“Squeezed To The Max” Public Broadcasters Choose New Bosses

Michael Hedges May 24, 2010 Follow on Twitter

Recent months have seen a spate of new public broadcasting bosses. Some have big, new, bold ideas. Some are just trying to keep their heads above water.

Selecting general directors for public broadcasting institutions varies only slightly, country to country. The job, typically, is part politician, salesman, cheerleader and showman. Journalism credentials are helpful, though not as much now in the post-digital age. Political astuteness is more important. And having a TV show helps, too.

Word began circulating last week (May 18) that an interim general director would be named at Romanian public broadcasting after weeks of speculation and uncertainty. Chamber of Deputies Culture Committee chairperson Raluca Turcan announced that Robert Turcescu, a broadcaster working for Realitatea TV and Realitatea FM, had been chosen. Sometimes announcements get ahead of themselves. By the end of the week Turcedscu had been “removed” from his Realitatea TV programs.

“The decision to remove my TV shows seems aberrant and bizarre,” said Turcescu, quoted by Agenda.ro (May 21). I signed no contract. I was not even in negotiations!”

Current General Director Alexander Sassu was effectively dismissed in March when the Romanian Parliament rejected the 2008 annual report for public television. Sassu had been critical of Prime Minister Emil Boc’s request for a Wednesday evening prime-time television hour as turning TVR into “government television.”

Timeliness was a factor as the Romanian Parliament is to hear revisions in the law on public broadcasting that, if passed, would change the composition of the TVR administrative council, which selects a general director. The TVP administrative council has 13 seats, nine of which are selected by the parliament. Mr. Sassu, still occupying the office at TVR, voiced objection, according to Hotnews.ro (May 21), saying current law makes no provision for an interim general director.

Far more organized, but nonetheless surprising, came the announcement (May 18) of a Director General-designate at Swiss public broadcasting SSR-SRG. Current DG Armin Walpen hit mandatory retirement age and will be stepping down at the end of this year. The new guy, Roger de Weck, hadn’t been on Swiss media watchers’ radar. His current job is the largely ceremonial president of the Graduate Institute.

Like Mr. Turcescu, Mr. de Weck has a regular television show, often featuring prominent members of the Swiss Federal Council. He is said to speak fluent Swiss-German and French, not insignificant in multi-lingual Switzerland, holds conceptual support for ‘public service’ and once worked for a couple of newspapers. His father was once president of Swiss banking giant UBS.

At the end of his term Armin Walpen will have served SSR-SRG for fifteen years. In 1996 he succeeded Antonio Riva, who served nine years. Heads of Swiss public broadcasting tend to stick around. It’s a good job.

Walpen’s tenure has seen good times and not so good. The structural reorganization of Swiss public broadcasting at the end of the 1990’s was positive and expansive. The SSR-SRG went digital in every way, ahead of most public broadcasters. The current reorganization, to be completed before Mr. de Weck takes up the DG job, is tasked with an economic reality check. Because of mandatory retirement rules Mr. de Weck will likely serve one six-year term.

And, paraphrasing the ancient Chinese curse, it will be “interesting times.” A few days (May 14) before Mr. de Weck’s nomination was announced SSR-SRG Deputy Director-General Daniel Eckmann – effectively the COO – spelled out in blunt terms the effect of the accumulated CHF 220 million debt. ”This lemon has been squeezed to the max,” he said of further cost cutting, quoted by 24 heures (May 14). ”Politicians are often unaware of our tremendous efforts.” Mr. Eckmann will also retire, effectively at the end of January 2011.

In many respects, the SSR-SRG is public broadcastings’ canary in the mineshaft. For decades the public – and political – demand for more, more, more was met with generous funding from the license fee, a bit of TV advertising and for-profit ventures. Rule changes in 2007 stripped SSR-SRG of its for-profit ventures. Advertising money keeps slipping toward the Web. That potentially lucrative revenue stream is, by law, off-limits to the SSR-SRG. And with declining household formation in Switzerland – as in most of Europe – the license fee isn’t what it used to be. None of this is a surprise to public broadcasters.

Swiss politicians, who have the power of the purse, seem eager to gore somebody else’s ox. By mandate SSR-SRG produces radio and television output (almost) equally for the three main linguistic regions. Arduously conservative Swiss-German region politicians want cuts, largely to output in the French and Italian speaking regions. Revenue from the Swiss-German speaking region accounts for 70% of the SSR-SRG’s license fee revenue while the region is allocated only 46%. It’s long been tension producing but politically correct in federal Switzerland. 

The politicians, as they are wont to do, have made various suggestions for reallocating resources; a single TV channel for the Italian-speaking region, less radio and fewer executives but mostly cuts within the fringes.

Most of this leaves the broadcasters scratching their heads. One constant source of political irritation – seen in several countries – is the cost of entertainment programming for television, particularly American TV movies and series in sindication. Politicians tend to appreciate public television that features politicians, especially in a positive light. The broadcasters, however, know that popular entertainment floats the boat, so to speak, and without it there’s a risk of sinking into irrelevance.

”The obligation to broadcast entertainment is not only included in the (SSR-SRG) concession, but also in the Federal Constitution.” said Mr. Eckmann. “Without the American series our young people would go to foreign channels.”

Poland’s public broadcaster TVP has had six chiefs in five years. One seems to have gone crackers in office. Political operatives have succeeded journalists. When Luis Fernandez resigned from Spanish public broadcaster RTVE in November 2009, 80 year old former Defense Minister Alberto Oliart was named. Fernandez, a well-known broadcaster and journalist, was widely credited for bringing positive dynamics to RTVE. He stayed just short of three years, leaving to be president of Univision Studios in Miami.

“It’s not so easy being a European public broadcasting executive these days. Was it ever?” asked ftm’s Philip Stone. That was in 2005. Some things haven’t changed.

See also in ftm Knowledge...

Public Broadcasting - Arguments, Battles and Changes

Public broadcasters have - mostly - thrown off the musty stain of State broadcasting. And audiences for public channels are growing. But arguments and battles with politicians, publishers and commercial broadcasters threatens more changes. The ftm Knowledge file examines all sides. 64 pages PDF (January 2010)

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