Page 49 - Communication Theory and Research

McQuail(EJC)-3281-04.qxd 8/16/2005 6:29 PM Page 38

38 Communication Theory & Research
TABLE 4.1 MAIN PROGRAMME CATEGORIES (PERCENTAGE OF BROADCASTING TIME;
JANUARY 1997)
Fiction Entertainment Information
Total Prime-time Total Prime-time Total Prime-time
Flanders
Public 36.5 33.4 13.5 19.6 17.9 23.3
Commercial 59.7 69.3 14.3 20.4 7.0 5.0
Wallonia
Public 18.3 19.6 15.4 14.8 14.8 20.1
Commercial 55.0 67.2 8.4 12.8 10.0 9.6
The Netherlands
Public 16.8 25.2 20.2 29.0 14.3 14.6
Commercial 49.2 54.0 26.0 22.5 10.5 13.0
Great Britain
Public 22.6 28.5 15.5 18.5 13.7 15.2
Commercial 30.9 47.3 19.0 17.2 7.5 17.1
Germany
Public 25.4 36.4 13.0 13.6 15.0 30.7
Commercial 56.0 65.6 20.1 26.3 5.0 2.8
France
Public 20.4 31.0 24.3 16.9 17.5 32.9
Commercial 41.6 31.7 13.1 19.0 11.4 25.0
Italy
Public 23.5 32.4 10.1 17.7 18.8 27.0
Commercial 44.7 45.6 18.3 25.9 12.6 9.0
Total
Public 22.6 29.4 15.6 19.2 16.2 22.9
Commercial 48.9 57.5 18.9 21.9 8.4 9.5
General total 37.4 44.9 17.5 20.7 11.8 15.5

Note: The total broadcasting time for all stations together is 540,246 minutes or 9004 hours.

The programme weight of fiction

With 37 percent of the overall broadcasting time, fiction is by far the most
important programme category on European television. This is especially true for
the commercial channels, which broadcast twice as much fiction as public
5
channels. With regard to the category information, the relation is the complete
reverse. As far as entertainment is concerned, public and commercial channels
score similar results (see Table 4.1). The figures for 1997 confirm the results of 1991.
The share of fiction increases in prime-time, especially among the commercial
channels: up to 60 percent of broadcasting time compared to 30 percent among
the public channels. In general, the three main programme categories (fiction,
entertainment, information) still gain importance in prime-time while the other,