First Published in 1985. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The broadcasting and other electronic media are in the throes of a prolonged and vigorous restructuring. In this wide-ranging and illuminating text, members of the Euromedia Research Group analyze the nature, dynamics and directions of the changes currently affecting the Western European media. Outstanding trends explored include the increasing importance of transnational multimedia corporations and the various challenges from commercialization and privatization to traditions of public service broadcasting. The authors also examine the widespread development of local radio and television stations and discuss their regulatory framework.

Murdoch, Maxwell, Hersant, Berlusconi, Bertelsmann, Springer and Turner ... in the 1980s new actors emerged to exploit the opportunities in European broadcasting, provided by the new technologies of satellite and cable. Dramatic political, economic and cultural consequences were promised and are already being addressed by public policy. This book analyses and interprets the development of regulatory policies in Western Europe in response to these new phenomena.

This comparative, textbook analysis explores how television and press systems across Europe have been shaped by technology, economics and politics. The author explores the implications of the commercialisation of national broadcasting systems, and the media policies of the European Union in the age of transfrontier media operations.