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Competing with the Public Sector in Broadcasting
Author(s) -
Elstein David
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
economic affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1468-0270
pISSN - 0265-0665
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0270.00251
Subject(s) - public sector , private sector , criticism , public broadcasting , politics , competition (biology) , broadcasting (networking) , privilege (computing) , public relations , public administration , business , economics , political science , law , advertising , computer security , ecology , computer science , biology
There are two public sector broadcasters in the UK: the BBC and Channel 4. In their different ways, their behaviour attracts criticism from the private sector. However, this critique is unfocused and potentially counter‐productive. A more efficient – or privatised – public sector would create greater, not lesser, problems for the private sector. The allegations of abuse of privilege and unfair competition may be justified, but the private sector needs a coherent alternative rationale for public funding of broadcasting before it can expect to win a public and political debate.