Page 50 - Communication Theory and Research

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The Inflow of American Television Fiction on European Broadcasting 39

smaller categories increasingly lose out (especially cultural, music and sport
broadcasts as well as children’s programmes). The higher share of information
in prime-time (especially among the public channels) is obviously due to the fact
that all major news bulletins are situated in this time-lock.
Of all broadcasting stations examined, the Flemish (public and commercial)
channels show the highest fiction share: 36.5 percent of the broadcasting time
among the public stations and up to 60 percent (70 percent in prime-time) among
the commercial stations. In 1991, this was respectively 33.5 percent and 47 percent.
The increase of fiction on the commercial stations is mainly due to the arrival of
two new commercial stations, Ka2 and VT4. These newcomers are also responsible
for the decrease in the share of information from 15 percent in 1991 to only
7 percent in 1997.
In absolute figures, 3368 hours of fiction were examined: 891 hours on the 16
public channels in the survey and a further 2477 hours on the 20 commercial
channels. The category of fiction was further subdivided into two subcategories:
films (both films made for cinema and for television) and series (including
serials). Among the public channels, broadcasting time for fiction was equally
divided between films and series(about 440 hours each). Among the commercial
channels, series amounted for 63.4 percent of fiction time. In prime-time films
have the advantage on both type of channels (about 52.3 percent).

The origin of fiction

When taking all programme categories into account (including news,
entertainment, children’s programmes, etc.) the share of home-made productions
amounts to 80 percent of broadcasting time on public channels and 48 percent on
the commercial channels. The share of the non-national European programmes
is restricted to 5 percent of broadcasting time on the public channels and to
4.2 percent on the commercial channels. American programmes on the other
hand take up 11.5 percent of broadcasting time on the public channels and
44 percent on commercial channels.
However, the ratio between home and foreign, or between European and
American productions in the overall programming is not a very relevant parameter.
If we restrict ourselves to the broadcasting time devoted to fiction (i.e. films and
series) and consequently exclude all other programme categories, we no longer
arrive at a majority, but at a small third of broadcasting time devoted to pro-
grammes of European origin: 17.3 percent national and 13.5 percent non-national
European programmes. Public channels broadcast relatively more European
fiction, both national and non-national, than commercial channels. Commercial
channels broadcast considerably more American fiction (72 percent) than the
public channels (40 percent) (see Table 4.2).
In prime-time the share of American fiction decreases and the share of
European, especially national fiction, increases. This is especially marked in
Flanders where all home-made fiction is broadcast in prime-time. In the smaller
countries (Belgium, the Netherlands), 40–45 percent of all fiction is broadcast in