms in parallel and the share of audience that is using only old platforms.

(SVT report on public service 2018).

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes.

SVT is measuring whether its internet services are accessed directly or via links in different media, including social media. In 2018 about 20% of the traffic came through search engines and social media.

(SVT report on public service 2018).

j) Inclusion of digital services in performance measurement in United Kingdom (BBC)

(1) Do public service obligations include provision of digital services?

Yes.

BBC Agreement foresees BBC Online, a comprehensive online content service, with content serving the whole range of the BBC’s purposes, including the BBC’s new and sports websites, BBC iPlayer and BBC three for younger adult audiences.

(2) Is the performance of PSM measured cross-platform?

Yes.

The BBC’s performance is measured according to each of the BBC’s public purposes, across all platforms.

According to Ofcom, cross-media measurement exists but is in development. It will cover a broad range of audience groups (see here, p.6). See also project Dovetail and Comscore and UKOM in the below.

Ofcom’s latest performance report 2018/2019 asks the BBC to develop and use more measures to assess its performance.

(3) Have new indicators been developed specifically to measure the performance of PSM digital services?

Yes.

But the BBC is subject to a single licence (called Operating Licence) for all the BBC’s public services—television, radio and online—instead of the previous system (before 2017) which was based on a service licence for each individual BBC service. This means that the BBC’s performance is measured according to each of the BBC’s public purposes, across all platforms. For instance, on the requirement to provide impartial news and information (public purpose 1), Ofcom looks at the BBC’s online provision of news and current affairs. It measures in particular the types of ways in which people consume online news and the people’s opinions of its provision compared to other providers where relevant.

(4) To measure digital performance is server data of websites/apps and third-party data used?

Yes.

Ofcom has a number of information collection powers and can also ask the BBC for data. For online consumption, it uses data from Comscore and UKOM.

BBC server data (consumption of BBC iPlayer and BBC website) is also used.

Data is also used from BARB, including from project Dovetail which includes measurement of BBC iPlayer. It provides a joint-industry audited measure of total reach across all devices.

4. What does the PSM measure and by applying which indicators?

This section focuses on the indicators applied by the PSM and (where relevant) by the supervisory authorities to measure the performance of their services.

a) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Australia (ABC)

This section lists the indicators used by the ABC to measure its performance according to ABC’s board 2018 performance statement. ABC 2019 report was published in the course of compilation of this study. Further information on the latest indicators is provided in the summary report.

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

• TV reach (average weekly) measured by TV ratings.
• Radio reach (average weekly) measured by radio ratings (including DAB+).
• Reach of digital services (average monthly) on browsers or apps measured by online ratings.
• International digital reach (average monthly) measured by Webtrends and Google Analytics.
• Combined national audience net reach (average weekly) across TV, radio and online measured by population-based survey.

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

Measured by surveys:

• ABC Corporate Tracking surveys, a general population-based surveys that measures (among others) ABC appreciation and trust (including attitudinal perception with comparisons with the commercial market).
• ABC Quality & Distinctiveness Surveys (measures the impact and perceptions of programmes across the ABC portfolio of media assets).

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

• Financial performance (expenses, revenues and incomes included in financial statements).
• General Operational Activities Expenditure (TV, radio and digital services).
• Expenditure in transmission and distribution of TV and radio services.

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

• Analysis of Australian first run TV content (hours broadcast/available on domestic distribution platforms, including iview).
• Analysis of Australian children TV content (% of Australian kids content on TV channels ABC ME and ABC KIDS).
• Analysis of Australian music on radio (based on scheduled programming).
• Reviews on editorial quality commissioned or conducted by the ABC (see here).
• Timeliness of complaints management (see here).
• ABC Quality & Distinctiveness Surveys (measures the impact and perceptions of programs across the ABC portfolio of media assets).

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

(5) Other indicators

• Access to analogue radio (% of population able to receive transmission).
• Access to digital radio (degree to which the five mainland state capital cities have access to ABC digital radio transmissions).
• Access to digital TV (% of households capable of receiving broadcast).
• Audience contacts/transmission issues (availability of a service to monitor and respond to enquiries regarding television and radio transmission issues).
• Transmission performance (network and on-air availability of services provided via a third-party).
• Operation of transmission facilities (third parties facilities that are operated within agreed limits).

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

b) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Australia (SBS)

This section lists the indicators used by the SBS to measure its performance, according to SBS’s board 2018 performance statement. SBS 2019 report was published in the course of compilation of this study. Further information on the latest indicators is provided in the summary report.

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

According to the SBS Corporate Plan 2017-18 SBS uses a range of audience consumption metrics across all platforms to assess the performance of its content activities.

The Key performance indicator in this area listed in the performance statement of SBS Annual report 2018 is reach of the network of SBS channels (SBS, SBS VICELAND, SBS Food Network and NITV) measured in average monthly (millions, all population, 24hr).

SBS 2018 report Appendix 10 presents TV ratings on the whole network to measure reach (average weekly) by market and by demographic and share of major events.

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

No indicator in this area is listed in the 2018 performance statement but SBS 2018 Annual Report:

• explains that SBS measures audience perception with different tools, such as surveys tracking brand appreciation (SBS Brand Trackers), monthly public sessions whereby SBS staff meets the audience, research panel studies on specific matters;
• summarises complaints received during the year and investigations completed during the year by SBS Ombudsman.

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

SBS 2018 Annual Performance Statement lists as key metrics:

• total commercial revenues (advertising across all platforms, subscription TV, distribution business);
• Expenditure for transmission and distribution on all platforms (% of total funding);
• Expenses for support activities (e.g. human resources, corporate affairs, legal) as share of total operating expenses.

See also detailed financial statements audited by the Australian national Audit Office (ANAO).

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

SBS 2018 Annual Performance Statement lists as key metrics:

• Number of hours of TV programming broadcast in CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse);
• % of radio broadcasts in languages other than English (LOTE);
• Number of hours of locally commissioned programs broadcast (first run) on SBS One and SBS VICELAND.

According to the latest SBS Corporate plans the SBS uses a range of metrics to assess the distinctiveness and diversity of its content activities across platforms.

Annex 2-9 of SBS 2018 Annual Report also present detailed data on: TV broadcast hours by genre (first run and repeat, in total and by channel); LOTE of TV and radio programmes (hours in total and by channel, and % of programming); list of cultures represented and languages subtitled in TV programmes; titles (by genre) and hours of first run locally commissioned programmes on certain TV channels.

(5) Other indicators

• Access in % of population for terrestrial TV.
• Access in % of population for digital TV (including satellite).
• Availability of digital TV fully managed services (% of population).

(Performance statement of Annual report 2018).

c) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Finland (YLE)

This section lists the indicators used YLE to measure its performance, according to the latest report submitted to parliament by the administrative council.

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

• Weekly and daily reach of YLE TV and radio services public service content among population (whole population and different age groups);
• Weekly reach of YLE online services among 15+ year old population (covers YLE Areena, YLE main website and YLE news website).

(Administrative Council’s report to Parliament 2018).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

• Score given by population on YLE’s public service mission (scale 1-6, in 2018 4,59);
• Grade on YLE’s interaction with the audience;
• The level of interest towards YLE’s services.

(Administrative Council’s report to Parliament 2018).

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

• Programme spend by genres;
• Programme hours per genres.

(Administrative Council’s report to Parliament 2018).

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

The annual report issued by the administrative council contains:

• Hours for different programming segments (children programmes, sports, drama etc.), for local content and also for content targeted to minorities and special target groups;
• Public opinion on what is considered the most important content provided by YLE (in 2018 domestic content, reliable information and high-quality programmes for children);
• Score on people’s trust towards YLE.

(5) Other indicators

How responsible is YLE perceived according to the viewers.

(Administrative Council’s report to Parliament 2018)

d) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in France (France Télévisions)

Main indicators to measure the performance of France Télévisions (FT) are included in:

• the agreement 2016-2020 concluded between the PSM and the state (“contrat d’objectifs et de moyens” – not publicly available);
• the annual performance plan, a document annexed to the annual financial law which sets out objectives to reach and indicators to measure the expected results (PAP 2018).

The terms and conditions (“cahier des charges”) define FT’s public service missions in such detail that they go beyond the simple expression of public service missions and become specific objectives to reach (such as quotas). This results in a large number of objectives and indicators that are explicitly or implicitly detailed in the terms and conditions, as the CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions shows below.

The non-exhaustive description of the indicators below (which sometime overlap) is based on documents that are publicly available.

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

• Cumulated audience on four screens (TV, PC, smartphone, tablet on a daily and monthly basis), and on the TV set (weekly basis).
• Digital audiences (amount of France Télévisions (FT) videos watched on all platforms/ media)
• Structure of the audience by age category.

(FT draft agreement 2016-2020 - final version not available; CSA 2018 opinion on report on execution of the agreement).

• Channel and digital offers audience measurement (four screens measurement)
• Structure of audience per age).

(PAP 2018).

FT uses a wide range of tools designed by Médiamétrie to measure how the audience consumes its services (e.g. Mediamat, TV-four screens,…). FT is a shareholder of Médiamétrie together with other broadcasters and advertising agencies.

CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions (p. 83) shows that the CSA measured other aspects:

• the audience of the FT group by age category (i.ee. from 4 years old, between 15 and 24 years, between 50 and 64 years) v. audience of other commercial TV groups;
• the audience of each channel of the FT group by age category;
• the age structure of the audience for the main channels of the group (4 to 14, 15-24, 25-34, 35-49, +50).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

• Satisfaction of the audience.

(CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions, p.87).

FT uses Quali TV, a survey system by Harris Interactive to measure the quality of its prime time programmes on a daily basis. Assessment is carried out by 1800-2000 viewers who after having watched a programme, rate it according to four criteria (level of satisfaction, level of attention, intention to recommend and level of memory left by the programme). This is called the “impact rating”.

IFOP perception barometer measures how the audience perceives a channel, incl. those of FT - report 2018 here).

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

• Evolution of the salary mass (i.e. staff costs foreseen in the agreement v. actual staff costs following FT’s accounts).
• Strengthening of production auditing policy (for fictions/ documentaries and TV shows).
• Contribution made by commercial revenues (i.e. revenues other than from the state grant v. total revenues).

(FT draft agreement 2016-2020); CSA 2018 opinion on report on execution of the agreement).

• Programme spend v. total spend.
• Controlling staff costs.
• Own resources (development of commercial revenues).
• Net result.

(PAP 2018).

CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions p. 96), shows that the CSA measured the following aspects:

• funding received from annual finances law (see above) v. funding planned in the agreement signed with the state;
• gross operating results v. net results;
• programme spend v. global costs;
• national programme costs v. other programme costs (e.g. news, sport, regional programmes);
• costs of information programming foreseen in the agreement v. actual costs;
• costs of regional programming foreseen in the agreement v. actual costs;
• digital services spend v. digital services revenues;
• digital services spend foreseen in the agreement and actual spend;
• total staff number v. personnel costs;
• total staff number v. non-permanent staff;
• revenues other than from the state grant v. total revenues.

(See also FT annual report 2018 for financial performance).

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

• Minimum level of investment in audiovisual and cinematographic production.
• Share of regional programmes and programmes of regional nature (i.e. on France 3 channel) in the total programme offer.
• Average hourly volume of programmes produced or co-produced by France Ô (overseas territories).
• Quality of information (in FT’s global offer, news reports, rolling news channels, information magazines and online information websites and apps).

(FT draft agreement 2016-2020); CSA 2018 opinion on report on execution of the agreement).

• Quality of information and fiction programmes (number of hours of fictions aired, spend for European audiovisual work in French and quality of information per type of programme).

(PAP 2018).

CSA 2018 assessment report on FT compliance with the terms and conditions (p. 12) shows that the CSA measured in detail:

• the level of investment made by FT channels in cinematographic and audiovisual productions;
• the volume of content broadcast (by channel, by genre, etc.).

It also shows (p. 33) that the CSA measured how FT fulfilled its public service missions in terms of volume of content broadcast for:

• cultural content;
• information/news;
• proximity content (France 3 for mainland and La 1ère for overseas territories)
• sports;
• youth content;
• entertainment;
• other type of content (sciences, environment…).

CSA also measured how FT fulfilled its commitments in favour of social cohesion and the protection of audiences. This includes representation of diversity, women’s rights, accessibility, use of French, media literacy, protection of minors and consumers.

(5) Other indicators

• Digital audiences (% of population above 15 years covered).
• Number of cultural events covered per year.
• Employees trust (trust in FT v. average trust in other large French companies).

(FT draft agreement 2016-2020); CSA 2018 opinion on report on execution of the agreement).

e) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Germany (ARD or ZDF)

This section provides examples of the indicators used by ARD or ZDF in measuring their performance, according to the latest bi-annual performance report, the latest director general quarterly report, and other resources (where relevant).

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

• Daily ratings for all linear ZDF offerings and all age groups (age 3+; 3-13, 14-29, 30-49, 50-64, 65+).
• Audience market share of linear offerings (monthly, past 12 months).
• Monthly top viewed linear programmes.
• Audience ratings for selected programmes (e.g. elections news reports, science programmes, TV movies) on monthly basis.
• Average daily use of online offerings, monthly average of visits and views.
• Monthly top ten VOD programmes.

(Performance report 2017-2018).

(Director General’s Report of Sep.2019).

ZDF has started defining quantitative goals for audience reach in selected areas (see latest Statement of Performance Commitments 2019-2020).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

Regular surveys on trustworthiness in various programme genres. Examples:

• ZDF: performance report 2017-2018, latest of surveys regarding news programmes.
• ARD: comprehensive summary.
• ARD and ZDF: study on media use for information purposes.

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

ZDF:

• Financial report.
• on its transparency platform:
  • For each of the main content genres basic information on profiles, average costs and responsible editors of the individual programmes and information on number of external production firms involved (e.g. genre news programmes and magazines).
  • Detailed programme statistics (e.g. minutes broadcast, own productions vs. commissioned productions, shares of programme genres).
  • Information on cooperation with external production firms.

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

ZDF:

• Award winning content (performance report 2017-2018, current awards).
• Accessibility for people with disabilities (subtitles, sign language, audio description) (performance report 2017-2018, overview).

(5) Other indicators

ZDF:

• Sustainability commitments (including diversity, environment, green production, transparency).
• Commitments to fair cooperation with authors (screenplay) and production companies.
• Guidelines for compliance and shared values among employees.

f) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Ireland (RTE)

This section lists indicators of performance commitments undertaken by the RTE board according to its latest performance commitments report.

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

• Maintain average weekly reach for all RTE services (18+) at or above 90%.
• Grow RTE’s average weekly reach via mobile and online to 55%.
• Maintain RTE’s radio share (adults 15+, all day) at 24% to 26%.

(RTE 2019 performance commitments).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

Maintain public perception that RTE:

• provides trusted news and current affairs at 80%.
• is relevant to people in Ireland today at 80%.
• keeps the audience well informed at 80%.
• generates national debate/political discourse (no % indicated).
• is an important part of Irish life at 80%.
• has high quality content and services at 75%.
• programmes and services are easily accessible on a range of devices at 70%.

Grow public perception that RTE reflects current Irish society to 80%.

(RTE 2019 performance commitments).

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

• Deliver RTE’s portfolio of services within the budget operating costs.
• Operate RTE’s commercial activities efficiently to maximise the net return for RTE’s public service activities.
• Maintain total content and distribution spend as a % of operating costs at 80%.
• Meet targets of personal related operational costs (measured as % of total operating costs).

(RTE 2019 performance commitments).

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

• Radio’s FM output as first run indigenous at 80%.
• Maintain indigenous hours as % of total peak time hours on RTE One at 75%.

(RTE 2019 performance commitments).

(5) Other indicators

No.

g) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in the Netherlands (NPO)

This section lists the indicators used by NPO to measure its own performance and the performance of its associated broadcasters, according to its latest performance assessment and annual report (including financial results). Where relevant, additional indicators used in the latest five-year review by NPO independent commission are also identified.

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

• TV reach (average weekly) measured by TV ratings, measured per age, sex, level of education.
• Radio reach (average weekly) measured by radio ratings, measured per age, sex, level of education.
• Internet reach (across only NPO websites).
• Cross-media reach per age group for radio, TV, online (weekly, via fusion of data of TV and online panel) excl. third-party platforms (as from July 2017, stopped in 2019).
• Extent to which entertainment offer has been used as a means of attracting difficult-to-reach target groups (weekly).
• Extent to which difficult-to-reach target groups watching entertainment content also watch informative, cultural or educational content during the same period of time (weekly).

(Annual review 2018, Terugblik).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

• Public opinion on quality of TV and radio programmes (survey).
• Public opinion on representation of women and people of non-western migration background in TV and radio programmes (survey).
• Public opinion on impact and quality of journalistic TV and radio programmes of NPO.
• For radio and TV, extent to what public recognises PSM values of networks and channels and, in relation to TV, of programmes i.e. independent, authentic, opinionated, committed, with impact, diverse, diverse and reliable (representative panel).

(Annual review 2018, Terugblik).

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

Financial performance (expenses, revenues and incomes included in financial statements).

(Annual report 2018, Terugblik).

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

• Contribution of commercial broadcasters and NPO to informing and educating society and showing Dutch art and culture (representative sample).
• Amount of Dutch-spoken original productions.
• Amount of times NPO journalistic content is mentioned in other media (newspapers, parliamentary documents).
• For radio: diversity of music content (overlap of artists and titles with commercial radio).
• Accessibility for people with disabilities (e.g. number of people with disabilities using audio description service of NPO).

(Annual review 2018 Terugblik; Evaluation report 2013-2017; Annual report 2018, Jaarsverslag).

(5) Other indicators

No (measurement of gender diversity in programmes stopped in 2015).

(Evaluation report 2013-2017)

h) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Spain (RTVE)

This section lists the indicators used by RTVE to measure its own performance according to its latest performance reports and (where relevant) additional indicators that are used by the regulatory authority (CNMC) in its separate evaluation of RTVE performance. The latest CNMC report was published in 2018 and covers RTVE activities in 2015 and 2016.

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

• Annual average audience (per TV channel) measured by Kantar Media, incl. of news programs (viewers and share), of relevant news and sports events (TV ratings), of prime-time fiction/specific entertainment programmes (viewers and share).
• Monthly digital audience measured by ComScore (unique viewers and age), incl. audience evolution per media operator, PC consumption (users per month), and video consumption per media operator (million videos viewed per month).
• Take up of TVE international channels (by country).
• RTVE subscriptions in Latin America (millions/quarter 2018).

(RTVE 2017 Annual Report on Public Service; CRTVE Annual report on accounts and management activities of Dec. 2018).

CNMC report on RTVE compliance with its public service and financing obligations (2015-2016 Report) also includes more granular TV ratings by Kantar Media, radio ratings by EGM and RTVE data on consumption of digital services, such as:

• Access to RTVE websites, average browsing time and unique visitors to RTVE content by Spanish region;
• RTVE originated traffic per social network (incl. Twitter impressions for RTVE accounts);
• Number of visitors to RTVE HbbTV connected TV app (Botón Rojo);
• Number of subscribers to RTVE YouTube Channel and to the gaming PlayZ platform;

RTVE apps downloads and visitors by operating system (Android, IOS).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

• Periodical reports by RTVE Ombudsman on users’ complaints.
• Study to analyse the sentiment of RTVE audience based on big data.

(RTVE 2017 Annual Report on Public Service; CRTVE Annual report on accounts and management activities of Dec. 2018).

In 2018, CNMC included in its biannual survey to users (Panel de Hogares) some questions to measure the perception of Spanish people about RTVE broadcast services (e.g. content quality and news impartiality).

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

RTVE’s Ombudsman data on actions taken as % of received complaints with breakdown by service and details on actions.

(RTVE 2017 Annual Report on Public Service; CRTVE Annual report on accounts and management activities of Dec. 2018).

CNMC report on RTVE compliance with its public service and financing obligations (2015-2016 Report) also measures costs of (TV and radio) broadcasts by genre over RTVE total expenditure, incl. of international radio stations and TV channels.

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

• % and number of Spanish films on TV channels.
• Number of news programmes and tot. hours of specific news programmes.
• Number of episodes of certain children educational programmes (produced and broadcast).
• Hours of radio and TV local productions by genre.
• Hours and % of TV and radio broadcasts in Spanish (regional) languages
• Awards to film productions.
• Broadcast of events of special public interest.

(RTVE 2017 Annual Report on Public Service; CRTVE Annual report on accounts and management activities of Dec. 2018).

CNMC report also includes measures of:

• % of European works in TV programming time;
• hours of programming (TV and radio) in foreign languages;
• hours of international broadcasts by genre (TV and radio).

(5) Other indicators

• Devices used to access RTVE.es (monthly %).
• Analysis of staff composition by type of contract and professional category (age, genre, nationality) and average salary.
• Staff with disabilities by degree of disability.
• Communications with staff by type of interaction.
• Number of appearances before parliament.
• Others (waste management and energy savings).

(RTVE 2017 Annual Report on Public Service; CRTVE Annual report on accounts and management activities of Dec. 2018)

i) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in Sweden (SVT)

This section lists the indicators used by SVT to measure its performance according to the latest annual report it submitted to the government and to MPRT.

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

• Daily time spent on SVT services in minutes.
• Consumption statistics per service.
• Reach of SVT online services.

(SVT annual report on public service 2018).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

• People’s opinion on the value provided to society and to individuals is measured by Norstat. The measurements also contain public’s opinion on the professional quality of SVT.
• The survey measures opinion on the quality of picture and sound, reliability, possibility to access services, access to culture and Swedish content and views on whether programmes give viewers information and insights.
• The survey also measures how well-known SVT is among population.

(SVT annual report on public service 2018).

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

• Programme spend by genre.

(SVT annual report on public service 2018).

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

• Hours of programming by genre.
• Hours of programming for children divided by age group and by format (facts and news or culture and arts).
• Compliance with requirement for local content (according to licence terms 55 % of the programmes in Swedish have to be produced outside the capital area).
• Hours of programming with sign language.
• Hours of programming in minority languages.

(SVT annual report on public service 2018).

(5) Other indicators

No.

j) Overview of the indicators used to measure the PSM in United Kingdom (BBC)

This section focuses on indicators applied by the regulatory authority (Ofcom) to measure the performance of the BBC.

On top of these indicators that are used by Ofcom, the BBC’s annual report contains the BBC’s own assessment of its performance against its commitments in the UK public services. The commitments stem from the Charter, the Agreement, the licence obligations and its own commitments made in the annual plan. In the annual plan for the BBC made 103 public commitments which mainly relate to specific events/outcomes on its services that occurred in 2018/2019. Contrary to Ofcom, the BBC’s metrics/indicators are not pre-determined.

(BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2018/19, BBC Annual Plan 2019/20).

(1) example of indicators that measure Consumption

The performance is measured against each of the BBC’s public purposes (and no longer by platform as was previously the case, before 2017).

Reach of and time spent on:

• News and current affairs across the BBC;
• BBC educational content among school-age children and teenagers;
• Minutes of BBC educational content consumed by school-age children and teenagers;
• arts, music, religion, science, business, specialist factual across the BBC;
• the range of genres across the BBC’s television services;
• BBC services across the UK’s nations and regions for television, radio and online;
• BBC services for a range of audience groups such as age, gender and ethnicity.

(Ofcom’s BBC performance report 2017/2018;

Ofcom’s BBC performance report 2018/2019;

Ofcom’s statement of Oct 2017 on holding the BBC to account for delivering for audiences).

(2) example of indicators that measure Perception

Measured against each of the public purposes:

• Audience attitudes to the BBC’s delivery of news, including the importance of impartial news and information (also takes account of the wider market context of news consumption).
• Views of parents and young people on the extent to which the BBC provides output that supports children and young people with their education.
• Audience views and attitudes on the extent to which the BBC overall supports learning for people of all ages and audience views on the importance of this public purpose on both a societal and a personal level.
• Audience views and attitudes on the extent to which the BBC is showing the most creative, high-quality and distinctive output and services, on the extent to which individual BBC services are offering something that the other providers are not, and on the importance of this public service purpose on a societal and personal level.
• Audience views and attitudes on the extent to which audiences feel that the BBC delivers content for the nations and regions and audience views on the importance of this on a societal and personal level.
• Audience views and attitudes on whether audiences feel that the BBC provides sufficiently diverse content.
• From diverse communities within the UK, audience views on the extent to which the BBC reflects ‘people like me’.
• Audience views on the importance of diversity as a public purpose on both the societal and personal levels.

Ofcom’s first report (2018) measured satisfaction of BBC TV, radio and website/app by audience group and audience attitudes to the delivery of its public purposes.

(Ofcom’s BBC performance report 2017/2018; Ofcom’s statement of Oct 2017 on holding the BBC to account for delivering for audiences).

(3) example of indicators that measure Efficiency

Efficiency (value for money) is not assessed by Ofcom.

The BBC charter specifies that the BBC’s annual report must contain data on the expenditure of the public television services by genre (article 37).

Ofcom publishes data per channel (including BBC One, Two and BBC Portfolio ^Footnote69 on the output and spend ^Footnote70 , but does not assess the efficiency as such.

Communications Market Reports (here).

(4) example of indicators that measure Quality

• Hours of programming available on the BBC (covers all BBC television and radio services and BBC three, focus on first-run UK originated content).
• Genre mix (same services as above), proportion of first run UK originations against repeats and acquisitions by genre, range, number of new titles and proportion of unique titles and long running series across the BBC television services.
• Proportion of qualifying network content produced in the nations and English regions across BBC television.
• Spread of hours across the nations and English regions for BBC network radio content.
• Hours of content produced for viewers in specific nations and regions across all BBC One, two and radio services.

(Ofcom’s BBC performance report 2017/2018;

Ofcom’s statement of Oct 2017 on holding the BBC to account for delivering for audiences).

Ofcom holds the BBC to account on content standards mainly through the consideration of complaints.

It can carry out special reviews as it sees fit, and an example of this is the current review on BBC’s provision of news and current affairs.

(5) Other indicators

Ofcom has the power to carry out reviews addressing any specific area of concern it identifies article 51(3) of the Charter.

Ofcom also has the power to amend the performance measurement framework provided it respects the procedure specified in the Charter.

Current review of BBC news and current affairs (2019).

Date modified:

2020-01-28