Although Belgium's broadcasting history can be considered a perfect example of the overall situation in Western Europe, the country's specific cultural makeup and political shifts are also reflected in its media environment. The media system is characterized by a fairly high degree of cross-ownership, while major differences can be found in the degree of cultural protection. This article examines the stances being taken in the French- and Flemish-Speaking Communities: contextually, in terms of cross-ownership regulation; institutionally, as to the mission of the public broadcaster (pur sang or broader); and content-wise, with respect to home-grown, high identity value productions, as opposed to transnational productions from foreign players.
Antoine, F., L. d'Haenens and F. Saeys (2001) `Belgium', pp. 147-91 in L. d'Haenens and F. Saeys (eds) Western Broadcasting at the Dawn of the 21st Century. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
2.
Biltereyst, D., S. Vinck and C. De Pauwels (2007) `Our Policies Keep on Reinventing the Past: An Overview of the EU Policy-Making in the Audiovisual Domain', pp. 25-59 in L. d'Haenens and F. Saeys (eds) Western Broadcast Models: Structure, Conduct and Performance. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
3.
Castille, V. (2000) `De Europese televisiequota: flexibiliteit of compromis als rode draad?' [The European Television Quota: Flexibility or Compromise as a Red Thread?], pp. 53-78 in D. Biltereyst and H. De Smaele (eds) Transformatie en continuiteit van de Europese televisie. Ghent: Academia Press.
4.
CEC (Commission of the European Communities) ( 2007) Media Pluralism in the Member States of the European Union. Commission Staff Working Document (SEC(2007)32). Brussels : CEC.
5.
Coppens, T. and F. Saeys (2006) `Enforcing Performance: New Approaches to Govern Public Service Broadcasting', Media Culture and Society28(2): 261-84.
6.
De Bens, E. and S. Paulussen (2005) `Hoe anders is de VRT? De performantie van de Vlaamse publieke omroep' [How Different is VRT? The Performance of the Flemish Public Broadcaster], Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap33(4): 365-86.
7.
De Bens, E. and H. De Smaele (2001) `The Inflow of American Television Fiction on European Broadcasting Channels Revisited', European Journal of Communication16: 51-76.
8.
EBU (European Broadcasting Union) (2005) EBU Statistics: Volume IV. Geneva: EBU.
9.
Flemish Community (2006) De opdracht van de openbare omroep in het digitaal tijdperk. [The Public Broadcaster's Mission in the Digital Era], 19 July. Brussels: Government of the Flemish Community .
10.
French-speaking Community (2006) Arrêté du gouvernement de la Communauté française portant approbation du 3ième contrat de gestion de la Radio-Télévision belge de la Communauté française pour les années 2007 à 2011 incluses. Moniteur Belge, 4 December. Brussels: Government of the French-speaking Community of Belgium
11.
Hellman, H. (2001) `Diversity - An End in Itself? Developing a Multi-Measure Methodology of Television Programme Variety Studies', European Journal of Communication16(2): 181-208.
12.
McQuail, D. (1992) Media Performance. London: Sage .
13.
McQuail, D. (2000) McQuail's Mass Communication Theory. London: Sage.
14.
McQuail, D. and J. van Cuilenburg (1983) `Diversity as a Media Policy Goal', Gazette31(3): 145-62.
15.
OSI (Open Society Institute) and EUMAP (EU Monitoring and Advocacy Programme) (2005) Television across Europe: Regulation, Policy and Independence. Summary. Budapest : OSI/EUMAP.
16.
Picard, R.G. (2001) `Expansion and Limits in EU Television Markets: Audience, Advertising and Competition Issues', paper presented at the workshop on Competition in Media and Advertising Markets , University of Aix Marseille-II, 12-13 October.
17.
Saeys, F. and F. Antoine (2007) `Belgium', pp. 105-44 in L. d'Haenens and F. Saeys (eds) Western Broadcast Models: Structure, Conduct and Performance . Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
18.
Van Cuilenburg, J. (1999) `On Competition, Access and Diversity in Media: Old and New', New Media and Society1(2): 183-207.
19.
Van der Wurff, R. (2004) `Supplying and Viewing Diversity: The Role of Competition and Viewer Choice in Dutch Broadcasting', European Journal of Communication19(2): 215-37.
20.
Van der Wurff, R. (2005) `Media Markets and Media Diversity, Commentary and Debate Section: Defining Media Diversity', Communications30(3): 293-324.
21.
Van Nieuwenhuyse, I. (2005) `De instroom van Amerikaanse televisiefictie op Europese zenders herbekeken (anno 2004)' [The Influx of American Television Fiction on European Channels Re-Examined (2004)], unpublished MD thesis, University of Ghent.
