Public service broadcasting

Mark Armstrong

Fiscal Studies, 2005, vol. 26, issue 3, 281-299

Abstract: This essay discusses the merits of public intervention in the provision of television broadcasting services. I argue that intervention was justified in the past, when there were just a few channels and when advertising was the sole source of commercial funds. However, the advent of subscription television overcomes many of the market failures that once existed. Moreover, asymmetric treatment of broadcasters acts to distort the incentives of commercial broadcasters. Finally, viewers have an increasing ability to avoid unappealing, but perhaps socially desirable, content, which further weakens the case for public intervention in the market.

JEL-codes: D62 L15 L33 L82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ifs:fistud:v:26:y:2005:i:3:p:281-299

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
The Institute for Fiscal Studies 7 Ridgmount Street LONDON WC1E 7AE

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Fiscal Studies from Institute for Fiscal Studies The Institute for Fiscal Studies 7 Ridgmount Street LONDON WC1E 7AE. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emma Hyman ().