The issue of the distribution of funding sources between public and private channels was at the center of discussions at the round table organized on June 24 by the HACA on the economic viability of DTT players, attended by all television channels and operators, representatives of the ministries of economy and finance, media communication and Francophonie, the FSDP and the CSP, etc.
This issue has also been widely discussed over the last few decades around the world. Should license fees be reserved for public channels, should the advertising market be reserved for private channels, or could hybrid solutions be envisaged in which license fees and the advertising market are shared between public and private players?
To shed some light on this complex issue, we have analyzed the situation in a number of significant countries around the world.
- In the United Kingdom and Japan, public channels are financed exclusively by license fees and are not allowed to access the advertising market, while in the United States, "public" channels receive neither state funding nor access to advertising. Two-thirds of public broadcasters' main resources come from private financial support (donations, sponsorship, etc.) and financial contributions from municipalities and local authorities.
In most other countries
, public channels are financed through a combination of
license fees or state subsidies and advertising.
- In France, the rules were changed several times in the 2000s. Today, license fees are reserved for public service (TV and radio), and public channels and radio stations have limited access to the advertising market.
- In Germany, public channels are funded by license fees. Advertising on public channels (ARD and ZDF) is prohibited after 8 p.m. and represents a very small part of the overall budget (less than 10%) on German public channels.
- In Italy, the license fee is very low: public service channels have access to advertising under the same rules as private channels.
- In Morocco, public service channels have mixed funding from the Tax for the Promotion of the National Audiovisual Landscape (TPPAN), state subsidies, and advertising.
- Although the public service in Nigeria was created on the BBC model, it is not prohibited from collecting advertising revenue, which represents a very small share of its income.
- In Senegal, public channels' resources come from three sources: a low license fee, state budget allocations, and advertising revenue. According to a recent source, 40% of RTS's revenue comes from advertising, with the rest coming from the state and license fees.
As we can see, there is no universal solution: the result is always a compromise that depends on the specific situation of a country. In all cases, it is always up to the public authorities to ensure a balance between private operators, who invest large sums of money in anticipation of developments in the advertising market (which itself depends on the country's economic situation), and public channels, which must comply with specifications and are assigned public service missions (quality and nature of programs, openness to all audiences, etc.).