Re: Children and Media Violence, by Ulla Carlsson
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 12:13 am
Media in the World
The Global Audio-Visual Media Landscape
ROBERT LAMB
UNICEF commissioned Robert Lamb, Director of Television Trust for the Environment (TVE), to conduct studies on the development in audio-visual media. One study was reported in The Bigger Picture: Audio-visual survey and recommendations, February 1997, copyright© United Nations Children's Fund, March 1997. With the permission of UNICEF, we here reproduce Preface, Executive summary, Chapter 1: Main Findings, and Methodology and Sources from the report (whereas Chapter 2: Survey of the Television Broadcasting Landscape 1997-2000 and Chapter 3:Author's Endnote are omitted due to lack of space).
Preface
You would have to be a modern-day Rip van Winkle to be surprised when told that television is by far the world's powerful mass medium. But you might raise an eyebrow to find out that in 1996 for every ten households on the planet there are seven television sets. Half the world may never have made a telephone call, but the vast majority of humankind now sees television.
Love it or hate it, anyone who is involved in development communications must come to terms with television. Three years ago, UNICEF commissioned Robert Lamb, Director of TVE to conduct a study and make recommendations to UNICEF on how we should be responding to the bewildering pace of development in the audio visual media. UNICEF has fared well by applying a number of those recommendations. But at risk of being overwhelmed by the demands the industry is making upon the organization and unclear about the implications of the digital revolution and all the talk of 'techno-convergence', we commissioned TVE to conduct two more studies: one on the International Children's Day of Broadcasting, the other, an up-date by Robert Lamb of his study of three years ago that attempts to sketch out the likely developments to the end of the century.
In UNICEF's view, the findings and recommendations are of relevance to other organizations committed to keeping the global public tuned into sustainable development. The Bigger Picture draws on the latest industry surveys and benefits from canvassing the views of television executives, producers and distributors. To all those who spared the time to answer TVE's questionnaires and to meet with the researchers, UNICEF extends its gratitude and thanks.
It was no simple task UNICEF set for TVE. It was to take a global view, stare into a crystal ball and detect trends that are relevant to an organization like UNICEF. Unsurprisingly, for every rule, an exception can be found. For example, an executive in an Asian satellite service found that our output was far too controversial while a European producer found the material to be far too bland! Notwithstanding caveats like these, certain global trends are discernible. The main finding is that television is going in two directions at the same time: re-inforcing its position as the quintessential mass medium while providing an outlet for diversity through the myriad of new speciality channels.
The Bigger Picture demystifies a lot of the jargon and is therefore easy reading for the non-specialist. Colleagues in national, international and NGO development assistance agencies will find much information that is useful in deciding how modest budgets can be deployed for maximum impact. I commend the document to you and look forward to receiving any comments you may have.
Morten Giersing
UNICEF, New York
February 1997
Executive summary
• The 1990s have seen television extend its dominance as the global mass medium. Virtually everywhere, television is now cited as the public's first source of information. Seven out every ten households in the world possess a television set -- three quarters are outside the OECD countries.
• Television is growing both as a mass and a minority medium. Non-broadcast organizations with a brief to raise awareness of environment and development are presented with new opportunities to tailor their messages to special interest groups, women, children and youth as well as to mass audiences. But as the numbers of channels multiply with digitisation, the demands on poorly financed information divisions will increase exponentially with diminishing returns in terms of the numbers of people reached.
• With extraordinarily few exceptions, the pattern of prime-time television viewing is similar throughout the world -- entertainment, live action, sports and news broadcasts. With public service broadcasting on the wane throughout the world, tapping the mass media potential of television means staying in touch with the needs of increasingly ratings-conscious decision-makers in the industry and the independent producers with a strong track-record in delivering popular programming.
• Despite the flourishing of new national services, western television news agencies are the dominant suppliers of, and agenda- setters for, international news and current affairs. Development assistance agencies could take cost-effective steps to increase global coverage in the only factual programming sector scheduled in prime-time on major national TV networks.
• On a strict ratings criterion, development assistance agencies should end their involvement in documentary co-production. But with a rigorous set of rules applied, there remains a strong case for continued involvement in documentary production.
• Children and youth are major targets for the schedulers, but traditionally not of the development assistance agencies. Virtually everywhere expenditures and broadcast hours for children's television are on the increase.
• The new multi-media platforms (CD-ROM, Internet) are not so widely used yet to justify any special effort by the international development agencies.
• Through an out-sourcing strategy, advocacy agencies should be maximising the use of the new non-linear editing and digital cameras to satisfy viewers' preference for home-made and customised programming.
• The biggest-selling consumer item in the world is not the PC but the colour television set. The development of broadcasting mirrors the globalisation of the world economy. Driven by the requirements of advertisers, the first target of providers in the developing world are the middle classes and those that aspire to that status.
• The replacement of the analogue by the digital signal is already happening. But the two technologies will co-exist. The much vaunted second electronic revolution will be a staggered process.
• What viewers watch and when is decided by the schedulers. Despite all the noise about interactive television putting viewers in the driving seat, little has changed. Change will take place first in well-off households with children. Interactive TV is at the experimental stage. Until a simple, affordable tool along the lines of a hand-held remote control comes on the market, interactive TV will remain the plaything of the techno-boffins. The vast majority of viewers could not care less about technology. Unless the advantages are manifestly clear they will stick to what they already have. Meanwhile, most viewers continue to tune into the established national broadcasters.
• Transmission of live events -- especially sports events -- popular drama and soaps, natural history films and blockbuster movies are how the networks have kept their mass audience share.
• Direct-to-home broadcasting by satellite and the VCR have broken governments' restrictions over what their people watch, but not as radically as many suppose.
Main Findings (Chapter 1)
Television: the pre-eminent global medium
The 1990s have seen television extend its dominance as the global mass medium. Virtually everywhere, television is now cited as the public's first source of information. Seven out every ten households in the world possess a television set -- three quarters are outside the OECD countries.
With at least one television set for every six people on the planet, television broadcasting is the single most important means for development assistance agencies to deliver messages to a global public. Only a handful of small countries are without a domestic broadcaster. But every country is under the footprint of one or another satellite broadcaster. Even in many low income countries, television is no longer a medium for the middle classes alone. According to the International Telecommunications Union, the global information industry generated US $1,425 billion world-wide of which about US $300 billion in 1994 was accounted for by the audiovisual sector.
This paper finds that the trends outlined by TVE in a 1994 UNICEF-sponsored study are being realized. The channel expansion, hours of television watched and increase in television ownership have been truly astonishing -- a 100 per cent increase since the end of the 1980s. The single biggest-selling consumer product in the world is the colour television set. According to Philips, 105 million colour television sets were sold world-wide in 1995.
In 1995 the average American spent more time watching television than listening to the radio, surfing the Internet, reading newspapers or listening to recorded music put together. This is not exceptional -- a Pole spends more time watching television than an American; a Malaysian as much as a Dane, or an Italian as much as a Turk.
Virtually every household in the industrialised world owns one or more television sets, with Asia fast catching up. Most remarkable is the rapid expansion in the low income countries where television is frequently watched by communities larger than individual households. There is one TV set for every three homes in India where it is estimated that over 400 million people watched the Hindu series, the Ramayana. Vietnam's ownership per household is predicted to rise from 37 per cent now to over 70 per cent in just two years. In China, television is in at least 280 million homes, with 60,000 colour television sets being bought each day.
World-wide one in five households are hooked up to cable or satellite television. One in four households owns a video recorder. In schools and colleges -- every educational institution in Botswana is equipped with a VCR -- video is an essential educational aid. Increasingly civil society organizations use video for campaigning and awareness raising.
The pattern of expansion in television and VCR ownership is repeated in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Arab-speaking countries. Only in the shanty-towns and rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa is television not expected to develop into a mass medium by 2000.
The most unexpected finding is that globalisation of the economy is not for the most part being played out in the content of programming. Most of the 1.6 billion or so TV sets are showing home-grown programming in national languages. "Everywhere, the demand is for local programming in local languages", is a recent comment by Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of News Corporation.
TVE finds there is an overwhelming case for development assistance organizations to invest more resources in television within a strategy designed to utilise the 'points of leverage' in broadcasting.
The broadcasting paradox
Television is growing both as a mass and a minority medium. Non-broadcast organizations with a brief to raise awareness of environment and development are presented with new opportunities to tailor their messages to special interest groups, women, children and youth as well as to mass audiences. But as the numbers of channels multiply with digitisation, the demands on poorly financed information divisions will increase exponentially with diminishing returns in terms of the numbers of people reached.
One of the most important findings of this study is the success of national broadcasters in holding on to the majority of viewers.
This applies to every country, poor or prosperous, regardless of how many channels are available via cable, direct-to-home satellite, wireless cable or terrestrial transmission via the spectrum.
In Germany, five broadcasters account for three quarters of the audience share. Mexico's four Televisa channels account for 80 per cent of the viewers. The three SABC channels take 83 per cent of the viewers in South Africa. In the UK the four main channels have a 90 per cent share. Even in the USA, with a longer exposure to multi-channel television than any other country, 70 per cent of prime-time viewing is on the four main networks.
On a global measurement, the audience share of the transcontinental broadcasters is feeble by comparison. Satellite up-linked television received direct-to-home or relayed by cable has only succeeded where it has customised its output for domestic audiences. A prime example is Zee TV. Offering a menu of slick programming aimed at a youthful up-market Indian viewership, it claims an audience of 80 million on the sub-continent.
Advertising drives the US $300 billion global television industry. And advertisers are finding it worth their while to reach for niche audiences via the themed channels.
The development of these speciality channels is the phenomenon of the 1990s. Operating on slim budgets, their demand for programming to fit their brief will increase geometrically as digitisation takes place. This development could distract agencies seeking to reach the biggest audiences.
Aid and development agencies should consider prioritising in a draconian fashion, targeting the national networks and broadcasters/producers with a successful proven track record of high ratings and successful international sales.
What are viewers watching?
With extraordinarily few exceptions, the pattern of prime-time viewing is similar throughout the world -- entertainment, live action, sports and news broadcasts. With public service broadcasting on the wane throughout the world, tapping the mass media potential of television means staying in touch with the needs of increasingly ratings-conscious decision-makers in the television industry and the independent producers with a strong track-record in delivering popular programming.
Live events -- especially sports -- home-made popular drama (telenovelas, soaps etc.), and blockbuster movies are how the national networks have retained their audience share.
Despite all the predictions of convergence and interactivity, television viewing remains a passive activity. The key players are the schedulers, programme commissioners and a handful of highly-regarded production companies -- an elite group who decide what viewers will see and when. These are the quintessential points of leverage in the industry who number in their hundreds.
Through their pathway to mass audiences they can powerfully influence decision-making. A myth is that by reaching policy/decision-makers with tailored programming, policies will be changed to favour sustainable development. Programmes that warrant prime-time coverage, generating national debate involving the general public must be the main target for organizations seeking to influence decision-makers.
With the public service ethic in broadcasting in steep decline, television is increasingly a world of cut-throat competition with tabloid formats becoming ever more popular. Almost exclusively stations are concerned with ratings or with targeting the special interest categories. They are especially concerned to attract youthful (14-30 years) viewers.
Encouragingly, this report finds there is a fund of goodwill among the commissioners for organizations like UNICEF that implement a sophisticated audiovisual policy. Its work in the field of animation, the professionalism of its ad spots and B Rolls and experience in brokering co-productions, give organizations like UNICEF a sound basis on which to achieve more coverage.
TVE recommends that staying in touch with the elite decision-makers in television, being sympathetic to their needs, providing stories and contacts and, from time to time, start-up to-finance, should be the priority for any agency seeking to step up coverage on television. Sympathetic tabloid TV journalists should be sought out. Agencies should give priority to maintaining a television VIP listing and to nurturing these contacts on an individual basis. Given the dominant share of English-speaking programming in the international sales market, special attention should be paid to the North American and UK commissioners.
The factual exception
Despite the flourishing of new national services, Western television news agencies are the dominant suppliers of, and agenda-setters for, international news and current affairs. Development assistance agencies could take cost-effective steps to increase global coverage in the only factual programming sector scheduled in prime-time on major national TV networks.
A recent study of news coverage in a cross-section of 35 countries found that the hegemony of the Western television news agencies is even greater than when UNESCO sponsored the New World Information Order in the 1970s.
A European Union sponsored survey found that 80 per cent of the public in the EU cite television news and current affairs programming as their primary source of information. Thematic magazine programmes also make the prime-time schedules.
The two most frequent pleas among news and current affairs editors contacted during this study were: topical story-led items that respect editorial independence and stories that try to be relevant to national audiences. Though national TV services focus mostly on domestic and near-neighbour stories, they rely heavily on the big three London based agencies (two USA owned) for international coverage. These agencies also supply the 30 or so successful satellite news broadcasters like CNN, BBC World and Deutsche Welle. About 90 per cent of the world's non-domestic generated news items pass through London.
The multi-media environment enables non-broadcast organizations to plan integrated television, radio and print campaigns. A possible model is one TV agency's highly professional Global Beltway which combines television news features, regional tailoring, stills and on-screen information.
Bi-lateral agencies or international organizations with a need to communicate to a particular country or region should work with national broadcasters. The most effective means to achieve global coverage is via the international TV news agencies. The route preferred by most broadcasters is via trusted independent producers.
The documentary conundrum
On a strict ratings criterion, development assistance agencies should end their involvement in documentary co-production. But with a rigorous set of rules applied, there remains a strong case for continued involvement in documentary production.
Documentaries have all but disappeared from the prime-time scheduling of major national broadcasters, including the public service broadcasters who have been forced to go downmarket in the ratings wars. But the tabloid format does not necessarily mean any loss in quality of coverage.
One-off documentaries and series in a tabloid as well as a blue chip format can still have a measurable impact on public opinion in inverse proportion to the numbers who see the programmes. There is also a significant international sales market not least because this kind of factual programming has 'shelf-life' and can be customised to meet national and regional broadcasters' requirements. Series and other forms of 'bulk' programming are most in demand, with single 'one off' documentaries difficult to place. The success of the Discovery Channel throughout the world is based on repackaging to suit national/regional audience preferences. Crucially, the documentary format can also be edited to meet cultural and religious sensitivities.
New technologies -- digital hi-8 cameras and non-linear editing equipment -- also offer the opportunity for the independent producer to make programmes to international broadcast standard at a fraction of the cost of a decade ago. The new digitised programme- making hardware and channels may yet offer the best hope for consistent and fearless in-depth coverage of environment and development.
TVE proposes that agencies should only support documentary production when all or most of the following criteria are fulfilled: commissions are within programme strands with proven above average audience ratings for factual programming; themes are directly relevant to their mission; co-production involving at least one or more major broadcaster; submission of promotional and distribution work plans; generous rights assignment to the agency for international distribution in whole or in part, in perpetuity.
The only exceptions should be: when the agency has a pressing policy need to see a programme broadcast in a particular country and/or territory; coverage of a subject (for example water or sanitation) with little media potential but which accords with an agency priority (there will always be reason for advocacy organizations to swim against the media tide).
Reaching the younger viewer
Children and youth are major targets for the schedulers, but traditionally not of the development assistance agencies. Virtually everywhere expenditures and broadcast hours are on the increase.
There is a case to be made that far too little effort has gone into supporting programming aimed at 10-30 year olds. There is persuasive evidence that the best way to reach adults is through the younger family members -- especially in cultures where family viewing is the norm. Children's news programme commissioners, for example, are far less resistant to directly featuring the work of an agency.
The needs of the child and youthful viewer are wildly different to adult programming. The Convention on the Rights of the Child explicitly recognises the right to children's self-expression.
A recent survey of 62 broadcasters revealed that by far the biggest expenditures and audiences were achieved by the national broadcasters. Just five countries -- France, Australia, Canada, UK and the USA -- dominated the international sales market for children and youth programming.
Most popular are live events and animations. Magazine programmes featuring young presenters and fast-moving on-site formats are avidly watched by youthful audiences. In the contacts made during the research for the two UNICEF-commissioned studies, TVE found that the producers of children and youth programming were the category most open to new ideas.
Preliminary contacts made during this survey indicate that an investment in human and financial resources to this fast-expanding area would pay dividends not only in reaching the next generation of decision-makers but in using their influence with parents to alter lifestyles and pay more attention to environment and development issues.
Multi-media and all that
The new multi-media platforms are not so widely used yet to justify any special effort by the international funders In the global perspective, multi-media applications -- CD-Rom, PC games etc. -- are the playthings of relatively few better-off households. TVE found that the 'hype' surrounding the Internet, multi-media, 'techno-convergence' and so on was distracting attention (and scarce resources) away from the fact that tiny numbers actually know how to use the new interactive platforms.
Organizations like UNICEF risk losing sight of the bigger picture if they were to decide to invest in interactive software production. Their role should be confined to selling imagery and information only to the producers of multi-media software.
Digitisation and new developments such as Web-TV or video-on-demand (VoD) may usher in the much talked about interactive television revolution (i.e. the television, telephone and PC as an integrated unit). But no company has yet put on the market an affordable navigator to bring an end to the era of passive viewing.
Nor is there any evidence of any strong demand from the viewers. A RAI working paper to the October 1996 United Nations World Television Forum states: "...despite around thirty VoD experiments world-wide, involving thousands of families, the results have not suggested great commercial potential."
TVE's findings are that it will be the end of the century possibly later -- before the development assistance community needs to develop a strategy in this area.
TVE recommends that involvement with multi-media be restricted to the start up of an Internet film catalogue. As the decade draws to a close, the on-line catalogue will become a major vehicle for promoting co-productions and independently made audio-visual software on themes relevant to agencies' mission.
Utilising the new programme-making technologies
Through an out-sourcing strategy, advocacy agencies should be maximising the use of the new non-linear editing and digital cameras to satisfy viewers' preference for homemade and customised programming.
The findings of TVE's two surveys, the pattern of demand for programming featured in its six Moving Pictures catalogues, as well as five regional television workshops convened by TVE since 1994, indicate that in order to make an impact, a systematic versioning policy must be introduced to satisfy national audience preferences.
New technological developments render this a cost effective objective. Programmes can be versioned (e.g. voice dubbing, sub- titling, video introductions, insertion of local stories etc.) at relatively little cost. One instance is the Spanish versioning of 12 TVE Moving Pictures programmes for US $7000 in Mexico.
Agencies such as WWF and UNICEF report great success with video news releases and 'B' roll tapes that enable stations to make their own versions. But as one Dutch producer told us, TV stations are 'lazy' and 'overworked'. They are far more likely to use video programmes if an effort is made to customise the output.
The TVE/ICDB evaluation showed that, with a few exceptions, hard-pressed field offices of even a well organized and funded organization like UNICEF cannot be expected to undertake this task. But throughout the world, there are facilities houses and broadcasters highly practised in customising programming. Crucially, a decentralised approach enables an organization to tailor the output to accord with national and regional cultural and religious sensitivities. Drawing on TVE's own experience, far more trust should be placed in indigenous producers in the South and economies in transition to make and version programming to meet local preferences. If necessary quality control can be exercised by tried and trusted independent production outfits.
Organizations with a public advocacy mission should set aside an element of its annual information budget to finance versioning. More effort should go into tapping production capacities in the non-OECD countries.
Methodology and Sources
The research for this survey was conducted by TVE's director, Robert Lamb over a six-week period (October/November 1996).
TVE reviewed the latest publications:
Zenith Media Television in Europe and Asia to 2005; Zenith Media, Bridge House, London, 1996 Television Business International (TBI) Yearbook 1997; 21st Century Publications, Pearson Professional Ltd., London, 1996.
Screen Digest, Screen Digest Ltd.; London, published monthly.
The Digital Broadcast Revolution; Broadcasting Corporation, London.
Interactive TV A Revolution in Global Broadcasting; Financial Times, Corporation, London, 1996.
Extending Choice in the Digital Age; British Broadcasting Corporation, London, 1996.
Study on the Introduction of Terrestrial Television; Convergent Decisions Group, The Mews, Putney Common, London, 1996.
Television in a Changing World; RAI Working Papers -- 4 vols -- for UN TV Forum, November 1996. Watching the World - Television and Audience Engagement with Developing Countries (Third World and Environment Broadcasting Project), International Broadcasting Trust, London, 1996.
References are made in the text to other published sources. TVE conducted person-to-person meetings and telephone interviews with over 80 key players in the television industry and sent our over 150 questionnaires.
TVE drew upon its ICDB (International Children's Day of Broadcasting) Evaluation of June 1996.
TVE also contacted over 40 Video Resource Centres (VRCs) in the South and NIS countries.
Statistics
• Television and Video
• Children's & Youth's Television Programmes
• Abbreviations - Television
• Cinema Screens
• Personal Computers and Internet Users
• Telephone Main Lines and Internet Host Computers
• Interactive Entertainment Software Retail Sales Value
• Radio Broadcast Stations and Radio Possessions
• Book Titles Published
• International Entertainment Companies (Top 50)
Table 1. Television and Video (1996)
Table 2. Children's & Youth's Television Programmes (1996)
Table 3. Cinema Screens
Table 4. Personal Computers and Internet Users (1994)
Table 5. Telephone Main Lines and Internet Host Computers (1996)
Table 6. Interactive Entertainment Software Retail Sales Value (in Europe and USA 1992-1996, US $1,000)
Table 7. Radio Broadcast Stations and Radio Possessions
Table 8. Book Titles Published
Table 9. International Entertainment Companies (Top 50) (ranked by 1996-97 revenue)
References
Global Interactive Entertainment: Big Growth in Spending (1997) Screen Digest, February.
Human Development Report 1997 (1997) The United Nations Development Programme. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
International Telecommunication Union (1997) Pressrelease no. 15, 7 September.
Peers, M. & Goldner, D. (1997) The Global 50. Merger Mania Shuffles Rankings. Supplement to Variety, August 25-31.
TBI Yearbook 97 (1996) Television Business International. London: 21st Century Business Publications.
UNESCO Statistical Yearbook '96 (1997) Paris: UNESCO.
The World Factbook 1996 (1997) Web site: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/pubs.html Washington: CIA.
World Cinema Market: Start of the European Fightback (1997) Screen Digest, August.
The Global Audio-Visual Media Landscape
ROBERT LAMB
UNICEF commissioned Robert Lamb, Director of Television Trust for the Environment (TVE), to conduct studies on the development in audio-visual media. One study was reported in The Bigger Picture: Audio-visual survey and recommendations, February 1997, copyright© United Nations Children's Fund, March 1997. With the permission of UNICEF, we here reproduce Preface, Executive summary, Chapter 1: Main Findings, and Methodology and Sources from the report (whereas Chapter 2: Survey of the Television Broadcasting Landscape 1997-2000 and Chapter 3:Author's Endnote are omitted due to lack of space).
Preface
You would have to be a modern-day Rip van Winkle to be surprised when told that television is by far the world's powerful mass medium. But you might raise an eyebrow to find out that in 1996 for every ten households on the planet there are seven television sets. Half the world may never have made a telephone call, but the vast majority of humankind now sees television.
Love it or hate it, anyone who is involved in development communications must come to terms with television. Three years ago, UNICEF commissioned Robert Lamb, Director of TVE to conduct a study and make recommendations to UNICEF on how we should be responding to the bewildering pace of development in the audio visual media. UNICEF has fared well by applying a number of those recommendations. But at risk of being overwhelmed by the demands the industry is making upon the organization and unclear about the implications of the digital revolution and all the talk of 'techno-convergence', we commissioned TVE to conduct two more studies: one on the International Children's Day of Broadcasting, the other, an up-date by Robert Lamb of his study of three years ago that attempts to sketch out the likely developments to the end of the century.
In UNICEF's view, the findings and recommendations are of relevance to other organizations committed to keeping the global public tuned into sustainable development. The Bigger Picture draws on the latest industry surveys and benefits from canvassing the views of television executives, producers and distributors. To all those who spared the time to answer TVE's questionnaires and to meet with the researchers, UNICEF extends its gratitude and thanks.
It was no simple task UNICEF set for TVE. It was to take a global view, stare into a crystal ball and detect trends that are relevant to an organization like UNICEF. Unsurprisingly, for every rule, an exception can be found. For example, an executive in an Asian satellite service found that our output was far too controversial while a European producer found the material to be far too bland! Notwithstanding caveats like these, certain global trends are discernible. The main finding is that television is going in two directions at the same time: re-inforcing its position as the quintessential mass medium while providing an outlet for diversity through the myriad of new speciality channels.
The Bigger Picture demystifies a lot of the jargon and is therefore easy reading for the non-specialist. Colleagues in national, international and NGO development assistance agencies will find much information that is useful in deciding how modest budgets can be deployed for maximum impact. I commend the document to you and look forward to receiving any comments you may have.
Morten Giersing
UNICEF, New York
February 1997
Executive summary
• The 1990s have seen television extend its dominance as the global mass medium. Virtually everywhere, television is now cited as the public's first source of information. Seven out every ten households in the world possess a television set -- three quarters are outside the OECD countries.
• Television is growing both as a mass and a minority medium. Non-broadcast organizations with a brief to raise awareness of environment and development are presented with new opportunities to tailor their messages to special interest groups, women, children and youth as well as to mass audiences. But as the numbers of channels multiply with digitisation, the demands on poorly financed information divisions will increase exponentially with diminishing returns in terms of the numbers of people reached.
• With extraordinarily few exceptions, the pattern of prime-time television viewing is similar throughout the world -- entertainment, live action, sports and news broadcasts. With public service broadcasting on the wane throughout the world, tapping the mass media potential of television means staying in touch with the needs of increasingly ratings-conscious decision-makers in the industry and the independent producers with a strong track-record in delivering popular programming.
• Despite the flourishing of new national services, western television news agencies are the dominant suppliers of, and agenda- setters for, international news and current affairs. Development assistance agencies could take cost-effective steps to increase global coverage in the only factual programming sector scheduled in prime-time on major national TV networks.
• On a strict ratings criterion, development assistance agencies should end their involvement in documentary co-production. But with a rigorous set of rules applied, there remains a strong case for continued involvement in documentary production.
• Children and youth are major targets for the schedulers, but traditionally not of the development assistance agencies. Virtually everywhere expenditures and broadcast hours for children's television are on the increase.
• The new multi-media platforms (CD-ROM, Internet) are not so widely used yet to justify any special effort by the international development agencies.
• Through an out-sourcing strategy, advocacy agencies should be maximising the use of the new non-linear editing and digital cameras to satisfy viewers' preference for home-made and customised programming.
• The biggest-selling consumer item in the world is not the PC but the colour television set. The development of broadcasting mirrors the globalisation of the world economy. Driven by the requirements of advertisers, the first target of providers in the developing world are the middle classes and those that aspire to that status.
• The replacement of the analogue by the digital signal is already happening. But the two technologies will co-exist. The much vaunted second electronic revolution will be a staggered process.
• What viewers watch and when is decided by the schedulers. Despite all the noise about interactive television putting viewers in the driving seat, little has changed. Change will take place first in well-off households with children. Interactive TV is at the experimental stage. Until a simple, affordable tool along the lines of a hand-held remote control comes on the market, interactive TV will remain the plaything of the techno-boffins. The vast majority of viewers could not care less about technology. Unless the advantages are manifestly clear they will stick to what they already have. Meanwhile, most viewers continue to tune into the established national broadcasters.
• Transmission of live events -- especially sports events -- popular drama and soaps, natural history films and blockbuster movies are how the networks have kept their mass audience share.
• Direct-to-home broadcasting by satellite and the VCR have broken governments' restrictions over what their people watch, but not as radically as many suppose.
Main Findings (Chapter 1)
Television: the pre-eminent global medium
The 1990s have seen television extend its dominance as the global mass medium. Virtually everywhere, television is now cited as the public's first source of information. Seven out every ten households in the world possess a television set -- three quarters are outside the OECD countries.
With at least one television set for every six people on the planet, television broadcasting is the single most important means for development assistance agencies to deliver messages to a global public. Only a handful of small countries are without a domestic broadcaster. But every country is under the footprint of one or another satellite broadcaster. Even in many low income countries, television is no longer a medium for the middle classes alone. According to the International Telecommunications Union, the global information industry generated US $1,425 billion world-wide of which about US $300 billion in 1994 was accounted for by the audiovisual sector.
This paper finds that the trends outlined by TVE in a 1994 UNICEF-sponsored study are being realized. The channel expansion, hours of television watched and increase in television ownership have been truly astonishing -- a 100 per cent increase since the end of the 1980s. The single biggest-selling consumer product in the world is the colour television set. According to Philips, 105 million colour television sets were sold world-wide in 1995.
In 1995 the average American spent more time watching television than listening to the radio, surfing the Internet, reading newspapers or listening to recorded music put together. This is not exceptional -- a Pole spends more time watching television than an American; a Malaysian as much as a Dane, or an Italian as much as a Turk.
Virtually every household in the industrialised world owns one or more television sets, with Asia fast catching up. Most remarkable is the rapid expansion in the low income countries where television is frequently watched by communities larger than individual households. There is one TV set for every three homes in India where it is estimated that over 400 million people watched the Hindu series, the Ramayana. Vietnam's ownership per household is predicted to rise from 37 per cent now to over 70 per cent in just two years. In China, television is in at least 280 million homes, with 60,000 colour television sets being bought each day.
World-wide one in five households are hooked up to cable or satellite television. One in four households owns a video recorder. In schools and colleges -- every educational institution in Botswana is equipped with a VCR -- video is an essential educational aid. Increasingly civil society organizations use video for campaigning and awareness raising.
The pattern of expansion in television and VCR ownership is repeated in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Arab-speaking countries. Only in the shanty-towns and rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa is television not expected to develop into a mass medium by 2000.
The most unexpected finding is that globalisation of the economy is not for the most part being played out in the content of programming. Most of the 1.6 billion or so TV sets are showing home-grown programming in national languages. "Everywhere, the demand is for local programming in local languages", is a recent comment by Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of News Corporation.
TVE finds there is an overwhelming case for development assistance organizations to invest more resources in television within a strategy designed to utilise the 'points of leverage' in broadcasting.
The broadcasting paradox
Television is growing both as a mass and a minority medium. Non-broadcast organizations with a brief to raise awareness of environment and development are presented with new opportunities to tailor their messages to special interest groups, women, children and youth as well as to mass audiences. But as the numbers of channels multiply with digitisation, the demands on poorly financed information divisions will increase exponentially with diminishing returns in terms of the numbers of people reached.
One of the most important findings of this study is the success of national broadcasters in holding on to the majority of viewers.
This applies to every country, poor or prosperous, regardless of how many channels are available via cable, direct-to-home satellite, wireless cable or terrestrial transmission via the spectrum.
In Germany, five broadcasters account for three quarters of the audience share. Mexico's four Televisa channels account for 80 per cent of the viewers. The three SABC channels take 83 per cent of the viewers in South Africa. In the UK the four main channels have a 90 per cent share. Even in the USA, with a longer exposure to multi-channel television than any other country, 70 per cent of prime-time viewing is on the four main networks.
On a global measurement, the audience share of the transcontinental broadcasters is feeble by comparison. Satellite up-linked television received direct-to-home or relayed by cable has only succeeded where it has customised its output for domestic audiences. A prime example is Zee TV. Offering a menu of slick programming aimed at a youthful up-market Indian viewership, it claims an audience of 80 million on the sub-continent.
Advertising drives the US $300 billion global television industry. And advertisers are finding it worth their while to reach for niche audiences via the themed channels.
The development of these speciality channels is the phenomenon of the 1990s. Operating on slim budgets, their demand for programming to fit their brief will increase geometrically as digitisation takes place. This development could distract agencies seeking to reach the biggest audiences.
Aid and development agencies should consider prioritising in a draconian fashion, targeting the national networks and broadcasters/producers with a successful proven track record of high ratings and successful international sales.
What are viewers watching?
With extraordinarily few exceptions, the pattern of prime-time viewing is similar throughout the world -- entertainment, live action, sports and news broadcasts. With public service broadcasting on the wane throughout the world, tapping the mass media potential of television means staying in touch with the needs of increasingly ratings-conscious decision-makers in the television industry and the independent producers with a strong track-record in delivering popular programming.
Live events -- especially sports -- home-made popular drama (telenovelas, soaps etc.), and blockbuster movies are how the national networks have retained their audience share.
Despite all the predictions of convergence and interactivity, television viewing remains a passive activity. The key players are the schedulers, programme commissioners and a handful of highly-regarded production companies -- an elite group who decide what viewers will see and when. These are the quintessential points of leverage in the industry who number in their hundreds.
Through their pathway to mass audiences they can powerfully influence decision-making. A myth is that by reaching policy/decision-makers with tailored programming, policies will be changed to favour sustainable development. Programmes that warrant prime-time coverage, generating national debate involving the general public must be the main target for organizations seeking to influence decision-makers.
With the public service ethic in broadcasting in steep decline, television is increasingly a world of cut-throat competition with tabloid formats becoming ever more popular. Almost exclusively stations are concerned with ratings or with targeting the special interest categories. They are especially concerned to attract youthful (14-30 years) viewers.
Encouragingly, this report finds there is a fund of goodwill among the commissioners for organizations like UNICEF that implement a sophisticated audiovisual policy. Its work in the field of animation, the professionalism of its ad spots and B Rolls and experience in brokering co-productions, give organizations like UNICEF a sound basis on which to achieve more coverage.
TVE recommends that staying in touch with the elite decision-makers in television, being sympathetic to their needs, providing stories and contacts and, from time to time, start-up to-finance, should be the priority for any agency seeking to step up coverage on television. Sympathetic tabloid TV journalists should be sought out. Agencies should give priority to maintaining a television VIP listing and to nurturing these contacts on an individual basis. Given the dominant share of English-speaking programming in the international sales market, special attention should be paid to the North American and UK commissioners.
The factual exception
Despite the flourishing of new national services, Western television news agencies are the dominant suppliers of, and agenda-setters for, international news and current affairs. Development assistance agencies could take cost-effective steps to increase global coverage in the only factual programming sector scheduled in prime-time on major national TV networks.
A recent study of news coverage in a cross-section of 35 countries found that the hegemony of the Western television news agencies is even greater than when UNESCO sponsored the New World Information Order in the 1970s.
A European Union sponsored survey found that 80 per cent of the public in the EU cite television news and current affairs programming as their primary source of information. Thematic magazine programmes also make the prime-time schedules.
The two most frequent pleas among news and current affairs editors contacted during this study were: topical story-led items that respect editorial independence and stories that try to be relevant to national audiences. Though national TV services focus mostly on domestic and near-neighbour stories, they rely heavily on the big three London based agencies (two USA owned) for international coverage. These agencies also supply the 30 or so successful satellite news broadcasters like CNN, BBC World and Deutsche Welle. About 90 per cent of the world's non-domestic generated news items pass through London.
The multi-media environment enables non-broadcast organizations to plan integrated television, radio and print campaigns. A possible model is one TV agency's highly professional Global Beltway which combines television news features, regional tailoring, stills and on-screen information.
Bi-lateral agencies or international organizations with a need to communicate to a particular country or region should work with national broadcasters. The most effective means to achieve global coverage is via the international TV news agencies. The route preferred by most broadcasters is via trusted independent producers.
The documentary conundrum
On a strict ratings criterion, development assistance agencies should end their involvement in documentary co-production. But with a rigorous set of rules applied, there remains a strong case for continued involvement in documentary production.
Documentaries have all but disappeared from the prime-time scheduling of major national broadcasters, including the public service broadcasters who have been forced to go downmarket in the ratings wars. But the tabloid format does not necessarily mean any loss in quality of coverage.
One-off documentaries and series in a tabloid as well as a blue chip format can still have a measurable impact on public opinion in inverse proportion to the numbers who see the programmes. There is also a significant international sales market not least because this kind of factual programming has 'shelf-life' and can be customised to meet national and regional broadcasters' requirements. Series and other forms of 'bulk' programming are most in demand, with single 'one off' documentaries difficult to place. The success of the Discovery Channel throughout the world is based on repackaging to suit national/regional audience preferences. Crucially, the documentary format can also be edited to meet cultural and religious sensitivities.
New technologies -- digital hi-8 cameras and non-linear editing equipment -- also offer the opportunity for the independent producer to make programmes to international broadcast standard at a fraction of the cost of a decade ago. The new digitised programme- making hardware and channels may yet offer the best hope for consistent and fearless in-depth coverage of environment and development.
TVE proposes that agencies should only support documentary production when all or most of the following criteria are fulfilled: commissions are within programme strands with proven above average audience ratings for factual programming; themes are directly relevant to their mission; co-production involving at least one or more major broadcaster; submission of promotional and distribution work plans; generous rights assignment to the agency for international distribution in whole or in part, in perpetuity.
The only exceptions should be: when the agency has a pressing policy need to see a programme broadcast in a particular country and/or territory; coverage of a subject (for example water or sanitation) with little media potential but which accords with an agency priority (there will always be reason for advocacy organizations to swim against the media tide).
Reaching the younger viewer
Children and youth are major targets for the schedulers, but traditionally not of the development assistance agencies. Virtually everywhere expenditures and broadcast hours are on the increase.
There is a case to be made that far too little effort has gone into supporting programming aimed at 10-30 year olds. There is persuasive evidence that the best way to reach adults is through the younger family members -- especially in cultures where family viewing is the norm. Children's news programme commissioners, for example, are far less resistant to directly featuring the work of an agency.
The needs of the child and youthful viewer are wildly different to adult programming. The Convention on the Rights of the Child explicitly recognises the right to children's self-expression.
A recent survey of 62 broadcasters revealed that by far the biggest expenditures and audiences were achieved by the national broadcasters. Just five countries -- France, Australia, Canada, UK and the USA -- dominated the international sales market for children and youth programming.
Most popular are live events and animations. Magazine programmes featuring young presenters and fast-moving on-site formats are avidly watched by youthful audiences. In the contacts made during the research for the two UNICEF-commissioned studies, TVE found that the producers of children and youth programming were the category most open to new ideas.
Preliminary contacts made during this survey indicate that an investment in human and financial resources to this fast-expanding area would pay dividends not only in reaching the next generation of decision-makers but in using their influence with parents to alter lifestyles and pay more attention to environment and development issues.
Multi-media and all that
The new multi-media platforms are not so widely used yet to justify any special effort by the international funders In the global perspective, multi-media applications -- CD-Rom, PC games etc. -- are the playthings of relatively few better-off households. TVE found that the 'hype' surrounding the Internet, multi-media, 'techno-convergence' and so on was distracting attention (and scarce resources) away from the fact that tiny numbers actually know how to use the new interactive platforms.
Organizations like UNICEF risk losing sight of the bigger picture if they were to decide to invest in interactive software production. Their role should be confined to selling imagery and information only to the producers of multi-media software.
Digitisation and new developments such as Web-TV or video-on-demand (VoD) may usher in the much talked about interactive television revolution (i.e. the television, telephone and PC as an integrated unit). But no company has yet put on the market an affordable navigator to bring an end to the era of passive viewing.
Nor is there any evidence of any strong demand from the viewers. A RAI working paper to the October 1996 United Nations World Television Forum states: "...despite around thirty VoD experiments world-wide, involving thousands of families, the results have not suggested great commercial potential."
TVE's findings are that it will be the end of the century possibly later -- before the development assistance community needs to develop a strategy in this area.
TVE recommends that involvement with multi-media be restricted to the start up of an Internet film catalogue. As the decade draws to a close, the on-line catalogue will become a major vehicle for promoting co-productions and independently made audio-visual software on themes relevant to agencies' mission.
Utilising the new programme-making technologies
Through an out-sourcing strategy, advocacy agencies should be maximising the use of the new non-linear editing and digital cameras to satisfy viewers' preference for homemade and customised programming.
The findings of TVE's two surveys, the pattern of demand for programming featured in its six Moving Pictures catalogues, as well as five regional television workshops convened by TVE since 1994, indicate that in order to make an impact, a systematic versioning policy must be introduced to satisfy national audience preferences.
New technological developments render this a cost effective objective. Programmes can be versioned (e.g. voice dubbing, sub- titling, video introductions, insertion of local stories etc.) at relatively little cost. One instance is the Spanish versioning of 12 TVE Moving Pictures programmes for US $7000 in Mexico.
Agencies such as WWF and UNICEF report great success with video news releases and 'B' roll tapes that enable stations to make their own versions. But as one Dutch producer told us, TV stations are 'lazy' and 'overworked'. They are far more likely to use video programmes if an effort is made to customise the output.
The TVE/ICDB evaluation showed that, with a few exceptions, hard-pressed field offices of even a well organized and funded organization like UNICEF cannot be expected to undertake this task. But throughout the world, there are facilities houses and broadcasters highly practised in customising programming. Crucially, a decentralised approach enables an organization to tailor the output to accord with national and regional cultural and religious sensitivities. Drawing on TVE's own experience, far more trust should be placed in indigenous producers in the South and economies in transition to make and version programming to meet local preferences. If necessary quality control can be exercised by tried and trusted independent production outfits.
Organizations with a public advocacy mission should set aside an element of its annual information budget to finance versioning. More effort should go into tapping production capacities in the non-OECD countries.
Methodology and Sources
The research for this survey was conducted by TVE's director, Robert Lamb over a six-week period (October/November 1996).
TVE reviewed the latest publications:
Zenith Media Television in Europe and Asia to 2005; Zenith Media, Bridge House, London, 1996 Television Business International (TBI) Yearbook 1997; 21st Century Publications, Pearson Professional Ltd., London, 1996.
Screen Digest, Screen Digest Ltd.; London, published monthly.
The Digital Broadcast Revolution; Broadcasting Corporation, London.
Interactive TV A Revolution in Global Broadcasting; Financial Times, Corporation, London, 1996.
Extending Choice in the Digital Age; British Broadcasting Corporation, London, 1996.
Study on the Introduction of Terrestrial Television; Convergent Decisions Group, The Mews, Putney Common, London, 1996.
Television in a Changing World; RAI Working Papers -- 4 vols -- for UN TV Forum, November 1996. Watching the World - Television and Audience Engagement with Developing Countries (Third World and Environment Broadcasting Project), International Broadcasting Trust, London, 1996.
References are made in the text to other published sources. TVE conducted person-to-person meetings and telephone interviews with over 80 key players in the television industry and sent our over 150 questionnaires.
TVE drew upon its ICDB (International Children's Day of Broadcasting) Evaluation of June 1996.
TVE also contacted over 40 Video Resource Centres (VRCs) in the South and NIS countries.
Statistics
• Television and Video
• Children's & Youth's Television Programmes
• Abbreviations - Television
• Cinema Screens
• Personal Computers and Internet Users
• Telephone Main Lines and Internet Host Computers
• Interactive Entertainment Software Retail Sales Value
• Radio Broadcast Stations and Radio Possessions
• Book Titles Published
• International Entertainment Companies (Top 50)
Table 1. Television and Video (1996)
Table 2. Children's & Youth's Television Programmes (1996)
Table 3. Cinema Screens
Table 4. Personal Computers and Internet Users (1994)
Table 5. Telephone Main Lines and Internet Host Computers (1996)
Table 6. Interactive Entertainment Software Retail Sales Value (in Europe and USA 1992-1996, US $1,000)
Table 7. Radio Broadcast Stations and Radio Possessions
Table 8. Book Titles Published
Table 9. International Entertainment Companies (Top 50) (ranked by 1996-97 revenue)
References
Global Interactive Entertainment: Big Growth in Spending (1997) Screen Digest, February.
Human Development Report 1997 (1997) The United Nations Development Programme. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
International Telecommunication Union (1997) Pressrelease no. 15, 7 September.
Peers, M. & Goldner, D. (1997) The Global 50. Merger Mania Shuffles Rankings. Supplement to Variety, August 25-31.
TBI Yearbook 97 (1996) Television Business International. London: 21st Century Business Publications.
UNESCO Statistical Yearbook '96 (1997) Paris: UNESCO.
The World Factbook 1996 (1997) Web site: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/pubs.html Washington: CIA.
World Cinema Market: Start of the European Fightback (1997) Screen Digest, August.