Advanced Television

European Parliament

EU passes AI compliance law

The European Parliament has approved the first legal framework aimed at constraining the risks of AI. The AI Act works by classifying products according to risk and adjusting scrutiny accordingly. EU law makers said it would make the tech more “human-centric.” “The AI act is not the end of the journey but the starting point […]

March 13, 2024

Euro broadcasters welcome geo-blocking vote

Following a vote in the European Parliament Plenary regarding the IMCO (Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection) INI (Own-initiative procedure) Geoblocking report Grégoire Polad, Director General of trade body ACT, stated: “We salute the decision taken today in the European Parliament. This is a strong and powerful signal sent to all legislators and […]

December 13, 2023By Colin Mann

Survey: TV still dominant source for news

A dedicated Flash Eurobarometer commissioned by the European Parliament has taken an in-depth look at media habits, including trust in different media sources. For 71 per cent of respondents, TV was one of their most used media to access news in the past days. TV is followed by online press and/or news platforms (42 per […]

November 17, 2023

European creatives welcome EMFA adoption

European professional organisations of the audiovisual and cultural sectors have welcomed the clarifications brought by the European Parliament on Article 20 of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), voted in plenary on October 3rd, that will prevent the provision of this article being used to challenge or weaken ambitious cultural policies set out by Member […]

October 4, 2023By Colin Mann

EU approves giant LEO constellation

A meeting of the European Parliament on February 14th saw 604 members vote in favour of financing the IRIS² mega-constellation of low Earth orbiting satellites. Just six members objected. The Parliament approved the plan to invest €2.4 billion (about $2.57 billion) in initial funding. The cash is drawn from Horizon Europe research fund (€430 million), […]

February 15, 2023By Chris Forrester

Content bodies call out missed opportunity

Despite a clear and unambiguous call from 112 organisations from across the full breadth of the EU’s cultural, creative and sports sectors, and from 107 Members of the European Parliament, the Commission has not included a legislative initiative to tackle live content piracy in its Work Programme for 2023. A Statement from the Live Content […]

October 19, 2022By Colin Mann

Free mobile roaming continues for EU travellers

The European Commission has welcomed the political agreement reached by the European Parliament and EU Member States on the new Roaming Regulation. The new regulation will prolong until 2032 the existing system whereby citizens cannot be subject to extra charges for calls or data used while travelling within the EU and it will also bring […]

December 9, 2021By Colin Mann

Digital Markets ‘gatekeeper law’ steps forward

The EU’s proposed Digital Markets Act has moved nearer the statute books with the nod from the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. The full parliament should approve the text in December, then there will be negotiations to start with the EU Council on a final version. The DMA targets so-called ‘gatekeepers’ – […]

November 23, 2021

New La Séptima DTT channel for Spain

A group of entrepreneurs are readying to launch La Séptima, a new DTT channel with national coverage in Spain, along with an OTT platform aimed at Latin American distribution. The channel is scheduled to go live towards the end of the year, or early in 2022. The project is headed by Marcos de Quinto, former […]

September 7, 2021From David Del Valle in Madrid

Italy: Netflix concerned over investment obligations

Netflix has expressed concern over plans by the Italian government to double the investment obligations in Italian and European programmes. The changes are laid out in the draft legislative decree that transposes the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Instead of 12.5 per cent of net revenue, as is currently the case, OTT players will have […]

September 3, 2021From Branislav Pekic in Rome