Rough crossings

Pim Opinion

Rough crossings for TV channels

Television needn’t be a curse for developing nations.

But it all too often is. It has become associated, rightly or wrongly, with the Coca Cola, cops, robbers and car chase culture packaged so successfully in the United States. Unfortunately, this gives a somewhat distorted view of the world (not to mention the US) to new viewers.

Commercial TV is just that commercial. It aims to make profit through the sale of advertising time and the programs have to aim at a mass audience. The more viewers, the more advertising revenue.

It is this, perhaps, that is giving both PNG and, it seems, Fiji pause for thought.

There are two ways of approaching the problem. Firstly, there could be a cost to the host nation in terms of cultural erosion.

With the best will in the world it will hardly be possible to program local content to any great extent without a massive and expensive training effort. With the exception of news and current affairs content, local programs are going to be hard to produce.

Secondly, bearing in mind the nature of the competing stations, the local advertising markets may simply not be big enough to support national TV networks.

It is for these reasons that the possibility of Australia’s government-owned ABC entering the fray is, to say the least

interesting.

Radio Australia already has a history of outstanding service to the region and a parallel TV service without advertising could be seen as attractive.

In PNG, for instance, those who want and can afford television already have it through satellite receivers dotted around the country. Will those viewers be persuaded to turn to a °cal channel, and will enough new sets be sold to make that :hannel viable?

And in Fiji, with its thriving video industry, that second question must also apply.

Whoever wins the satellite battle, the islands are going to have television available. A sensible initial approach might be to let that happen and let those who want to receive it do so through privately owned receivers, which could, presumably, be taxed as luxury items.

Real development, meanwhile, can still be achieved by radio which has the potential to reach more people.

An “open sky” approach could maintain freedom of choice for viewers while retaining the host nations’ ability to levy licence fees on broadcasters as well as taxes on receivers. The problem of cultural erosion would, of course, remain. But it could be approached under licensing agreements. The question that needs to be asked is, would the commercial stations agree to compete for audiences and advertising in the islands as they now do in Australia and New Zealand?

If the answer is affirmative, there seems nothing to stop the islands nations licensing more than one company. Provided that local requirements can be accommodated, there may be an argument for regional licensing with more than one country striking the same deals with more than one broadcaster.

Monopolies may look atractive for all sorts of reasons in the short term. They can easily be later regretted but far less easily altered.

Island nations could also “test the water” by encouraging development of commercial FM radio with the possibility of TV licences later if the market is proved. FM is cheaper to establish and cheaper to run. There already exists, in most island communities, a nucleus of skill and experience to make it work.

For while nobody doubts the sincerity of the competing stations in their commitments to local content, it’s hard to see them making it work without large and long term spending which may or may not be returned in advertising revenue.

If the current plans come to fruition, and the investment is not returned, somebody will have to pick up the bill.

Russell Hunter has been appointed editor of Pacific Islands Monthly. Mr Hunter, 37, was editor of an English daily newspaper oe/ore spending five years in Papua New Guinea as general manager of Word Publishing Company Pty Ltd and Niugini Nius Pty Ltd. He replaces Garry Barker who is taking up a new position with the Herald and Weekly Times Group in Melbourne, Australia.