The Popular Wave Of Public Broadcasting Slashings

Michael Hedges December 20, 2010 - Follow on Twitter

Arts, culture and public broadcasting are always popular targets when governments start trimming budgets. And newly formed governments aren’t wasting any time. This year trimming has become slashing. Next year will bring a new plan.

The Netherlands held general elections in June after the collapse of the Labour Party government, turning over parliamentary power to a coalition of the conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) under Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD). Immediately after taking office in October the new Dutch government ordered substantial budget cuts throughout the public sector.

Broadcasting will be hit with €200 million in cuts by 2015 as the debate has moved from the amount of the cuts to what parts will face the axe. Some Members of the Dutch Parliament aligned with the VVD party argued that one channel should go rather than affect the quality of all public television. During a parliamentary budget debate (December 13), Education, Culture and Science Minister Marja van Bijsterveld (CDA) opposed closing one of three national public television channels.

Netherlands Public Broadcasting (Nederlandse Publieke Omroep - NPO) is the umbrella organization through which the different public broadcasting associations operate. The member associations range from groups with religious and political and political affiliations to specialty broadcasters. Financing is primarily through the State budget, about one-seventh coming from advertising.

The 21 public broadcasting associations fill program slots on three primary television channels, a dozen digital TV channels, seven national radio channels plus a slew of digital and internet radio channels. Add to that, each Dutch province has its own television channel.

Separate is highly respected international broadcaster Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW), financed through NPO. The current budget shifting has RNW financing taken over by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “RNW is an integral part of the media system and it is inseparable,” Dutch Association of Journalists president Huub Elzerman in a statement (December 17). “But it’s a shock when you read the derogatory language in the policies regarding public broadcasting, arts and culture.”

Under the current proposal the number of broadcasting associations participating in the NPO will drop to eight by 2016. NPO chairman Henk Hagoort announced plans in January 2010 to reduce the number of associations to 15 by 2015.

Soon after the new Dutch government was formed the NPO went on a budget charm offensive showing public broadcasting’s cost per citizen at €50 per year, just a shade more than one-third of the per citizen cost of Swiss public broadcasting. The 2011 State contribution to NPO is €798 million. Broadcasters will add about €40 million from advertising. Television takes 63% of it all.

Bringing back the license fee should be considered, perhaps voluntarily, said NOS CEO Jan de Jong. “We are not a State broadcaster and you must be able to operate independently financially,” he said, quoted by de Stentor (December 18). “Let people opt for public broadcasting. If everyone participates…people will realize that public broadcasting is not expensive.” The household license fee for public broadcasting was abolished in 2000. NOS (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting – Dutch Broadcasting Foundation) is the largest broadcast news provider in the Netherlands and a participating member of NPO

Poised for the inevitable, the broadcaster associations offered a €50 million budget cut in mid-November. A month later they offered €100 million in cuts in a letter to the House of Representatives, which Mr. Hagoort did not sign. Minister van Bijsterveld is holding firm to €200 million in cuts from public broadcasting.

Funding cuts and organizational changes at NPO have come around before. In 2003 Culture, Education and Science Minister Medy van der Laan authored a restructuring plan for Dutch public broadcasting. But when the Dutch government changed in 2006 and Ms. van der Laan resigned the plan went nowhere.

Coalition government ministers also agreed to cut €200 million from arts funding. The public broadcasting music center, housing five orchestras, had been targeted for closure. Protests encouraged Minister van Bijsterveld to find the cuts elsewhere.

In the midst of it all, Dutch newspaper publishers – seizing their Murdoch moment – complain that any funding for public broadcasting, particularly Web projects, interferes with their right to profits. “Public broadcasting attracts not only attracts viewers and advertising money that commercial parties missed,” said Telegraaf Media Netherlands director Frank Volmer to de Telegraaph (December 16), “but they do that without having to account for costs and revenues.”

All of this is further complicated as the European Union General Court (EGC) (December 16) ruled in favor of a European Commission (EC) DG Competition decision finding Netherlands violating EC State aid rules by contributing to the operation of NOS, which DG Competition regarded as a commercial broadcaster. The EGC affirmed the DG Competition ruling that no functional difference exists between the NPO and NOS; hence, €76 million – plus interest – must be repaid to the Dutch general fund.

“Based on their membership with the European Broadcasting Union, they can share TV programs and participate in the Eurovision system,” said the court ruling. “In addition, their programs are broadcast in Belgium and Germany. Moreover, the public broadcasters compete directly with commercial broadcasters operating on the international broadcasting market.” Commercial broadcasters brought the complaint to the EC in 2002. The Dutch government can appeal to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Minister van Bijsterveld said a new plan for Netherlands public broadcasting will be presented to lawmakers next summer.

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