ABSTRACT
Two major forces now impinge upon public service broadcasting systems the world over: the global spread of commercial media and the technological changes wrought by the digital revolution. The traditional public service broadcasters of Western Europe have been wont to mention that among industrialized nations, only the United States created a broadcasting system that was advertiser-supported virtually from the start. Ironically, these same broadcasters now find themselves grappling with problems they once thought confined to America. The consolidation of global media industries into fewer and fewer hands exerts pressure on all media systems-public and privateto partake in a steady diet of cheaply produced content of mass appeal. What's more, young people gravitate eagerly toward these programs; it seems public service broadcasting brings with it a need to do the sort of intellectual decoding that many of them find unpalatable.
