10.1 Safeguarding domestic content creation
According to the current Government Programme, cultural policy must focus on content creation and the efficient distribution of content. The Government Programme also includes other objectives that are significant in terms of audiovisual culture. These objectives and the policies affecting audiovisual culture in 2012–2015 are presented in the Ministry of Education and Culture publication ‘Audiovisual culture in a digital environment’.
The Finnish independent content creation market is dependent on the purchasing activities of television companies. The purchasing market has clear oligopolistic features. The largest television companies keep content creation alive but with the condition that purchasing volumes can be forecast for a reasonable time period. YLE itself emphasises the company's significant role as a purchaser of Finnish content and a promoter of the nation’s mental advancement. The future of Finnish content creators is, however, likely to be weakened by circumstances such as the increasing ease with which consumers will in future be able to choose international content over Finnish content via the internet. In the spring of 2012, YLE announced that it will develop its programming content. For the Finnish content creation industry, this is encouraging news. The YLE Board of Directors has proposed that, in the next three years, the company purchase programmes and services from domestic production companies in increasing volumes. From the 2012 level, the company intends to increase its new external purchases by 30 per cent in 2013–2015. The purchases would amount to EUR 20–24 million annually and most likely be in the fields of entertainment, drama, films and documentaries. Purchasing news externally, in contrast, is not being considered. YLE has also announced that it wants to
increase its cooperation with external parties in format and product development.
Even though Finnish television companies are major customers of independent content-producers and have great power in negotiations, content-producers are increasingly able to offer their products also to customers who do not purchase actual television content. The other content includes, for example, internet content such as online games and online advertising, along with promotional videos for companies.
Since the internal market for Finnish content production is small, with few opportunities available outside the national borders of Finland, it would seem reasonable for content-producers to coordinate shared technical production resources, and concentrate on the creation of programme formats that would be in demand abroad, too.
10.2 Plurality and versatility of communications
In the 2000s, the television content supply has grown significantly. In 2001, at the time of the switchover to digital television operations, two YLE channels and two commercial channels were available via terrestrial networks. In 2011, television operations use 10 multiplexes, which transmit more than 50 channels.
The assessment of licence granting criteria – i.e., the promotion of versatility and freedom of speech, as defined in the Television and Radio Act – has changed too: in a world with four channels, granting criteria were assessed per channel. With the greater availability of television services, granting criteria are now assessed in view of the entire supply.
The strong position of domestic content in the fields of music and audiovisual culture is largely due to Finns’ cultural preferences. The Television and Radio Act has set the quota for independent programme production five percentage points above the figure given in the EU's Audiovisual Directive. With few exceptions, licence terms have, in practice, not included a requirement for broadcasting programmes in Finnish or Swedish.
When regulation is renewed, it needs to be assessed whether the original language of programmes should receive stronger emphasis in the steering of the audiovisual industry. Used with discretion, a requirement to broadcast in the official languages might ensure sufficient investment in Finnish and other Nordic programme production.
Regulation and assessments of programme supply should take into account the change in how versatility is viewed: the versatility of an extensive offering consists of combinations of different channels, not of channels that are versatile individually.
On the European level, many countries regulate the centralisation of communications. In Austria, Germany, Ireland, and Great Britain, for example, competition legislation includes provisions related to various media. Moreover, the competition authorities of many countries cooperate with the authorities that grant television and radio licences. Traditionally, regulation of communications centralisation has aimed at limiting the chances of any operator gaining a dominant position, through regulation of licences, ownership or viewership shares at either national or local level. Cross-ownership amongst television, radio, and newspaper and magazine companies is also restricted in many countries, including the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden and Great Britain. In the Netherlands, however, cross-ownership regulation was recently loosened in order to facilitate cooperation between communications companies.
Countries that regulate the centralisation of media aim at ensuring the versatility of communication services and safeguarding the right to freedom of speech. In Sweden, for example, local radio operators have been divided in the licensing phase into commercial
and public-interest radio stations, of which the latter have the task of broadcasting programmes particularly on topics that touch the local population. The limited number of existing frequencies and the size of the market in small countries are also reasons behind regulation of communications centralisation.
Currently, YLE has four public-service channels in the terrestrial mass-communication network. MTV Media, part of Bonnier Group, has a total of three free-to-air channels and 10 pay-television channels in the terrestrial mass-communication network. Sanoma Media Finland, on the other hand, has three free-to-air channels and eight pay-television channels. Other free-to-air channels include Fox (previously SuomiTV) and TV5/VoiceTV. Moreover, licences for seven pay-television channels have been granted to international operators. UrhoTV, which provides pay-television services, has also been granted a licence to the terrestrial network.
According to a study of Finnish television supply, the three largest classes of programme content in 2010 were factual programmes (34 per cent), entertainment (20 per cent), and foreign fiction (19 per cent). The classification of entertainment and factual programmes has become increasingly difficult. Sports accounted for 11 per cent of the programme supply. The share of children’s programmes was down to four per cent. In 2010, 39 per cent of the total programme supply of the 12 channels covered by the study (TV1, TV2, FST5, Teema, MTV3, Subtv, Nelonen, JIM, Liv, Nelonen Sport, The Voice / TV Viisi, and SuomiTV) consisted of domestic productions.
10.3 Promoting freedom of speech
The Constitutional Law Committee has on numerous occasions commented on the need to move, whenever this is technically possible, to a system that limits freedom of speech less than the current programme licence system does. The current system can be said to include too much room for interpretation in terms of issues such as the criteria for granting licences as defined by law. For example, ensuring the versatility of programming is a criterion on the basis of which the licensing authority can still use considerable discretion when deciding what type of broadcaster a licence will be granted to. Assessing licence applications from the overall perspective of applications and programme supply may also be questionable from the viewpoint of an individual applicant, in addition to appearing arbitrary because of its connections to other applications.
Freedom of speech can be promoted through more detailed definition of the prerequisites for terrestrial television broadcasting operations and via the means of more constrained deliberation.