The Supply of Programmes by Public Television in Europe: An Econometric Analysis

This article demonstrates that the cost of public service broadcasting is dependent on the wealth and size of the country, and that, whatever its social and political environment public service broadcasting companies show identical characteristics. The supply of programmes is determined by such variables as the number of TV receivers, the number of channels and the existence of advertising as a source of finance. The introduction of advertising is shown to increase the length of programmes without providing new resources, with the consequence that the quality of programming decreases.