Cuts to Public Broadcasting in Europe: Good for Localism, Bad for Hollywood

European broadcasters adjust to budget reductions.

As Greece prepares to radically restructure its government-run TV and radio operations, other European countries -- Italy, Spain, Germany, France -- are also cutting back their broadcast budgets. The Hollywood Reporter describes the results:

the ongoing economic crisis is pushing public broadcasters to tighten their belts. More often than not, that means shifting spending from U.S. movies to local news or home-grown productions. Since European public broadcasters are major buyers of U.S. dramas -- particularly high-end, or non-tentpole, fare -- when they cut their budgets, it is Hollywood that feels the pinch.

So: There's more local programming, and less tax money gets funneled to big American studios. It may fly in the face of the Stop the cuts! reaction that such budget reductions automatically inspire, but there really isn't a good reason for advocates of noncommercial broadcasting to think either of those are bad things.

Vaguely related bonus link: "With Friends Like These: Why Community Radio Does Not Need the Corporation for Public Broadcasting"

Comments

[Hugh Akston]

This is a bad deal for everyone. Hollywood products help to normal certain American cultural norms abroad. Without them, European women may revert to their heritage of not shaving their armpits, or in the case of Greek women, their faces.