INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW

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1 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW Thierry Vissol De Boeck Supérieur Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique 2005/4 - Tome XLIV pages 53 à 71 ISSN Article disponible en ligne à l'adresse: Pour citer cet article : Vissol Thierry, «International and Pan-European News Channels: An overview», Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, 2005/4 Tome XLIV, p DOI : /rpve Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour De Boeck Supérieur. De Boeck Supérieur. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit.

2 International and Pan-European News Channels: An overview Thierry Vissol 1 Abstract The European television industry has evolved in a dramatic way since the beginning of the 90 s. The number of channels has been multiplied by 12, the share of the public television decreased to around 30 %, and the number of thematic channels is in thousands. In this general landscape, generalist TV channels (public or private), that still hold the bulk of the audience are nevertheless losing ground. In the same time the trust of their viewers in the quality of the information transmitted in the news and political magazines is strongly decreasing. This global situation opened a window of opportunity for the development of news and political thematic channels, specifically those with a pan-european approach (PETV), like Euronews, CNN, BBC world, Bloomberg, etc., as well as to national channels with an international approach like TV5, Deutsche Welle ). This paper analyse this evolution as well as the prospective for the development of such channels in the framework of the general European Television stations landscape. Key words television channels, Pan-European Television (PETV), television audiences, digital television. The technology evolution, and the EU directive Television without boarders (1989), have facilitated the development of trans-boarders TV channels, since the beginning of the eighties. In 2004 it was estimated that there were 218 such channels on a total of more than televisions in the twenty five countries members of the EU 2. Type of channel Table 1 : Number of TV channels (EU ) EUR-15 (1990) EUR-15 (2004) Source : European Audiovisual Observatory (2005) EUR-25 (2004) 1. European Commission. This paper is adapted of one of the chapter of Vissol (2006). 2. Cg. European Audiovisual Observatory (2004). EUR-25 (2004) National Regional/local TOTAL Reflets et Perspectives, XLIV, 2005/4 53

3 THIERRY VISSOL The vast majority of trans-boarder channels are national televisions broadcasting in other countries and in particular in countries with the same language (like German TVs in Austria, French TVs in Belgium and Switzerland, etc.). But the number of pan-european (PETV) or International TVs, which focus is designed for an international audience and for this broadcasted and competing all over the worlds, remains limited. Those few are high quality channels, often in several languages. All operate in parallel interactive websites, proposing live images and sound as well as complementary information, often in many languages. These thematic channels, although they still catch a rather weak audience, they all together hardly reach 2 % of market share, are fast growing particularly on the top market that is: well remunerated, highly educated people. They gain market shares to the detriment of generalist televisions. This success may obviously attract more players that render interesting studying them more in details, which is the purpose of this paper. 1 A STATE OF THE PLAY: MAIN CHARACTERISTICS AND AUDIENCES Cross-boarder televisions with multinational audience and international production operations were launched as an experiment during the 80 s. Many did not survive longer than a few years 3. From the beginning of the 90 s trans-national television channels developed steadily and their number grew from 15 in 1991 to more than 120 in Most specialized in niche genre, ranging from children s entertainment to movies, music and sports, sometimes acquiring large audiences, such as Eurosport, MTV, Cartoon Network, National Geographic, etc. From the mid 90 s to present only fifteen are well known, either due to wide distribution or the nature of their content. Amongst these fifteen, no more than 7 are dedicated to news, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These channels are mainly global and political (BBC World, CNN International, Euronews, Sky News) or global and economical (Bloomberg, CNBC-Europe, Reuters-TV). They mainly utilize cable and satellite distribution and consequently they only reach part of European households although this is rapidly increasing. Table 2 : Full-time distribution of the leading pan-european News Channels (In millions of television households) /2000 BBC World % Bloomberg ? CNBC Europe % CNN International % Euronews (*) % Sky News % TV % Source: M&M Europe Guide: Pan-European Television 2001, 2005 and 2005 (*) Euronews is doubling these figures with partial time broadcasting through windows in partners TV. 3. This was the case of Super-Channel, started by ITV and Virgin, the WH Smith channels Lifestyle and Screenport, BBC s TV Europe and the EBU s Europa TV. See: Chabaly J.K. (2003). 54

4 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW Reuters TV could be added to the above list although it is a very specific profile (see paragraph 3.6) as could the German international public channel Deutsche Welle for which no similar figures are available and the French language TV5. The latter two differ from the others in that they are generalist channels with a strong focus on international news and information programmes. They also broadcast in several languages (or with subtitles in different languages) and so will be considered here. The success in Europe of the CNN international s 24/7 formula an unexpected result of the first Iraqi war created renewed interest in such news channels and lead to the creation of Euronews, BBC World and to Bloomberg and CNBC being broadcast in Europe. As their success increases and, although competition for their audience category is fierce (mainly high educated and wealthy social categories), some new operators may try to penetrate this specific market. Their success may be measured, not only by the expansion of their geographical coverage and audience, but also by the increase in advertising revenues, up from 31 millions in 1988 to 628 millions in This 20-fold increase should be compared to the 2.5-fold increase in total TV stations ad-revenues during the same period. In terms of audiences, such channels are certainly popular, but generally attract the top end of socioeconomic categories, which represents more or less 20 % of the EU population, and specifically the top 10.4 millions (4 %) of Europe s leading consumers and decision makers. Obviously, they social behaviour differs much from that of the average consumer. Moreover, these consumers seek of news for specific and well defined reasons: political interest, career, job necessity or social image. Table 3 : Main characteristics of the PETV consumers Average personal annual income (Euros) Average value of personal investments (Euros) Have three or more cars in household (%) 20 % Spend 15 or more nights in a hotel in last 12 months on business (%) 29 % 6+ international business air trips in past 12 months (%) 16 % Internet access/connection (%) 96 % Banking online (%) 28 % Share dealing online (%) 10 % Director (%) 34 % Average value of business purchases ($) Source : Europe 2003, Ipsos-RSL Source : Ibid. Table 4 : Agreement of PETV consumers with key statements I always like to keep up with the news 95 % Having an international perspective on current affairs is important to me 77 % I tend to take the lead in decision making 64 % I consider myself a citizen of Europe, not just my own country 61 % I look out for opportunities to visit places I have not been to before 75 % 55

5 THIERRY VISSOL Nevertheless, when using the usual ratings measurements, the cumulated audience share in the EU of these PETV News channels remains small: no more than 2 %, even if some on some national markets they may get more. But it is altogether a significant number in the very fragmented TV stations market. Without much surprise results obtained by the various channels are somewhat different in terms of notoriety, due to the multiple quotations of some channels in the press (Figure 2). Figure 1 : Source: EMS 2005 Figures concerning the consumption of the 20 % richest households in 16 Europeans countries 4 56 Figure 2 : International channels notoriety Source: European Television, Eurobarometer Flash, January The EMS (European Media Marketing survey measures the consumption habits of the 20 % richest households, since 1995, in the following 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Nörge, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and UK, by interviews on a sample of people. The polled population represents around 40 million people.

6 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW Economically speaking, the players are quite different. Several are part of multinational groups and profit-oriented: CNN is a branch of Time Warner; Bloomberg is the financial information multinational; CNBC, which merged with Dow Jones in 1995; Sky News is part of the Murdoch group. Others are branches or linked to one or several national public televisions: BBC world although commercially funded (see below) ; Deutsche Welle; and TV 5 that regroups French languages TV channels from several countries. The latter group includes non profit, public organisations and has a national cultural or political mission, mainly to explain the position of the country on important issues. But both, private and public, have at their disposal huge financial means (ranging from hundred million euro to nearly 1 billion a year) and human resources (several hundreds), as well as bureaus in many geographical zones, with the exception of Euronews. Although Euronews was been created by several public televisions it is quite separate from its public or private competitors. Firstly, its five core share holders are from five different countries (France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Russia), therefore it is not considered a national station by any national government 5. As it is not specifically profit-driven (although it tries to make profits), this multinational public share ownership provides few incentives for heavy investment by its owners. Therefore, contrary to its main competitors its revenue (35 millions euros annually) and human resources (237 people) are quite limited. Contribution fees from its share holders do not represent more than 30 % of its income, the rest is from advertising, cable subscriptions and private or public contracts. It nevertheless benefits from the images gathered by its shareholders and from windows in many partners televisions which enable it to increase its broadcast capacity and reach at low cost. 2 INTERNATIONAL NEWS TV VERSUS NATIONAL GENERALIST TV The digital cable and satellite market in which PETV operates is far from saturated with the exception of a few EU counties such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium where digital cable and satellite connexion are available to more than 90 % of households. The average EUR-25 penetration rate is of 23.2 %. Digital technologies and interactive capacity may increase the appeal for such channels. It will certainly enable an increase in PETV customer loyalty and diversify the audience. However, given the user costs for such technologies, the market will primarily, in the medium term, be accessible only to the wealthier and more educated consumers. Even if Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV) decoders with interactive capability cost less than 150 euros, few channels will benefit from consumer free access (in France, for instance, only 18 channels will have free access). According to market analysts of Zenith Media, digital technologies will reach 31 % of the market in As the France Television share in the Euronews capital is inferior to 30 %, the French regulator CSA refused to give Euronews a channel on the new DNT system. 57

7 THIERRY VISSOL Table 5 : Full Digital TV reception in EUR-25 (2004) Number of households and percentage of total TV households Cable and Satellite subscribers Direct to home DTH Satellite Number of TV households EU-25: Source : SES Astra, Screen Digest and European Audiovisual Observatory, 2004 Yearbook, vol.2, 2005 Table 6 : Number of connections (businesses + households) to broadband lines in EU-25 and as a percentage of the total population Source : Broadband access in the EU: situation at 1 January 2005, Communication Committee, 1 June 2005 As far as cable and satellite TV channels are concerned, based on 2002 figures and projections the digital penetration enabling more choice and facilitating the development of interactive TVs or multimedia system s operators, has at least a threefold growth potential. The share of the leading and mainly generalist national TVs is in constant decline, due to competition, not only on the traditional TV market, but also from thematic channels, and also between medias (TVs, radios, newspapers) and technologies that support them specifically the Internet. It should be stressed that the Internet carries content from all the other three media. Therefore, for a true picture of the consumption of these media, one should add not only the audited TV viewing figures, but also those for the web. In any case, the Internet affords consumers with the necessary IT tools and skills quicker, and generally still affordable subscription costs, access to all the media, leading to a mores selective multimedia approach. However, access costs structures could result in higher pay-per-view or subscription cost for access to a large selection of services via the Internet. Companies offering services via the Internet will have to find revenue to compensate for decreasing revenue via the usual channels. Subscriptions, payper-view, pay-per-night, etc., could develop rapidly. Decreasing audience share of leading TV stations in Europe (from 38 % in 1996 to 29 % in 2002 see table below), is apparent. This decline does not affect the international news TV channels, which, on the contrary, have benefit from the market trend and demand for pertinent information trend. This has contributed to 58 Cable TV TOTAL Cable+DTH Digital Cable TV Fully equipped in Digital TV DTT Digital Terrestrial DTH Direct to Home sat. Digital Subscriber Line DSL TOTAL Digital ,0 % 32,5 % 56,5 % 4,2 % 5,0 % 12,4 % 0,2 % 23,2 % January 2003 January 2004 January 2005 Number of lines As a % of the population 2,9 % 5,2 % 8,9 %

8 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW the fragmentation of the audience, and renders more difficult and costly global information campaigns; it also creates also a window of opportunity for new, high quality, political channels. Figure 3 : Comparison of trends in audience share for PETV and the main channels Source: TV Key Facts 2003 and 2004 IP Network; EMS 1997/2004 (All respondents) EPTV data based on Daily reach; Universe (individuals): (1996), (1997), (1998), (1999), (2000), (2001), (2002) and (2003) Although until present PETV viewers have been limited to the more educated and wealthier sections of the population, TV viewer fatigue with the news programmes offered by the generalists TVs unavoidable in a competitive market for a non segmented population, and decreasing costs to access the new information technologies and transmission modes, could enlarge the sociodemographic reach of the international news channels and their linked websites. In the EU universe measured by EMS (i.e millions adults) the number of those who watch at least one PETV channel every week increased from 47.6 % in 1996 to 58.5 % in 2003 that is 23.3 million adults. Viewers of international channels are generally also heavy consumers of newspapers. The rapid overview on the global news which an international 24/7 TV channels offer, thanks to their wide availability (in airports, hotels, work premises), is certainly a great advantage in a society where technology has created a demand for instant information. The rapid access to breaking news of all kind will permit international TV news channel to increase penetration. Shifts in preferences and generalisation of media usages in work premises will also tend to favour increased viewing time, without overly damaging the core of newspapers readership which is shifting from utilizing paper supports to viewing the Internet sites. Obviously, the increase used of the Internet to access the news market may somewhat modify the situation. 59

9 THIERRY VISSOL 3 CHANNEL BY CHANNEL REVIEW 3.1 CNN 6 When CNN launched on 1 June 1980, the brainchild of media entrepreneur Ted Turner and the world s first round-the-clock news channel, it was a single US network available to 1.7 million homes. Twenty five years later the CNN brand comprises nine TV networks and services, seven websites and six content distribution services, including CNN Mobile, and reaches a billion people worldwide. CNN expanded beyond its US boundaries in September 1985 with the launch of CNN International which was beamed into homes, hotels and embassies around the globe. CNN International can now be seen in more than 180 million households worldwide, including more than 136 million households, hotel rooms and specialised outlets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In total, the CNN branded networks and services are available in six different languages to more than one billion people in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. CNN has 37 newsgathering bureaux around the world with the largest bureau and production centre outside the US located in London where more than 50 hours of programming is produced every week, combining prime time weekday European news, business and sports programmes with weekly feature shows. CNN s web sites are among the world s leading news and information destinations, including the award-winning Four news web sites are also produced by CNN specifically for its international audience: international edition, (German), (Japanese) and (Arabic), updated continuously from production centres worldwide. According to all international media surveys, CNN has consistently remained, at the world level, the leading international news channel. But, on the main European markets, Euronews is not far behind. 3.2 BBC World 7 BBC World is the BBC s 24-hour international English language news and information channel. It was launched as BBC World Service Television in Asia in In 1995, BBC World began broadcasting in its present format, and was launched in Europe in March of that year. (A combined BBC entertainment and news channel had previously been distributed to parts of Europe.) BBC World is a commercial channel, funded by advertising and subscription revenue from distribution partners. Although the BBC originally wished to set up an international television news 6. Text reviewed by the Channel. 7. Text reviewed by the Channel. 60

10 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW channel as a public service proposition, government of the time made clear that it believed this should be done on a commercial basis. BBC World forms part of the BBC s Global News Division, which also comprises the 43 language services of both BBC World Service radio and the internationalfacing website plus the research and analysis provided by BBC Monitoring. There is a separate method of funding for BBC World Service radio; it receives an annual grant-in-aid from Britain s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. BBC World is transmitted outside the UK, and is currently available in 268 million households in 200 countries and territories through a variety of digital and analogue satellite, cable and terrestrial platforms. It is working with online, broadband and mobile partners to develop new methods of distribution to the widest possible audience. The channel is also available in all offices at the European Commission s headquarters in Brussels and in all MEPs offices in the European Parliament at Brussels and Strasbourg. It also operates a website BBC World estimates that it has a weekly global audience of 59 million people. It has been named Best News Channel in Europe by the Hot Bird TV Awards an unprecedented three times in the past seven years. Over the last three years, BBC World s audience has increased by more than 70 %, or nearly 2 million viewers to 4.5 million, specifically an elusive audience of affluent, educated, cosmopolitan adults. The vast majority of BBC World s editorial output is the same for all viewers, wherever they are watching the channel. However, certain programmes are transmitted on a regional basis. This is possible because BBC World can be split into five feeds, covering Europe, the Americas, Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific and Australasia. When the European Parliament is in session, BBC World broadcasts the specific weekly programme produced by BBC-Parliament The Record Europe focusing on European affairs and politics, for viewers in Europe only (see part III, chapter 2). Asia Business Report is seen four times each weekday by audiences across Asia and Australasia, while there are opportunities for weekly business and political strands targeted at viewers in India. Additionally in Japan, up to 91 hours of output is translated into Japanese each week by a highly-skilled team based in the BBC s headquarters in London. In 2005, BBC World introduced an updated positioning that emphasises the quality of the journalism seen on the channel. BBC understands the BBC brand to be synonymous with trust, balance, fairness and accuracy. It tries to remain distinctive from its other competitors by the depth, breadth and balance of its journalism, the size and geographical spread of its reporting staff, and the award-winning current affairs and documentary series that accompany its hourly news programmes. Successive qualitative surveys in Europe have found that BBC World scores far more positively than its main global competitor, CNN, in terms of trust and depth of coverage. In the financial year , BBC World group turnover was 28.4m, which was 9 % up on the prior year, despite significant weakness in the US dollar exchange rate. Its retained loss was 11.2m, an improvement from 11.6m in the prior year. BBC World Lted employs around 150 people directly, with responsibility for the operational side of the channel, including airtime sales, distribution, marketing, research and technical operations. 61

11 THIERRY VISSOL BBC World benefits of an agreement with BBC News for the provision of the core news output for the channel. This includes a dedicated newsroom comprising approximately 50 BBC News journalists, and access to a network of 250 correspondents specialising in subjects or geographical areas. BBC News has a total of 58 bureaux: 17 of these are in the United Kingdom, with a further eight spread around the European Union. The contractual relationship and pricing between BBC World and BBC News is governed by the BBC s Fair Trading Guidelines. The pricing principle incremental cost pricing is benchmarked regularly against commercial competition to ensure that this practice remains valid in the market. 3.3 Euronews 8 Euronews, a 24/7 news channel, was launched on 1st January 1993 by a consortium of European public service broadcasters, members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It is the first multilingual pan-european channel. Euronews broadcasts simultaneously in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. It is also developing windows in other languages, starting with Romanian in Its website ( proposes news with a choice for the same 7 languages. Since January 2005 it launched its first interactive service in Great Britain on the Telewest network. Euronews transmits all over the world through cable and a network of 21 satellites, including developments on all new digital cables networks : network for home viewer services, such as broadband, digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTV), and networks for mobile phone services (such as 2G/3G telephoning) or mobile phone television (DVB-H). It is now received in 155 million homes across 102 countries via cable. In particular, more than 123 million households receive Euronews in Europe, 27 million in the Russian Federation, 3 million in the Middle East and Africa, and more than one million in the US. Euronews today covers 31.9 million households in digital satellite and 5.7 million in digital cable, making up together 55 % of Euronews overall cable and satellite coverage in digital. In 17 countries, 25 national broadcasters take Euronews signal and broadcast it live on their national terrestrial network. In addition to Euronews cable and satellite coverage of 68.7 million households, EuroNews is therefore available to an extra 108 million households terrestrially. It is also available in 1.4 million hotel rooms. Euronews can therefore be seen in the most hotels in Europe, at airports, on PDA s, mobile phones, onboard airlines and on its website. As a rolling news channel, with news every half-hour, Euronews editorial line consists in informing viewers of the world affairs from a European perspective. News headlines from Europe and the world, are broadcast every half-hour. Magazine articles fill in the remaining schedule time, although this occasionally displaced for breaking news or life coverage. These regular slots focus on financial and money market data, financial news, sport news, scientific news and magazines, art and culture, weather, European politics and the lives of European citizens. Owing to 8. Text reviewed by the Channel. 62

12 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW the multilingual approach the channel, contrary to its competitors, has no on-screen anchor but rather uses voice-over narration to accompany the news footage prepared by professional mother-tongue journalists. Comments may therefore slightly vary from one language to another. Some short news items are also shown without any commentary under the banner No Comment, often using striking video footage to make a clear point. This programme is among the most successful. In 2005 Euronews won a 5 year contract (1 year, renewable four times) from the European institution, to achieve a European public service mission like. Following this contract, 10 % of its production and more or less 10 % of its diffusion must be information, forums, magazines and debates about EU affairs. This is done under the cover a very strict editorial independence charter, part to the contract. It can count on a budget of 35 million per year and employs 235 people of whom 144 are journalists. Audience figures indicate that, in 2004, Euronews reached 4.3 million cable and satellite viewers every day and an additional 3.4 million through its terrestrial windows, with a total of 7.7 million viewers per day. It is, on the European market, one of the first, and on some segments, the first international news channel. Its main audience, although spread over a larger sociodemographic spectrum, is mainly the same as that of its two main competitors: CNN and BBC World. 3.4 CNBC Europe 9 CNBC Europe is a 24/7 business and financial news channel broadcast in Europe. It started in 1996 as a subsidiary of the American television CNBC, launched by NBC Universal (Subsidiary of general Electric) in In 1997, it merged with Dow Jones news channel in Europe: European Business News, and Asia. But in July 2005 NBC announced that it would acquire the Dow Jones stake in CNBC Europe, if cleared by regulatory bodies. The CNBC service is available in Europe via satellite on cable and digital platforms. It reaches 85 million households and 340, 000 hotel rooms. Its website ( and that of Dow Jones ( are freely accessible on the internet. Worldwide, CNBC reaches 220 million households and claims 6 million viewers monthly. In Europe, it reaches a significant number of professional and decision makers, but is well behind CNN, Euronews, Sky News and BBC World. CNBC has opened a feed for Scandinavian countries called CNBC Nordic, showing identical programmes, but with a ticker focusing on Scandinavian stock exchanges. It also operates three local channels in their 3 languages: CNBC-e, the Turkish version of CNBC. Unique in the CNBC family, it broadcasts popular general entertainment programmes and films after the business day has ended ; Class CNBC (formerly CFN-CNBC), the Italian version of the network, operated in conjunction with Class Editory and Mediaset ; CNBC Arabiya, the Arabic version of the channel. 9. Comments not received from the channel. 63

13 THIERRY VISSOL CNBC Europe broadcasts in English. Half of the day it broadcasts its own programming, mainly analysis and discussion of the news and trends impacting on Europe s business community. For the rest of the time its transmits live much of the business day programming from the United States CNBC Channel and occasionally that of the 24-hour MSNBC news channel overnight. A series of live links to The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire bureaus give viewers access to the financial news as it happens. It also proposes tele-shopping at night and sports on week-ends. 3.5 Bloomberg Television 10 As with CNBC Europe, Bloomberg Television is a 24-hour business, financial and news channel. It was launched in February 1994, by Bloomberg L.P. 11 An information services, news and media company (created in 1981). Bloomberg TV is linked to another branch of the company, Bloomberg News, a financial news wire service. Bloomberg also operates an international radio and publishes magazines. It presents a multi-screen format, simultaneously delivering global news, market data, financial market updates, breaking news headlines and weather. It offers also interactive television facilities allowing viewers to access breaking financial information on demand while watching television. It broadcasts via 10 networks, in seven languages, reaching 200 million homes worldwide. It counts on three English-language channels (USA, UK/Pan- Europe, and Asia Pacific). It also broadcasts in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish (Spain and Latin America). It is distributed on digital cable and on satellite. Bloomberg operates a website ( This site is specialised in financial news and information and derives its content from Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Professional Service. Bloomberg TV has 500 anchors and correspondents worldwide, but obviously utilizes the resources of Bloomberg News that includes reporters and 94 bureaus worldwide. Bloomberg global revenue reached 2.4 billions dollars in 2002, and it employs people. 3.6 Reuters Television 12 Reuters Television is not a traditional broadcaster. It is a business-to-business product of the Reuters Group plc, created in It could be questioned why this television channel is included in this study due to its so specialised activity and audience. It supplies news coverage (video news) mainly to 450 of the world largest news broadcasters representing over channels in 100 countries, as well as to newspapers and publishers. It supplements what large players 10. Comments not received from the channel. 11. It was created by Michael Bloomberg that was elected mayor of New York City in November Text reviewed by the Channel. 64

14 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW derive from their own networks of correspondents, and enables smaller players that can afford it to cover foreign news stories in particular. It defines itself as a global information company providing information tailored for professionals in the financial services, media and corporation markets. Nevertheless, Reuters TV is the best example of what may succeed in the near future with the mix of globalisation and technology evolution. Since its creation in 1850 Reuters has been a specialised news and financial agency directed to professionals. But the general news aspect and the use of the latest technology to deliver faster than its competitors those news and information have always characterised this agency. It was for instance the first to announce the Abraham Lincoln s assassination, the end of the World War I or the fall of the Berlin Wall. Reuters provides access to its product via all possible new technologies (Internet, pager service, multimedia news-on-demand with interactivity). It supplies texts in 18 languages. As these new technologies permit a general access (free or paying), it is clear that news texts, graphics, videos and pictures, which main users are professionals and media are also accessible to consumers outside financial services. It runs video clips on the Reuters TV section of their global networks of websites ( and Up to 12 million people view these sites each month. It just begun an internet delivered service, rolling this out on Microsoft s Media Centre system a new PC and entertainment system for the home, available in nine markets including the US and many European countries. It is obviously the beginning of a policy towards the general public. Reuters operates in 200 cities located in 94 countries, through customer segments, geographic sales and services channels and shared resources to build deploy and support its products and services. One of these four segments is the Media one that serves the needs of newspapers, television and cable networks, radio stations, websites and consumers. In 1999, Reuters created a 50/50 joint venture with its long-time rival Dow Jones & Company to form Factiva that provides global news and business information through its website ( According to Reuters, Reuters news is seen by over 1 billion people every day. But Reuters is considered as one of the largest international multimedia news agency. It has approximately staff, of whom editorial staff, journalists, photographers (600) and camera operators in 196 bureaus serving 129 countries. Reuter s revenue reached 2.9 billions pounds (circa 4.5 billions euros) in Deutsche Welle Television (DW-TV) 13 Since 1995 Deutsche Welle TV is the German 24/7 public international broadcaster. It went on the air for the first time on 1st April 1992 in German and English and was originally the public international multilingual radio linked to ARD. Its headquarters are located in Bonn. Its scope and organization are defined by a law (the 13. Comments not received from the channel. 65

15 THIERRY VISSOL Deutsche Welle Law ), the most recent of which dates from 2003, and entered into force in This law define DW as a tri-media organization: DW-TV, satellite television which broadcasts daily sequencess in three languages: German, English and Spanish, with brief segments in other languages. In February 2005 it launched an Arabic service to present news in the Arabic language, and presented by Arabic speakers ; DW-Radio: shortwave, satellite and digital radio broadcasting in 29 languages, with 24- hour service in German and English ; DW-World.de: 30 language website ( The law defines the DW s mission: provide listeners and viewers abroad with a comprehensive picture of political, cultural and economic life in Germany and to present and explain the German position on important issues. It should also promote intercultural dialogue and the German language. It takes quite an interest in European affairs and broadcasts tailored EU affairs programmes from Brussels. It co-operates with other networks such as Euronews, DRS (SF DRS) and Suisse TV, and works with partners and 436 institutions. DW broadcasts via a global satellite network with six satellites covering the five continents via partner stations (re-broadcasters: a range of cable operators and television channels around the world re-transmitting DW-TV programmes). With the exception of Greenland and the Antarctic, DW-TV can be received directly via satellite all over the world. It estimates its coverage at 120 million households. DW possesses three foreign bureaus: Washington, Moscow and Brussels and a bureau in Berlin, specifically to cover the parliamentary and political affairs. Notwithstanding a strong reduction in funds allocated by the government (a cut of 55 million euros in the last nine years, from 315 million in 1997 to 261 million euros in 2005) and a strong reduction in its human resources, DW still occupies a staff of more than 1, 250 in 2005, of which 500 work for DW-TV. DW total revenue was estimated at 295 million euros in , but a breakdown of revenue for the various branches is not detailed. 3.8 SkyNews 16 SkyNews, is the Europe s first 24-hour television news channel to have been launched as part of the 4 channel Sky Television satellite in It is fully owned by BSkyB, part of the Murdoch s News Corporation. It does exchange programmes with its US sister channel, Fox News. Since 2001 it is a 24-hour, English language, rolling news station, broadcasting from BSkyB s headquarters in London. It is available in terrestrial digital, satellite and cable. Its main market is the UK and Ireland. It is available in 40 countries and reaches 80 million households. 14. Legislation for the Public Broadcasting Corporation Deutsche Welle, Act of Deutsche Welle, Annual Report, Comments not received from the channel 66

16 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW SkyNews operates 5 regional bureaus and 7 international ones in Washington, Moscow, Jerusalem, Beijing, Johannesburg, Brussels and Dehli. It also operates a website independent of BskyB ( Staffing and costs are not known for Sky News. In 2004 it won a contract to supply the UK Channel Five with its news services. The service will include 60 staff (journalists and technicians). BSkyB, aside from Sky News, operates several TV and pay TV (movies, music, travel and even betting) had a turnover of 4 billion sterling in 2005 (roughly 6 billion euros). 3.9 TV5 17 Created in 1984, TV5 is not a bona fide news channel, but more a generalist one, broadcasting international news 6 hours a day. It is a global television network, mainly broadcasting programmes from 10 French language channels. Its five founder networks (which gave the Channel its name) are: France Television from France, RTBF from Belgium, TSR from Switzerland, SRC-CBC and TVA from Quebec, Canada. Since then several other channels participate, including the Franco-German channel, ARTE. Through its 18 satellites, 38 digital bouquets and cable networks, TV5 reaches 160 million households all over the world in 203 countries and territories. Hotels (3 million) and airlines (9 companies) have broadcast agreements. It broadcasts through 8 different signals to account for the different time zones and sensibilities. Cumulated audience is estimated to 25 million viewers per day or 73.5 million per week 18. It also operates a website ( with a specific European site: Un jour en Europe. Although broadcasting its members specific programmes, TV5 also produces its own programmes (documentaries, fictions cinema and sport) as well as information and news which constitute the lion s share of programmes (18 daily news journals or flash, 11 weekly political magazines, 3 bi-monthly, 4 monthly). Programmes are in French, but TV5 proposes sub-titles in 10 languages (French, English, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Swedish, Danish and Russian). Just as BBC World (for English) and Deutsche Welle (for German), TV5 also offers programmes to help viewers or teachers learn and teach the French language. EU affairs are regularly integrated in the programmes: news journals, in-house political magazines such as the weekly Kiosque, the monthly Une fois par mois. Special programmes are broadcast when EU subjects are prevalent in the news: enlargement, European year of languages Some thematic magazines, such as Euro-Mediterranean subjects (immigration, delocalisations, cultural interactions, etc.), are treated on a regular basis. Moreover, some European programmes of the member channels are re-transmitted (e.g. the FR3 France Europe express or the Arte Les dessous de cartes ). 17. Information reviewed by the channel 18. EMS

17 THIERRY VISSOL TV5 has 3 foreign bureaus with permanent staff (Bangkok, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires and correspondents in 25 countries. It employs a permanent staff of 228 of whom 38 are permanent journalists. In 2005, the budget was fixed at 90.2 million euros Europe by Satellite (EbS) Europe by Satellite (EbS) is the EU news agency. EbS broadcasts by satellite and by internet in broadcast quality the news, images and sounds of all EU institutions. Aimed at television channels and journalists of all media, the pictures are transmitted live or recorded 24 hours a day. Those pictures are usually rough cut pieces i.e. unedited pictures. Nevertheless, some specific programmes are specifically produced on subjects linked to news, but this is on an ad-hoc basis than systematically. Programmes are available in original language, but some are simultaneously translated into French, English German, and others: for example press conferences may have as many as 32 languages. Source : European Commission 68 Table 7 : EbS running costs 2004 Value in Euros In % Total Transmission costs (1 Satellite) % Maintenance (technical and administrative) % Human resources % Production costs % TOTAL % In terms of content, it is a rather simple system as compared to a real news agency which would select, edit and offer factual commentaries. Total budget for 2005 and its breakdown are presented below. EbS operates a website with image streaming in broadcast quality. But, download time is still very long and most TV channels prefer, for professional reasons, the satellite connection to the internet one, which is generally utilized for a passive viewing. A continuous flow permits an offer of 21 languages through a Commission server that allows up to 10, 000 simultaneous connexions. It offers also free video on demand, and access to EU images and video library. CONCLUSION The brief panorama presented above show a clear diversity in the various channels coming either from their public or private statute, from their aim, scope, missions and from their dimension and means. Obviously, the big private companies (CNN, Bloomberg, Reuters, BSkyB) have means (financial, personal) that no public institution

18 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW and few public broadcasters can ever dream of. Bloomberg, Reuters and CNBC- Europe are specialised in economic and financial information although they also cover political information. But their main business and target at least up to now is the professionals. As noted by J.K. Chalaby 19, both BBC and CNN are in a unique position to deal with the complexities of global politics. They both cover the UN. Their news-gathering facilities give them the ability to break international news and give real-time and round-the-clock coverage of international events. Above all, they can use their worldwide resources (and network affiliates in CNN case) to adopt a global perspective on key events and rise above the national angle that characterizes the treatment of international news by terrestrial broadcasters. Nevertheless, both channels are perceived has giving a national (US and UK) perspective or newsworthiness selection. Interestingly enough, the Euronews experience shows that a rather small television channel (as compare to its competitors see recap table below) can compete with large players on that niche of international political and economical news, as long as it can respond to a clear demand and ensure credibility and quality. Just as for the general public credibility and trustworthiness are crucial elements for success. The analysis made by MBV Europe show clearly that the greatest appeal of these channels, for the specialised public they mainly attract, is to be up to the minute, trustworthy sources, rather impartial and accessible while travelling, being in airports, or hotel s rooms. Source: Media Brand Value Europe, Figure 4 : 19. Jean K. Chalaby (2003), op. cit. 20. Belinda Barker and Nigel Jacklin: Media Brand values survey, MBV-Europe, 2004, 69

19 THIERRY VISSOL Nevertheless, quickly evolving technology implies the resources to make the adequate investments as well as sufficient funds to expand geographical coverage, use of emerging technologies (mobile phone, the Internet with interactive capacities) and over the world news coverage. From the tables presented supra ( 2) 21, it is clear that the market for such specialised TV is expanding to the detriment of national generalist and news channels and that its growth is also linked to the diffusion of new numeric technologies. To be complete, the growth of this market should be analysed together with the growing success of the websites linked to the various TV channels. In any case, the simultaneous growth and potential growth for the future of these channels and their linked websites indicate that there is certainly a margin of manœuvre for new pertinent (i.e. demand oriented and targeted to the right audience) and technology-to-the-point channels, even if this market will remain rather a niche market than a mass market. REFERENCES Chalaby J.K (2003): Television for a new global order Gazette: The International Journal for Communication studies, Vol. 65, no. 6 p European Audiovisual Observatory (2004, «La télévision transfrontières dans l Union européenne : impact sur les marchés et aspects juridiques choisis», Working Paper, March. Vissol T. (2006), Is there a case for an EU information television Station? European Commission, OPOCE, January Bibliography of Tables Barker, Belinda and Jacklin, Nigel (2004) : «Media Brand values survey», MBV-Europe, Broadband access in the EU: situation at 1 January 2005, Communication Committee, DG Information and Society, European Commission, June Chalaby, Jean K. (2003): Television for a news global order. Transnational television networks and the formation of global systems, The International Journal for Communication Studies, Vol. 65, n 6, London, Sage Publications, European Televisions, Eurobarometer Flash, European Commission, January International and pan-european Televisions, European Media and Marketing Survey interviews and Media and Marketing Europe Guide, EMS, NSS, 2001, August 2004 and January Television 2004 Key Facts, IP RTL Group, February Yearbooks, European Audiovisual Observatory (OEA/OAE), Strasbourg, volumes 1, 2 and 5, 2003, 2004 and volume 1, Extract from InTV presentation, International TV research Group, 2004, why.html. 70

20 INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-EUROPEAN NEWS CHANNELS: AN OVERVIEW Pan-European and International News Channels Main Characteristics Number of Website language Number of broadcasting language Main broadcasting language Number of Internat Bureaus TV Staff Number (of which Journalists) Group Staff Number (of which Journalists) TV Revenue (Mions) $- - Group Revenue (Mions) $- - Name and status 5 Eng-Kor Jap-Span Arabic 4 In different geographical areas 26 English? (?) affiliates (?) $? CNN (privateus) 1980 CNN-int English (150) 60 BBCWorld (private UK, but linked to BBC Global News) simultaneous 1 Multilingual 235 (144) 35 Euronews (private with national public shareholders)1993? (?) 7 English?? 6.000?? SkyNews (private UK)1989? 7 In different geographic areas English 110 offices 94 bureaus? (500) (1.600) $? Bloomberg (private US) 1981? 3 in different geographic areas? English? (?)??? BloombergTV1994 CNBC Eur (private US)1996 English? cities 94 countries? (?) (2.300)? circa Reuters (private UK 1850 Reuters TV Segments during the Day 3 German 500 (?) (?) Deutsche Welle (public German) 1923DW-TV 1995? 10 but Subtitles French 25 (correspondants)? (?)??? TV (Private with public share- holders of different nat.) 71 Source : Television channels