Public service broadcasters in Europe could get more freedom to charge for services and build up reserves to expand their activities under proposals due to be unveiled by the EU this week.
According to a draft of the proposals, seen by the Financial Times, the European Commission is suggesting that PSBs should be able to charge directly for services, as part of their social remit, in certain limited circumstances.
However, the new rules say that “a special vigilance” will be needed to patrol such services, and they specifically rule out pay-per-view for popular sports fixtures which have been acquired or funded with public money. Instead, they cite “particularly advanced features of the public service” as the type of situation where direct charging may be appropriate.
The proposed guidelines also suggest that PSBs should be allowed to keep reserves of up to 10 per cent of the annual budgeted expenses of their public service mission if these are specifically earmarked for non-recurring major investments. The investments must be related to the public service mission and the reserves should be used within four years.
