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Research into International Television Flows: A Methodological Contribution 17

‘receiving country’ is (relatively) unimportant and for which a multiplicity of
directions are intended. The classification of television as bilateral or multilateral
therefore depends on the motives for distributing the signals. Bilateral television
assumes a national anchoring of the distributor and national distribution as the
predominant purpose. The distributor of multilateral television has no substantial
national relationship and distribution to several countries is the major purpose
of the activity.
These dimensions of transnationalization are directly related to the sources
of supply created by present technology and are thus convenient for future
research because they adapt the analysis of international television flows to the
development of information technology in recent years in Western Europe.
Since the last UNESCO-sponsored study on international television flows in
1983 (Varis, 1985), reception from neighbour countries has continued to grow,
satellite channels have been established and the numbers of West European
television channels have almost doubled (Schrape, 1987; cf. ‘Television Program-
ming in Europe’, No. 2, 1987). It is now more necessary than ever to keep track
of the sources of, and routes for, television output in a given country and also
of the distribution of output (and consumption) between the three main
dimensions of transnationalization. This type of monitoring may become an
important basic tool for both technologically and culturally oriented media
policy decisions. 3
The most substantial argument, however, for separating the three dimensions
is the hypothesis that the important ‘second-level’ effects are related to the
sources of transnationalization.
If the two-step approach is accepted, and bearing in mind that trans-
nationalization is basically a national phenomenon with three dimensions, I
would suggest the following set of standard transnationalization measures of
the ‘first-level effects’ of international television flows.

Transnationalization of Supply

The Multilateral Dimension

T(m)-S is the supply of television in a specific country which is multilaterally
distributed. (T(m)-S may be measured in hours or as a share of total supply of
television hours. In principle T(m)-S also applies to a group of countries or
specific group of viewers.)
T(m)-S/CO is the supply of television in a specific country produced in a
designated country of origin which is multilaterally distributed. (T(m)-S is the
sum of T(m)-S/CO measures. T(m)-S/CO may be measured in hours or as a
share of total supply of television hours or as a share of multilaterally supply. In
principle T(m)-S/CO also applies to a group of countries or specific groups of
viewers.)