theaveng Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 How long do you think it will be until an EU-corporation starts broadcasting across the entire union (like Al-jazeera covers Arabia or NBC/CBS/FOX cover america)??? With a 450 million EU population, that's a huge untapped market for advertisers to target with their commercial television. [P.S. I imagine that if such a network existed, it would broadcast the same program from the UK to the Russian border..... and using English-language programs since most Europeans understand that language.] [it might operate as U.S. networks do... two separate broadcasts for the East & the West timezones.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mav Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 I cannot judge how that would work. Being an America I can base an opinion of how that would work: Each section of EU would entail it's own service, as it does now. France for example could have it's own network(s) whereas Germany could have a different network. Just like America, Canada and Mexico have different ones. But there are plenty of cable-style networks that crossover. Like for example, and don't quote me on this cause I may be wrong, but with your basic cable package in America you can get say, CNN or MTV. If I were to drive over the border to Canada, I'd probably find a cable provider there whom has a similar package. As for EU, that is a very difficult question to ask. Like alot of countries, we may share peace at the moment. A non-war time era, for example Russia and Germany aren't at each others throats currently (as far as I know). Could there come a point where the entire continent of EU sort of bands together in even the smallest of efforts for a more unifed media? Possibly. If I had to put down an actual guess, I'd say it's within our generation's lifetime. Unlike say, foreign planet colonization which probably would be in our children or grandchildrens lives (just a guess) this is a much more plausible goal. When you think of how easy it is to simply access the media and tv stations,. it's possible. We can watch tv on cell phones, iPod like devices, and obviously computers which since laptops are very common place these days being small compact with WiFi abilities, a more unifed tv broadcast system could be put place. The problem at that point is just the bureaucracy of it. If anything I've learned is, while some things may seem highly unlikely, highly improbable, or unattainable, nothing is impossible. It may take time, effort, and hard work but anything is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S0V13T Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Dosen't the BBC broadcast all over the EU? I always just assumed that they were the 'official' news service for all of Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaveng Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 Each section of EU would entail it's own service' date=' as it does now. France for example could have it's own network(s) whereas Germany could have a different network. [/quote'] What you described already exists: Different stations for different countries. I was referring to a *single* network, with a *single* program schedule, that broadcasts to all ~30 states of the EU. Example: Like NBC broadcasts to all 50 states of the U.S. with the exact same shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracoons Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Never seen BBC in norway, maybe if i pay alot to get it yes, but the one channel i know is considerd a world channel is the propoganda channel CNN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetsuoShima Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Each section of EU would entail it's own service' date=' as it does now. France for example could have it's own network(s) whereas Germany could have a different network. [/quote'] What you described already exists: Different stations for different countries. I was referring to a *single* network, with a *single* program schedule, that broadcasts to all ~30 states of the EU. Example: Like NBC broadcasts to all 50 states of the U.S. with the exact same shows. The EU is less united than you might expect, this would have to be approved in the European parliament and for that to occur, the individual countries need to be ready for such a step. Most countries are not ready to give up access to certain rights in their country very easily. Another problem would be the commercials and the language, there are over 12 different languages (don't know the exact number just now) spoken in the EU. If it could be arranged, that would be great, but I don't see that happening any time soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaveng Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 Well like I said in the 1st post, it would likely use English, because most Europeans understand that language. It's near-universal. So... The obstacle is the EU parliament? Hmmm. I would think it would be as simple as: - Buy (or lease) a station in London - Buy (or lease) a station in Paris - Buy (or lease) a station in Berlin - Buy (or lease) a station in Prague - et cetera, et cetera And then use those stations to broadcast "variety programs" every day from 8pm to 11pm. The scenario I just described is how the American networks came about. Is there a legal impediment to stop a massive corporation (like General Electric who owns NBC) from buying a several dozen stations in major cities & broadcasting their NBC programming across the whole EU? troy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetsuoShima Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Well, do not be fooled by the European people on the net who speak decent English. There are some real issues where language is concerned in the EU. Not a lot of Europeans speak English, only most of the youth and the well educated can be counted among the 'English-speakers'. If I would dare guess, then I don't think that you get very far past 35% for people who understand English well enough to follow a program that's exclusively in English and also get the finer points. If you leave out the elders (+65), you might get that number slightly over 50%, but these are quite positive estimates, more is doubtfull. Furthermore most nation's inhabitants are still quite patriotic, for example the French, I doubt an exclusively English program would get a high rating/ranking. A lot of English programs are actually dubbed in languages in Europe, for example, most Germans watch Star Trek in German, not in the original English. Same goes for the French/Spanish/Italian/... Only the smaller countries broadcast shows in the original language with subtitles, since they can't afford to dub because of the higher prices involved. Also did you know that nearly every country in Europe has a different MTV channel with different shows, simply to accomodate the different languages, since they're all owned by the same company. As for buying stations, that might work, but you'd have the problem of commercials and so... What I'm trying to say is, it might be a good idea, but I don't think it's very simple to implement, because I'm certain it would have been done by now if it was. That's a silly arguement, I know, but I don't know the finer points of law, so I can't give any more info. I can only try to reason. Heck, maybe in a few moths there'll be an announcement about some company trying to do this. Oh, I can also tell you that there are a few channels that exist nearly everywhere in the EU, but these are mostly sports/documentary channels and they too are dubbed for each nation in the correct language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maverick Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 sky tv any questions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quosego Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 BBC is widely available in the netherlands (about 80%). And with an satelite dish (about 40% of the population), al jazeera is to.... You have some sattelite channels which are taped in german french russian and english which you can change with one button.... But well they're quite boring.... I would say it's very plausible if you would broadcast by sattelite. It has that neat function to change language, subtitles and other stuff. But obviously no one is very interested to make subtitles in 12 different languages.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaveng Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 sky tv - any questions? Of course. I have absolutely no idea what that is. Please provide details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 sod that the EU already has way to much say in what we can do in our own countries if you ask me, nutz to a EU tv network, the rest of the europeans are pants at program making and acting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annika Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Never going to happen... first of all, it's not true that most Europeans understand English. Most Dutch and Scandinavian people do but in other countries it's an exception. Second, there would be too much difference of opinion on the programs that people would want to see. Third, it would cost too much money. And ofcourse it would take years and years and years of talking before people would reach these conclusions :rolleyes: I always just assumed that they were the 'official' news service for all of Europe. Yeah right, they wish... :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaveng Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 Hmmm. I keep viewing the EU as the US circa 1790. Many states. Many languages (english/german/dutch/spanish). But after about 50 years, they melded into one whole culture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamp Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Dosen't the BBC broadcast all over the EU? I always just assumed that they were the 'official' news service for all of Europe. ha the British Broadcasting Corporation being the official news service for the EU, as if. Like the french would allow that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiggy Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 That why its called "the BBC World Service" old fruit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamp Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 so its the worlds offical service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaveng Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 The British like to pretend it is. They also still think they have a worldwide empire. (Sorry. Cheap shot but I couldn't resist. Just a bit'o'fun from a former British slave... er, colonist ol'chap.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annika Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 But after about 50 years, they melded into one whole culture. I hope you're not suggesting that that was an improvement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaveng Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 Did I say that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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