Programme production and the 16:9 Action Plan: an assessment

As part of its audiovisual policy, the European Union has developed a strategy to increase the competitiveness of the audiovisual sector and has two instruments designed to meet the challenges involved. The aim of the Media programme is to improve the content and expand the number of European programmes, placing the emphasis on the pre-production and distribution of films and TV programmes. The aim of the 16:9 Action Plan is to encourage the introduction of new television services in Europe on the assumption that the success or failure of the television technologies will be determined by the availability of programmes for broadcasting using the new television standards, the availability of programmes for viewers being, at the start of the broadcasting service chain, a source of legitimacy for television services since viewer choice is based on the content of the services. Consequently, with a view to supplying the new 16:9 services which the European Union wishes to promote on a Community scale, the Action Plan encourages the development of new programmes on production media compatible with the 16:9 format, while ensuring that existing and current programmes can continue to be broadcast in the new format