Radio and Television Broadcasting on the European Continent

Book excerpt: Radio and Television Broadcasting on the European Continent was first published in 1967. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. In this book Dr. Paulu provides a comprehensive survey based on firsthand study of the development and current status of radio and television broadcasting in continental Europe. He discusses the technical, organizational, financial, and programming aspects of European broadcasting in both Communist and Western countries. The material is organized, not on a country-by-country basis, but as it relates to broad basic issues, and it is presented in a framework of such interrelated factors as geography, history politics, international relations, religious traditions, language, national economic standards, and cultural and social life. The broadcasting systems studied include those of the Soviet Union and other Communist countries, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland. The account is particularly timely in view of the concern and discussion about the future course of broadcasting in the United States. It has relevance not only for communications specialists but for political scientists and other scholars in the social sciences as well as for the growing public which is interested in the improvement of American broadcasting.