50% of Irish terrestrial TV is in breach of EU directive

HALF of all mainstream Irish TV stations are in breach of an EU directive for failing to broadcast a majority of programmes made within Europe.

New figures show RTÉ2 and TV3 are not meeting the EU standard of devoting at least 50% of their broadcasting schedules to such programmes. Combined, the four main Irish channels — RTÉ1, RTÉ2, TV3 and TG4 — have the second worst record within the EU after the Czech Republic for using European programmes.

Just over 52% of all programmes broadcast by Irish TV stations in 2004 came from within the EU.

Ireland only met the 50% standard for the first time in 2003. The EU-wide average is over 63%. The failure by RTÉ2 and TV3 to meet the quota is largely explained by the reliance of both channels on popular US and Australian programmes to fill a large percentage of their schedules.

However, both broadcasters have increased the amount of programming devoted to European productions in recent years.

TV3 devoted 48% of programmes to EU-made content in 2004 — up from 45% in the previous year, while RTÉ2’s use of European TV productions increased from 41% to 42% over the same period. In 2004, such productions accounted for 63% of all programmes on TG4 and 56% of RTÉ1’s schedule.

Article 4 of the EU’s “Television without Frontiers” Directive calls on all member states to ensure that broadcasters within their jurisdiction reserve the majority of their transmission time for European works.

However, the legislation carries no real threat of sanction as the obligation is to ensure the 50% standard is met “where practicable and by appropriate means”.

TV3 claims it was not practical for the station to meet the quota as its news and sports programming is excluded from calculations.

It also maintains that the 50% standard poses difficulties due to the size and nature of the Irish terrestrial TV market as well as its own stage of development.

It is understood that the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland is engaged in ongoing discussion with TV3 regarding compliance with the requirement.

An RTÉ spokesperson explained that the national broadcaster’s second channel failed to meet the EU standard due to the exclusion of a significant amount of its sports coverage including the 2004 Olympics from Athens and the UEFA European Championship in Portugal.

However, the spokesperson pointed out that RTÉ’s combined output between RTÉ1, RTÉ2 and TG4 was in excess of the 50% required under the directive.

In contrast, all the main British terrestrial TV stations showed a much lower reliance on US programmes.

Meanwhile, the overall number of mainstream TV channels within the EU increased from 584 in 2003 to 767 in 2004.