RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

restrictions . The Tories wish to avoid the partisan stations founđ in other European countries , so the authority will be directed to refuse licenses to political or municipal stations , (Home Office 1987: 33) The government is afraiđ that left-wing councils will fund radical stations out of local taxes . Not surprisingly , the proposeđ restrictions on multiple ownership by inđividuals or companies are more relaxed . None can have financial interests in more than one national or six other licensed stations. (Renton 198S; 251) The Green Paper was planned to lead to a White Рарег after a periođ of public consultation . Then it would be presented to Parliament in the autumn of 1988, with licenses issued by 1989. But this process has been mysteriously abandoned , Once again delay has become the main government policy in radio broadcasting . The Home Secretary has promised that there will be a bill covering both radio and television broadcasting placed before Parliament in late 1989. (Hurd 1988 a) With a crowđed legislative timetable , this means that new stations could not be on air until 1990 at the earliest. Douglas Hurd has assured his critics that the government's vision of the future is not some 'never-never land', but—many people remain, very skeptical. (Hurd 1988 a) The new timetable ignores апу major political or economic storms upsetting the bill's progress . Moreover, the date is becoming ominously close to the next election in 1991. Therefore it is becoming increasingly likely that the government's main policy between now and the next election will be preserving the status quo . This is an ironic fate for a government supposeđly committed to deregulation and commercial competition . CONTINUING PRESSURES FOR CHANGE If the Home Office delays апу đevelopments in radio broadcasting until after the next election , it wlll be a triumph of bureaucratic inertia over the diverse lobbies for change . The pressure for opening up the airwaves comes from two opposing directions . On the one hand , there are the advertising and media companies who are interested in rađio as a profitable new market. On the other side are the pirate stations anđ the community radio movement who want to broadcast new types of programs . The former see radio primarily in terms of exchange value , while the latter see its use value . The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) sees the expansion of radio broađcasting as песеззагу to create a larger market for the ad agencies . At preser.t, the IPA complains , there are a large number of radio listeners , but only a minority are tuning into commercial stations . (IPA 1987 a; 6)

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