<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The wish to limit ownership concentration in the media industry has been common in the newspaper sector, but hardly very successful. As commercial television was more extensively introduced, governments saw possibilities of limiting ownership concentration in this sector. One such case is the Swedish TV4, owned at the start in 1991 by a consortium of financial and smaller publishing groups, but now controlled by the biggest player in the national media business. What happened on the way and what were the obstacles to media policy in this field? Some would argue that this is an area in which media policy failed. Alternatively, this development can be understood as a case in which the nature of corporate policy is revealed. A third option would be to observe the interaction between corporate interests and the government as an example of so-called political management. This article examines these scenarios in the context of commercial television in Sweden. The case study provides a deeper understanding of the nature of ‘institutional competitiveness’, politics vs. business, nationally based media firms vs. other Scandinavian players.</p></abstract>

The wish to limit ownership concentration in the media industry has been common in the newspaper sector, but hardly very successful. As commercial television was more extensively introduced, governments saw possibilities of limiting ownership concentration in this sector. One such case is the Swedish TV4, owned at the start in 1991 by a consortium of financial and smaller publishing groups, but now controlled by the biggest player in the national media business. What happened on the way and what were the obstacles to media policy in this field? Some would argue that this is an area in which media policy failed. Alternatively, this development can be understood as a case in which the nature of corporate policy is revealed. A third option would be to observe the interaction between corporate interests and the government as an example of so-called political management. This article examines these scenarios in the context of commercial television in Sweden. The case study provides a deeper understanding of the nature of ‘institutional competitiveness’, politics vs. business, nationally based media firms vs. other Scandinavian players.

Ownership Concentration in the TV Industry

Econ.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and Design, Kalmar University,

Nordicom Review

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A Case Study on the Limitations of Media Policy

The wish to limit ownership concentration in the media industry has been common in the newspaper sector, but hardly very successful. As commercial television...

Ownership Concentration in the TV Industry

Published Online: Feb 14, 2017

Page range: 77 - 92

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0202

Keywords
media policy, corporate strategy, political management, hybrid media firms, TV4 Sweden

© by Sune Tjernström

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Ownership Concentration in the TV Industry

Published Online: Feb 14, 2017

Page range: 77 - 92

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0202

Keywordsmedia policy, corporate strategy, political management, hybrid media firms, TV4 Sweden

© by Sune Tjernström

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
media policy, corporate strategy, political management, hybrid media firms, TV4 Sweden