RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

the advertising market. It is called the '2.У. medium' because this is the low percentage of the advertising spend which goes into commercial radio. (IPA 1987 a: 14) In other European countries , it is over twice as large . But the ILRs are facing not just the dissatisfaction of the advertising agencies . As with BBC in the 19605, their program formats are dated and they are unable to satisfy a new generation of listeners . There is a demand for both specialist music and ethnic programs, especially in big cities like London . This has provided an opening for a new wave of piracy , with the youth and music auđiences of the ILRs deserting them for the pirates . Just аз the first wave of piracy in the 1960s led to duopoly in radio broadcasting , so the present upsurge in pirate stations is breaking up the BBC and IBA system . Despite the pioneering of her economics by the offshore pirates , the most surprising phenomenon of this new outbreak of piracy is the reluctance of Thatcher's government to adopt deregulatory policies in this area . This immobilism shows how the dominance of the broadcasting duopoly has still solid founđations within British society . THE CONTRADICTIONS OF AUTHORITARIAN LIBERALISM The present Conservative government prides itself on its ideological f ervour, even if its rhetoric is not always matched by its actions . Nowhere is this dilemma between self-proclaimed goals and concrete solutipns so clear. as in Тогу media policy . On the one hand , the government advocates consumers choosing between a multiplicity of media outlets . The Peacock Committee's endorsement of 'electronic publishing' represents a vision of political liberty based on economic liberalism. (Peacock 1986: 112-8) Yet, on the other hand, the Тогу government is very interventionist within the media , For example , it is establishing a Broadcasting Standards Committee unđer a Thatcher loyalist to censor BBC , IBA and satellite programs. (Fiddick 1988) More notoriouslv, thie government has energetically defended government secrets , even to the extent of organizing a raid on BBC offices in Scotland . The Tories wish to retain the political advantages of regulateđ capitalism while simu!taneously undermining its economic basis! This contradiction between social authoritarianism and economic liberalism is especially evident in the government's difficulty of deciding policies for the future of radio broađcasting . The situation is clearer in the high-techhology sector of satellite anđ cable television . The large investment neeđed to start a new television channel restricts entry into this media market to multinational or state corporations . In contrast, as the pirate stations prove everyday , radio broadcasting is cheap and easy. This makes it possible for marginalized groups and

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