Cavada report – TV Sector backs European Parliament analysis

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Brussels, 12 September 2012 – Europe’s commercial broadcasters note the positive outcome of discussions in the European Parliament on the online distribution of audiovisual content in the EU.

The Parliament adopted yesterday a report from the Culture Committee, main author Jean-Marie Cavada MEP, with important contributions from the Legal Committee (Piotr Borys) and the committee for Industry (Maria Badia i Cutchet). The report, adopted by large majority in the EP Plenary, takes as its starting point the need to encourage market players to distribute television programmes and films across a range of platforms.

Commercial broadcasters are already active on these new platforms, with the need for constant innovation and experimentation in order to meet, anticipate and shape consumer demand having been recognised by many broadcasting CEOs over the past months.

Welcoming the report, Ross Biggam, Director General of the Association of Commercial Television in Europe commented that:
“The Cavada report rightly recognises that EU policy should encourage creativity and investment in new media services. European commercial broadcasters are playing our part, with over €15bn annually invested1 in programme content and new services, online or broadcast, being launched every week by European players. We’re particularly pleased that the European Parliament has, after a thorough analysis of the specifics of the audiovisual sector, understood that the copyright regime in our sector is not a barrier to this level of investment and innovation.”